LAS VEGAS -- New Iomega chief Bruce R. Albertson hardly had time to let the ink dry on his employment contract before being thrown into the computer industry's biggest drum-beating event -- COMDEX.
Surrounded by an exhibit filled with Iomega's newest products, the new president and chief operating officer, expected to be chief executive officer by January, said consumers will be hearing a lot more about the Roy-based company.With no intention of diminishing the role Iomega's Zip line has in the industry, Albertson said the branding focus will shift to the Iomega name. "Most people know Zip more than they know Iomega. I plan to promote the Iomega brand," he said.
New uses for products of the Roy-based company already are being promoted at COMDEX with the announcement Tuesday of new partnerships, mostly with companies making MP3 music players. The plan is to make Iomega's 40-megabyte Clik! drive and disks the storage medium for digital music.
A look at Iomega's stock chart suggests the brand itself could use a little help. Albertson said he knew that coming in. "The company has great products," he said, but ineffective marketing has let the brand become stale.
The outbreak of the Melissa computer virus earlier this year is a prime example of a missed marketing opportunity, Albertson said. "Businesses know about backing up data, but consumers don't," he said. "I never saw one ad that said 'If you're worried about Melissa, back up on Iomega.' "
Still, with the broad acceptance of Zip drives and the company's established distribution channels, "I see nothing but potential" for company growth, Albertson said.
The observations mirror those Iomega chairman David J. Dunn made after announcing Albertson would join the company. Dunn characterized Iomega as a company with extraordinary products plagued with management problems. Albertson becomes Iomega's third president in 18 months.
When Clik! was first introduced, Iomega primarily positioned it as a removable storage drive companion for digital cameras. Sales were flat. The partnerships announced Tuesday show the new Clik! focus as an audio tool. Each disk can hold 83 minutes of compressed digital music or 5.5 hours of spoken audio.
Addonics Technologies Corp., Sensory Science and Vario Vision Co. are each developing new product concepts that incorporate Clik! drives built in.
Iomega also announced Wednesday its ZipCD line will be promoted as a storage and playback medium for recorded music, an announcement similar to Iomega's big announcement during COMDEX one year ago that capturing music files would be a marketing emphasis for the Zip 250 drive and disks it was adding to its existing Zip 100 line.
Albertson built the Asian market for General Electric's appliance lines and came out of retirement to take the Iomega challenge. He said had been talking to Iomega for some time before striking a deal to run the company, and he plans to enjoy rebuilding the brand. "If I didn't think I could have fun with this, if I didn't think I could make it a hit, I wouldn't do it."