3Com to Launch $100-Million Global Ad Campaign

3Com Corp. said Monday that it awarded a $100-million brand and product advertising contract to New York-based Lowe, Lintas & Partners. The ad campaign, which will include advertising in Asia, Europe and South America, marks a 40% increase in the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company’s advertising budget.

The campaign, designed to build brand awareness and promote 3Com products, comes less than a month after the company said it would cut as many as 3,000 jobs and refocus its business on such sectors as wireless home networking equipment, high-speed cable modems, and equipment that sends both voice and data over the Internet.

3Com has tried to build consumer awareness through advertising and marketing--including a 1995 deal that changed the name of Candlestick Park, home to the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, to 3Com Park. But the company isn’t well known among general consumers.

“There’s not a lot of awareness out there among consumers of any networking company,” said 3Com Senior Vice President Jan Soderstrom. “Awareness is very important. We need to get credit for what we do. Perception becomes reality, and if we’re not perceived as a leader, then we’re not going to make the most of our great growth potential.”

Lowe, Lintas, a member of the Interpublic Group of Companies, “has already started to work,” said Lowe, Lintas Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Lee Garfinkel. “The first thing is finding the key message that’s going to make its way through brand and product advertising. That’s what holds everything together--so it’s important to make the message relevant to all of 3Com’s target audiences.”