Software Publishers Association Announces First National Retail
Merchandising Campaign Built Around its Codie Awards

First-of-its kind program features ten award-winning software titles in
more than 1,900 retail locations nationwide

August 8, 1994 (Washington, DC) - The Software Publishers Association,
(SPA), the principal trade group of the PC software industry, today
announced an ambitious in-store merchandising campaign built around its
prestigious Codie Awards. The Codie National Retail Merchandising Campaign
marks the first time the Codie Awards have been extended to a retail
merchandising and promotions effort. SPA developed the campaign in
association with Levy & Wurz Channel Marketing in Seattle, the industry's
recognized leader in channel promotions and merchandising.

Now in their tenth year, the Codie Awards are the Oscars of the software
industry - the only peer recognition accorded to outstanding software
packages. SPA announced this year's winners at its annual spring symposium
in San Francisco.

"This campaign reflects software's ascendancy as a hot consumer product,
with strong growth in personal productivity, home and school education,
and entertainment," said Kevin Schoeler, manager of the Software
Publishers Association's Consumer Section. "That in turn has prompted us
to extend the concept of the Codies from an industry recognition award
into a complete marketing and merchandising campaign. Just as film studios
leverage the Academy Awards to sell tickets, so can consumer-oriented
software publishers build product recognition and sales based on the Codie
Award."

Schoeler noted that software vendors' promotional dollars are getting
stretched as distribution outlets multiply. "Software packages are sold
not only by computer superstores and software-only retailers, but by many
new channels, including consumer electronics outlets and
mass-merchandisers. This program affords participation in a national
retail campaign at a fraction of the normal cost."

Max Wurz, a partner with Levy & Wurz Channel Marketing, noted that
cooperation sales promotion and merchandising programs represent a big
step in the software industry's transition to a mass market packaged goods
business. "We believe the SPA campaign paves the way for many more
comparable programs," he said.

The first Codies National Retail Merchandising Campaign features 10 winning
products from eight SPA member publishers:

COMPANY                         PRODUCT
---------------------           -----------------------

Berkeley Systems                Disney Screensaver

Br0derbund                      Myst

Davidson & Associates           Davidson's Kid CAD

Edmark                          Thinkin' Things
                                KidDesk Family Edition

Intuit                          Quicken 3.0

Knowledge Adventure             3D Dinosaur Adventure

Maxis                           SimCity 2000
                                SimFarm

WordPerfect                     Mental Math Games

Nearly 2,000 outlets from seven retail stores chain are participating in
the first-time program. These chain stores include Egghead, Sears,
Software Etc., Electronics Boutique, Adray's, Nobody Beats the Wiz, and
AAFES/NEXCOM, a supplier to military bases. The Campaign rolls out in
August, and is timed to take advantage of back-to-school promotions.

A recent SPA survey shows that about half of consumers purchasing
educational and entertainment packages for their home computer had no
title in mind when they entered the store. The Codie Campaign will
increase consumer confidence by highlighting the best-of-class software
chosen by the industry, itself.

Point of purchase materials include shelf wobblers for each participating
product with a photograph and product copy. "Take One" awards brochures
and counter cards describing the winning products in each category, and
end cap signs promoting the awards and merchandise with participating
products.

The Software Publishers Association is the principal trade association of
the personal computer software industry. Its more than 1,100 members
represent the leading publishers in the business, consumer and education
markets. The SPA has offices in Washington, DC and Paris, France. SPA
press releases are available online through CompuServe. (GO: SPAFORUM)

Software Publishers Association
1730 M St, Northwest, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036
202-452-1600,  Fax: 202-223-8756

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