Acer targets power users with Premium line

The faces of enduring screen villains Cherie Gil and Celia Rodriguez glower down on EDSA traffic. Menacing, unsmiling, and downright disturbing, the large black-andwhite billboard invariably draws the attention. No product, no pitch; just two grand antagonists ready to rumble. It’s hardly the stuff of sexy, sleek advertising efforts – but therein lies the genius.

That’s how noted global IT brand Acer recently launched its local Acer Premium campaign. It’s not a sub-brand but a marketing brand strategy, insists Acer product and marketing director Agnes Neria-Espino in an exclusive interview with The STAR.

“Acer Premium targets the more mature market segment,” she explains. These are individuals who prefer “gadgets with both power and looks.” Thus, collected within the ambit of Acer Premium are the company’s top-of-the-line products. Still, there is enough wiggle room within the more rarefied line that should make the products available to more.

Acer Premium notebooks begin at P30,000 and reach a ceiling of P80,000. So-called two-in-ones are priced from P25,000 to P60,000; desktops range from P24,000 to P53,000, peripherals (projectors and monitors) cost P50,000 to P115,000; smartphones are P11,000 to P16,000; and tablets range from P11,000 to P15,000.

The Aspire R 13, for instance, is Acer’s convertible laptop that changes into six user modes through the company’s proprietary Aero Hinge. Encased in Corning Gorilla Glass 3, the Aspire R 13 is a “tough, beautiful, and strikingly slender PC with an equally impressive processing prowess and full HD entertainment suite.”

Despite its minimalist profile, the Acer Revo One is a data and entertainment center that boasts up to 5TB worth of videos, music, media, and data. For power gamers, the Aspire V Nitro is a full-throttle gaming notebook “with sleek lines, sharp angles, (a) slim profile, and dramatic blend of premium materials” equipped with an Intel Core i7 chip, 2TB plus 60GB SSD storage, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX860M.”

Acer is a Taiwan-based hardware, software, and services company that employs 7,000 people. Ranked fourth in total PCs sold globally, Acer locally leads in notebook and PC sales, with 35.3 percent and 19.5 percent share, respectively, according to the International Data Corp. (IDC).

Meanwhile, Gartner Inc., an American information technology research and advisory firm, predicted the rise of demand in two-in-ones (tabet/laptop) this year. Neria-Espino confirms that Acer is poised to take advantage of the spike. “We have competitive two-in-ones in the market today,” she declares. The Aspire Switch 12, for instance, comes with a distinctive keyboard design that allows it to convert into any of five modes. With a full-HD IPS display, the two-in-one runs on the Intel Core M processor with 128GB SSD storage. The Aspire Switch 11, on the other hand, comes in brushed aluminum finish.

Despite the glut of firms peddling computer products flooding the market today, Neria-Espino insists that Acer distinguishes itself in quality, aside from its variety of products. “Acer carries a complete line of PC products for different markets. We have different screen sizes, form factors even, end-user positioning – commercial, consumer accounts, etc.,” she says.

Good enough, the company would surely contend, for even the most discriminating primera contravida who demands power and looks.