Moog Liberation "Is coming..." pre-launch ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Moog Liberation pre-launch 1/2-page advertisement from page 52 in Contemporary Keyboard June 1980.

Update: added to the Moog interactive advertising timeline.

I've come to love pre-launch advertisements. The Sequential Circuits Pro-One series of pre-launch ads were simple but fun, and the Korg Sigma pre-launch ad was just gorgeous looking. Pre-launch ads usually just run in one issue, and I'll never think one month of advertising is enough for a magazine audience in the 70s or 80s, but I can't deny their appeal.

I love them so much I've created a new blog label called "pre-launch".

And the Liberation's simple but effective pre-launch advertisement doesn't disappoint either. I can't help but compare it to Moog's earlier Minimoog "KISS" (Keep It Simple, Stupid) ads - this September 1979 "When you've got the sound" colour ad, and this July 1979 "You know what this is" black and white ad (it doesn't even include a logo!). Simple. Effective.

This time, its the outline of the Liberation that is the focus of the ad. And any keyboardist even remotely (no pun intended) familiar with some of the more recognizable custom "keytar" instruments that had already been developed and played by Powell and others, would know what type of instrument Moog was about to launch. But, I wonder how good Moog was at keeping the actual specs of the Liberation a secret. I would have to think that prior to the Internet... pretty good.

I didn't cover any of the specs in my first Liberation ad blog post because the stats are pretty well documented on the Web. A simple Google search will bring up the familiar results:

• Vintage Synth Explorer Liberation page
• SynthMuseum.com Liberation page
  
• Moog Liberation Wikipedia page

And of course, if you want photos, look no further than a Google Images Search. And, really, all you need is this rather recent June 2011 MATRIXSYNTH auction post. It includes a wack of great close-up colour photos of the instrument, front panel and back. Just look at the shiny flashes of color on those controls!

Beautiful. Drool.

Lots more photos of other Liberations on MATRIXSYNTH too.

Wait a tick! I just noticed something that I had never clued into before... the logo-type font on the back of the Liberation in that MATRIXSYNTH auction post looks *nothing* like the Liberation logo-type font used for the word "Liberation" in this pre-launch ad or the Tom Schuman "Treat Yourself to FREEDOM" ad.

Here's a good photo of the back on the Liberation from that MATRIXSYNTH post.

Gah! I crave consistency!

But, even more interesting - Tom's Liberation definitely has that 60's style logo-type on the back panel - not that typical Moogy-looking font.

I did a quick scan through Google Images, and can't find a photo of a Liberation with the 60's style logo. Either Tom is playing a pre-production model or there are a few rare production Liberations with the old 60's style logo-type floating around out there.

Either way - Boo to the change! The Liberation was meant to be a fun instrument. And a fun instrument should have a fun 60's style logo! They should have kept it.

If you've seen one of these special Liberations (or own one!), please let me know.

End note: I just realized why exactly I get a little confused by Tom Schuman's photo in that other Liberation ad. He really does remind me of that guy from one of my favorite early 80's shows when I was a kid "The Greatest American Hero" - William Kat. I think Tom just needs to trade in the feathered hair for a perm.

And, if you look at the T.V. show's intro, six seconds in you get to a familiar shot:

Look familiar? Remember that Syntar brochure cover...?

Hmmm. I'm starting to see connections everywhere.

Enough blogging for today :D

Sequential Circuits Inc. pre-launch countdown ads, January 1981

Sequential Circuits Inc. pre-launch countdown ads from pages 30, 32, and 34 in Contemporary Keyboard Magazine January 1981.

Update: Added to Sequential Circuits interactive advertising timeline.

What a great set of ads! I'm a big fan of teaser ads when they are done right. So when such a beautiful, simple, small, under-the-radar set of teaser ads comes out by SCI, I'm gonna jump on 'em - even when there isn't much to see. I almost felt silly scanning them, so to help with the visual, I've included small thumbnails of the pages that these ads were found on so positioning can be seen.

I assume that most readers coming across these ads behaved similarly to me.

I came across the first ad almost subconsciously the first time I breezed through the January 1981 issue of CK. But when I flipped to the next page and saw a similar ad in the exact same space (top left corner of the page), the similarity with the first ad immediately registered in my frontal lobe, and I automatically flipped back to assimilate that first ad as well. Then, my brain's logic circuits immediately hit over-drive, and I instinctively flipped two pages ahead to the same spot to see if there was a third ad. And sure enough!

Good times.... good times...

Unlike readers in 1981 who then had to wait a month for the actual announcement (suckas!), I ran through the living room to grab the February 1981 issue of CK off the shelf. I had a good idea since I had already blogged the ad last summer, but in case you missed it:

Yerp. The lovely Pro-One.

And, after that introductory Pro-One ad ran a couple of times, a more familiar, and soon to be part of a legendary series, Pro-1 ad come out. A series of ads that was so well-received that they were turned into a set of posters.

Yum.

The introduction of the Pro-One wasn't the only SCI announcement to be found in the February 1981 issue of CK. Readers who had managed to read all the way through to page 79 in the magazine without skipping most of the pages to get to the Spec Sheet info (which, I'll admit, is what I used to do), would have come across the Keyboard News section with some great historical reference info. It included a short note about Sequential Circuits' new service centres.

"California-based Sequential Circuits Inc., manufacturer of the Prophet synthesizer, has set up eight new service centers in the U.S. and Canada where owners of SCI products may go to correct instrument problems they encounter on the road. Technicians at the service centers have been personally trained by Dan Ramsauer, the firm's service manager, and are presently located in New York, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, Washington D.C., Atlanta and Los Angeles. Further information about the service centers may be obtained by telephoning Ramsauer or Bob Styles at the company's headquarters, 408-946-5240..."

Great info and probably a good strategy by SCI considering some of the issues with early Prophets.

But back to teaser ads for a sec.

I've questioned the value of magazine teaser ads in the past. With TV or radio, a teaser ad can be run multiple times within a week, a day, or even within the same program. Not so with a magazine. Readers will really only get one or two chances to see the ad in a single issue, so odds are quite high that many will miss it.

For example, Korg ran a teaser ad for the Sigma keyboard in just one issue of CK in 1979. Visually it is a great ad, and considerable resources obviously went into producing it. But was it worth all the time and effort in creating it? Or would an extra month of the actual Sigma ad done more for the marketing of the keyboard?

In the case of these SCI pre-launch teasers, the cost of design and placement of these simple ads probably wasn't even close to the cost of the Korg ad. I guess I just wish it could have lasted more than one issue.

Korg Sigma pre-launch ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1979

Korg Sigma synthesizer pre-launch advertisement from page 31 of Contemporary Keyboard Magazine June 1979.

This Sigma pre-launch ad appeared once in CK one month before the introductory ad I blogged about in my last post. Visually, I love the ad with its torn cardboard box corner that teases readers, giving them a glimpse of exactly what sets the Sigma apart from the competition - a performance machine with two joysticks. Plus, assuming it was intentional, Korg was wise to run both ads on *exactly* the same page of the magazine. I'm sure I'm not the only creature of habit when it comes to reading synthesizer magazines.

Even so, I don't think it built up the anticipation to the extent that Korg was trying to achieve.

The main problem is that this ad only ran once. A single well-placed full-page ad may work in 2010 with our info-at-the-speed-of-the-Internet lifestyle. But not in 1979. This ad should have ran for two or three issues to build up the anticipation more.

And the ad copy doesn't exactly create much excitement either:

"A completely new type of electronic music synthesizer is scheduled for marketing in your area. This highly versatile instrument is outstanding for live performance situations. If you are creatively inclined and eager to explore new fields of musical possibilities, be on the lookout for further announcements. Exciting innovations make this model worth waiting for. "

Seriously? "...scheduled for marketing in your area". That is supposed to get me excited?

Also, the Spec Sheet section at the end of the same issue of CK announces the Sigma - including the unique fact that it has two joysticks - the *only* thing noticeable in this ad. Maybe not everyone read CK front-to-back and would connect the dots, but I sure would. What a way to spoil the surprise. At least they didn't include a photo in the Spec Sheet section.

Finally, Korg was flooding CK with advertising during this time period. There were three other Korg ads appearing in CK during Sigma's pre-launch and intro-ad period (June and July 1979), including the very technical MS-20 and MS-10 ads, and the not-at-all-technical VC-10 ad.

A reader is either going to remember all four ads because they are a Korg-fanatic, or more likely, all that Korgmania is just going to get lost in a sea of gearporn.

Much like when I was growing up and hanging out in our local music store with a recently hired Keyboard guy named Jim (name changed to protect the innocent). He would read Keyboard magazines front-to-back, and then get all the facts mixed up from the different articles and ads.

"Did you read about the new Rhodes Mono/Poly? I heard it has the new sample-to-disk option but still has the patented Moog filter".

What?

Maybe you had to be there.