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Brand News from Sage Summit Frequently Asked Questions and Answers July 12, 2011 Q1: Why is Sage doing this? A1: This is an opportunity to create a stronger Sage brand in North America. In turn, this will help us drive increased awareness, improved marketing, and higher revenues. It provides an ability to define Sage as the company that helps make the business lives of its customers easier. We make our customers’ business lives easier because we can offer:
Q2: What is the timeline? A2: Over the summer, detailed implementation plans will be finalized. A formal announcement to our customers, partners, and the markets will be made in the fall. We anticipate the full transition of the brand changes will be completed by the end of 2012. Q3: What are the new product names? A3: The new product names will be formally announced in the fall. At this point, however, we can confirm that we intend to use a model similar to what is used by Sage operating companies in the United Kingdom and France. In this approach, most products are grouped into families unified by a number, such as Sage 50 accounting and Sage 50 construction. Product names like MAS 90, Timberline, or Peachtree are dropped to facilitate customer identification with the larger Sage brand. Q4: Is the market ready for us to do this? A4: Yes. We began this journey in 2005 when Sage reacquired the legal right to use the Sage trademark in the United States. First, we added “Sage” to our product names, then we transitioned all brands into a common visual identity. Today’s plan represents a logical next step. Because our brand tracking studies show that our customers today know both who Sage is and that their product is part of the Sage family, we are confident we can take that next step. Q5: Are we operationally ready to do this? A5: Yes. A cross-functional team within Sage has been assembled. Already, the team has developed a detailed implementation plan that it has begun to execute. Over the course of the summer, this team will work with all business units to ensure that they have detailed action plans in place. Q6: Aren't we losing a lot by moving away from our well-known product brands? A6: As with any business plan, there are risks. But we believe that we understand how to mitigate the risks, and that the potential benefits outweigh those risks. Also, although some of our product brands are very well known, they have also been in the marketplace for as much as thirty years or more and sometimes have accumulated connotations that work against them, and prove very difficult to change. Q7: Will all product names change? A7: Most will, but not all. Some names already fit very closely within the planned model and will either not change or be modified only slightly. This is true of most connected services. There are also programs currently intended as offerings that support all of Sage and have generic names already designed to do that; for example, Sage Business Care. Finally, some products, due to either specific business plans or limited intent to acquire new customers, will not change their names. Q8: Will there be a formal rollout of the brand changes when they are finalized? A8: We are working closely with Sage Business Unit leadership to identify and design the most effective internal rollout, and details will be communicated later in the fall.
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