Borland ready for marketing offensive

NEWS Borland Software has launched a new branding campaign, its first in nearly a decade, as the maker of software development tools seeks to reposition itself and show that it can survive. The $12m push comes after years spent searching for a new direction and fielding questions about viability. "In the early 1990s," said Scott Langmack, Borland's chief marketing officer, "the founder, Philippe Kahn, had aligned the company to go after Microsoft in some of the same product segments. Microsoft won that business and left Borland to redefine where it would go. "But in the last three years, we have a new management team that has turned around the company, 11 straight quarters of profits and growth, and, with our recent acquisitions, [we've] completed the first step toward repositioning the company. We felt the need for a new, broad-reaching [branding] campaign." Borland's previous marketing efforts relied on a small amount of product-related advertising and direct marketing. But the company's new push, which began a few weeks ago, includes print, online and some selective broadcast in 22 countries through the end of the year. The campaign builds on Borland's development tools history and then stresses the company's ability to provide software solutions for the whole development team, Langmack said. In October, Borland went on an acquisition spree, snapping up three companies to bolster its programming tools line up and enhance its position in the emerging market of modelling and design programs. The modelling and design programs let developers build graphical representations of software. The general theme of the campaign is accelerating the time it takes to put together applications, Langmack said. Later this week silicon.com's Tony Hallett will be meeting Borland CEO Dale Fuller. If you have any questions you'd like to put to the man who has put the company back on track let us know by emailing editorial@silicon.com. Dawn Kawamoto writes for CNET News.com.