Danka's new TV presence: talking office equipment

To some companies, running a television commercial is no big deal.

But for Danka Business Systems, a St. Petersburg distributor of office equipment whose debts once reached $1-billion, it's akin to a coming-out party. Over the past few years, the company has trimmed its borrowings by 75 percent, reduced executive turnover and retooled its business plan.

The new TV spot, Danka's first since 1998, began airing on cable news and business channels last month. A print campaign aimed at business publications will follow.

"We wanted to reach a broad audience to let them know that Danka was back and healthy," chief growth and marketing officer Donald Thurman says.

Produced by Ames Scullin O'Haire of Atlanta, the ad, Thurman says, is supposed to show that Danka can integrate fax machines, scanners, copiers and printers via a company's existing computer network; that it sells and services multifunction equipment made by several different manufacturers; and, perhaps most important, that its Danka at the Desktop software can help reduce a client's printing costs by 40 percent.

Some companies appear to be convinced. Danka's most recent success is a five-year, $7-million contract to install and service networked equipment for health insurance provider Humana Inc.

At the very least, the 30-second ad may make viewers smile. In it, animated office machines are shown drowning their sorrows at a bar after work. A copier complains about people who sit on him to copy their "cheeks." Another asks the bartender for a "toner on the rocks."

Thurman is hopeful. "Printed page volume has continued to increase," he says, "and we think we can be a part of that."

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