KYOCERA Document Solutions
Grab the popcorn – it’s time to relieve some classic Kyocera commercials that we’ve dusted off from the archives! As part of our campaign to celebrate 50 years in proud partnership with American businesses, here we look at how our advertising has evolved across the decades here in the United States.
Advertising has always been a reflection of society, consumer habits, and technological evolution. By looking at any given magazine ad or TV commercial from the past, it’s possible to get a sense of the zeitgeist from that moment in time.
Over the years, the messages, style, and image quality of our commercials have changed significantly, but one thing remains the same: our commitment to continuous innovation. That's why Kyocera equipment of 1990 differed so greatly from that of 1980, and why today’s offering doesn’t much resemble our portfolio from the beginning of the century. We are constantly innovating to meet the current and future needs of our customers. This refusal to stand still in the face of technological change is crucial to understanding why Kyocera has been able to grow alongside American businesses over the last five decades in the United States.
The best example of this can be seen in a 1989 Mita Copystar America commercial showing the technological evolution of our equipment from the 1950s to that time. Can you imagine being amazed with a print speed of 12 ppm? Those were, indeed, the most competitive figures at the time. Check out the commercial for yourself here.
We have also used humor to demonstrate our commitment to raising the bar in printing technology. This can be seen in the following Mita Copystar America commercial which uses the claim: "Unlike other companies, we only have one thing on our minds." With its sci-fi vibes this commercial was able to deliver the message about the quality and game-changing nature of our innovation. You can see it for yourself here.
As marketing experts will know, good advertising is able to connect and a product/service with current trends. It joins the dots between the new and the relatable and familiar. By 1998, the Robocop franchise had already made three films and was also making it big on TV. In this commercial we can see Robocop in an office looking for the best printing equipment among the latest Mita models. Don’t believe us? Watch it here.
A Mita Robocop commercial – that indeed happened!”
With the turn of the century and Kyocera’s acquisition of Mita, the tone and aesthetics of the commercials were getting closer to what we see before us today. In the following 2008 commercial, we compared the functionality of our printers with those of our competitors while using a simple yet strong slogan: People Friendly. It’s a selling point that we continue to champion to this day. Check it out here.
Over the past 50 years we have shown that, if there's satisfaction to be boasted, we’re not afraid to do so. In 2009, we were named the #1 copier at the J.D. Power and Associates awards in the category of “Multifunction product in overall customer satisfaction among business users.” Reliability and quality seemed and still seem to us to be a good reason to smile. Watch the commercial here.
In 2012, Kyocera Mita America was renamed Kyocera Document Solutions America. With this change came a new logo, new business objectives, and a renewed openness to new messages and formats. During that time, economist Peter Morici of the University of Maryland starred in several commercials talking about the true cost of documents and the low TCO of Kyocera equipment. “Go from chaos to Kyocera,” was one of his standout slogans. Watch it here.
In 2013 we premiered one of our most memorable commercials. One that demonstrated how a document can help save the planet, make a parent proud, and even save an innocent person's life. And, as the commercial says, “If the document is important, the company is important.” Check it out here.
We close this review of Kyocera Document Solutions America's advertising evolution with the most amusing of the lot. Can you imagine doing a comedy performance at our annual dealer conference in Dallas? Well, we did just that in 2013 with a sketch highlighting how much we've changed. See it for yourself here.
Society, companies, customers; everything has changed since the 1970s. When we started working in America, the printing market was nothing like it is today.
This is evident across the above commercials that are windows into the technology, trends, and moods of the time.
Over the past 50 years, we have raised our Kyocera fighting spirit to become a global leader in document solutions, providing a wide range of office technology, diverse software solutions, commercial printing technology, and ICT.
Today we use this experience as our springboard to drive new success with our partners, American businesses, across the country.
