Memorex 2006 Annual Report Download - page 8

{6} Imation Annual Report
the Memorex brand
MEMOREX BRAND STRENGTH – “IS IT LIVE OR IS IT MEMOREX?”®
In 2006, with Imation already firmly established as a leading business-to-business
brand and a very solid global consumer brand, we added the leading U.S. consumer
brand for recordable optical media to our portfolio: Memorex. The result is a winning
combination of two differentiated brands that span broad market segments and
geographies.
Memorex was founded in 1961 in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley to provide
magnetic tape for the then-new computer industry. In 1971, Memorex entered another
developing market by launching a consumer line of recordable audio cassettes
with one of the most memorable and successful campaigns in television history.
Ella Fitzgerald’s recorded voice shattered a wine glass … and viewers wondered,
“Is it live or is it Memorex?”
This solidified Memorex as a major U.S. consumer brand. Market research clearly
indicates that Memorex, having successfully transferred its brand equity across
product lines and generations of consumers, is still regarded as the standard
for high-quality recording products.
A LEADING CONSUMER BRAND WITH BROAD RETAIL PLACEMENT
Memorex products give today’s digital lifestyle consumers the ability to “capture,
save, and share” all aspects of their life, from music to memories. This focus
has brought Memorex to its leadership position in today’s marketplace.
Marketed in more than 25 countries, the Memorex brand has led the U.S. retail
market in CDs since 2000 and in DVDs since 2002, based on unit and dollar sales
volume, according to The NPD Group’s retail tracking service. Memorex is on the
shelves of 21 of the top 25 electronics retailers in the U.S. – nearly 24,000 locations
nationwide – topping all competitors in the optical storage media category.
The Memorex brand extends across several key consumer product categories: optical
media, flash media, portable hard drives and optical drives, and media accessories
such as labels, cases and cleaners. In late 2006, Memorex-branded flash cards were
launched in Europe and North America.
Our investment in Memorex did not stop with the acquisition. Imation also is
sponsoring the #41 Memorex Dodge in the NASCAR Busch Series. The sponsorship is
an excellent opportunity to promote Memorex to fans of NASCAR, the fastest-growing
sport in America. It’s a great fit: Memorex helps people “capture, save, and share”
life’s fun moments and memories – like a day at the race track.
Memorex Mini TravelDrive
USB Flash Drive
#1 in U.S.
optical media
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