Atari Coin Connection

EMPHASIS ON
INTERNATIONAL
MARKET
-
.
ATARI ATTRACTION
AT AMOA
BETTERS MANAGES
SERVICE
Atari's booth at AMOA is certain to
be a major attraction. There will be·
many more exciting new products on
display this year. New games will be
officially introduced at the show. In
addition, there will be a spectacular
preview of other games that are being
developed and tested.
r:::a
Booths 16-36 will be a hub of activity
with Atari's all-new display and
presentation of some of the most amaz-
• ing attractions in coin game history.
Frank Ballouz, National Sales
Manager, commented, "We look for-
ward to a spectacular show this year. I
know that Atari will have some of the
most outs tan ding products ever."
Sue Elliott, Atari's International
Marketing Administrator, is on an ex-
tended trip to meet with Atari Euro-
pean distributors. One of the primary
goals of this trip is to further evaluate
the international game market and
determine guidelines for additional
support for their marketing efforts.
Sue will be working together with
Atari Marketing Services to initiate a
major research effort to study the inter-
national marketplace. In her meetings
with distributors, Sue will be collecting
primary and secondary information on
the current market and future poten-
tials.
There is evidence of significant
growth of game sales in most European
countries. It is important for Atari to
learn more about the future potential
growth and specific needs to better
serve this market. The findings from
the interviews with distributors on this
trip will be combined with inputs from
other international and domestic
research efforts to develop a better
understanding of the total market
status. With this evaluation, Atari will
be implementing new directions in pro-
duct development and support to max-
imize our effectiveness in the
marketplace.
ATARI IRELAND OPENS
Atari, Inc. announces the opening of
a new manufacturing facility in Tip-
perary, Ireland. Atari will be manufac-
turing video games for the European
market in this new location. "We
believe that Atari Ireland will enable us
to better serve the growing interna-
tional market in the European coun-
tries,'' commented Gene Lipkin, Vice
President and General Manager of Coin-
operated Games Division.
Atari Ireland, LTD, is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Atari, Inc. This manufac-
turing facility is headed by Gil
Williams, Atari Vice-President of
Manufacturing, who has organized and
initiated its operation in Ireland. The
new facility will be in full production of
all current Atari games in the near
future.
©
Atari Inc. 1978
See you in Chicago, November 10-12.
PROMOTION IDEAS
COUPONS
Tony Bado of Anthony Amusements,
Dale City, VA, writes:
'' As an operator in several locations,
including an arcade, I needed some in-
centive to increase traffic." He has
designed a colorful coupon (2" x 4")
good for 2 free games in the arcade.
''The coupon is given to every 'kid' I
see," he continues. Mr. Bado also
noted that the card coupons are quite
inexpensive and effective.
Thank you for this suggestion. You
could also contact scout troop leaders
or other youth organizations to have
the coupons ha_nded out at their
meetings.
DISCO/GAME CONTEST
A disco night at the local game center
can be a big attraction with the new
popularity of dancing. A local radio
station sponsorship would be an ex-
cellent tie-in for this type promotion.
A disco contest in conjunction with a
special game competition could make a
spectacular weekend promotion event.
,
•
l
I
Bob Betters is now Atari's Manager
of Customer Service. In this position
his main objective is to better
systemize and coordinate parts and
technical support functions to max-
imize the efficiency of Customer Ser-
vice. Bob will be implementing parts
procurement and order processing
into Atari's data processing system to
assure more timely and effective
operation. He will also work closely
with the technical support group to
improve communications for optimum
response to customer needs in the
field.
Bob came to Atari with fourteen years
experience in technical product sup-
port. He most recently worked
for Casper Instruments in quality
Assurance and Customer Service
Management for semiconductor pro-
cessing equipment over the past six
years. Fran.k Ballouz reported, "I have
a lot of confidence in Bob's ability to
manage our Customer Service Depart-
ment. He is extremely well qualified
and will implement more effective pro-
grams to continue our efforts to provide
the best service support in the in-
dustry."
BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
In the past week, over 8 million people
in the United States played at least one
coin-operated video or pinball game.