BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO - MICROSOFT

By: Staff reports Computer Software Giant Uses Newspaper Campaigns To Fight Back



by Ken Liebeskind



Microsoft Corp. is using newspapers in two different ways as it fights
the federal court ruling that seeks to break up the company.



On June 9, two days after U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson
ordered that Microsoft be split into two separate parts, the company ran
a full-page ad in a number of newspapers. The ad, in the form of a
letter from company Chairman Bill Gates and President/CEO Steve Ballmer,
argued that splitting the company would 'impose crippling regulations
... and lead to less innovation, fewer choices, and higher prices for
consumers.'



The ad appeared in Microsoft's hometown papers, The Seattle Times
and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, as well as in USA
Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The
Wall Street Journal, and the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury
News.



The ad is the third in a series of recent newspaper efforts that have
followed major proceedings in the case. Ads also ran in early April,
after Jackson ruled that Microsoft had violated antitrust laws, and in
early May, after the judge announced that the U.S. Justice Department
wanted to split up the company.



The newspaper ads complement a campaign prepared by McCann-Erickson/A&L,
which includes TV commercials. The most recent one, launched June 11,
features Bill Gates discussing the company's future.



Microsoft also has used newspapers in a letter-to-the-editor campaign. A
company source acknowledged it hired DCI Group, a Washington public-

relations firm, to solicit letters from people around the country. These
letters then were sent to a variety of papers, including USA
Today, The Washington Times, and The Des Moines (Iowa)
Register. Microsoft and DCI Group declined to comment on the
campaign.



Richard Doak, the Register's editorial page editor, said a number
of letters on the Microsoft issue have been published in the paper. 'I'm
not aware of any campaign,' he said, although he added that the pro-

Microsoft letters had 'a party-line feel to them.' He continued, 'I'm
sure it happens. Firms plant suggestions among friends around the
country urging them to write to local newspapers and suggest what they
may want to say.



'Unless identical letters arrive here, we have no way to tell whether
they've been planted. And it doesn't really bother us because if a
person signs his or her name to the letter, it's their opinion even if
it's been prompted by someone else.'



On June 12, USA Today ran five Microsoft-related letters - three
supporting the company. Brent Jones, reader editor, said it was
difficult to tell if any had been generated by a PR firm. 'We safeguard
it by balancing the letters,' he said. E&P tried to contact the
letter-writers, but all had unlisted phone numbers.



A PR executive who requested anonymity called letter-writing campaigns
'a standard practice in grass-roots efforts. It happens every day, more
often than people recognize.' He said PR firms hire consultants to
produce the letters. 'It's done through a network.'



Chris Wall, an executive creative director at Ogilvy & Mather who worked
on the

Microsoft account while at Weiden & Kennedy, likened Microsoft's letter-

writing campaign to that of the National Rifle Association. 'You get
enough letters, and everyone gets nervous,' he said. 'It's a very
aggressive, competitive strategy.'



Microsoft also has launched a Web site, http://www.microsoft.c

om/freedomtoinnovate, which provides news on the case and encourages
supporters to write letters on its behalf.