Xerox ramps up its advertising

In the 1960s Xerox came to prominence as a manufacturer of photographic paper and equipment when it introduced the first one-piece, dry-paper photocopier - the Xerox 914.

Since then the company has traditionally been viewed by the public as a large copier company with Xerox becoming commonly used as a noun for photocopying. For example, in July 2004 the UK education secretary Charles Clarke was accused by the Conservatives of 'Xeroxing' their own education proposals. As a consequence it has sought to transform its image and alter how its name is used.

The need for a new brand advertising campaign came in 2000 when the Xerox Corporation experienced financial problems and went through a period of strategic change. The result is a brand campaign which acts as a manifestso from various company's (Audi, NASA, Microsoft etc.) and demonstrates their recognition of Xerox as a strategic long-term partner.

David Millican, head of communications for Xerox in the UK, comments, 'We recognised that we were perceived by the public and competitors as a stable, yet static box-provider of printers and photocopiers, which did not correspond to our portfolio of offerings.