What is your vision for Gateway?
I would like Gateway to be recognised as a global brand and certainly as a provider of very high-quality, affordable products. The near-term is centred around PC products -- desktops, notebooks, servers and, in the intermediate term, convergence products.
Do you want Gateway thought of as only a PC company?
We want to break out of that and take our brand beyond PCs. That becomes trickier. I think it requires different approaches.
I think there is a distinction here. Brand personality is typically the characteristic of the company itself. You could consider us a witty, friendly offering -- technology without being technical. There are certain aspects of our brand personality that I think would resonate in all channels. In terms of a PC company, that is where we came from. We built our brand and our brand recognition because we sold PCs.
How does that tie in with the vision for Gateway?
You have to have a well-defined brand that everybody fundamentally agrees on and understands. Then you build on that for the long-term vision. Will it work in different product segments? The answer right now is: I don't know. I believe it works for convergence very well. I think people who look at convergence products -- products that are PC-enabled or act like a PC -- would think Gateway would be a natural brand.
What will this involve, in terms of people or new investments?
All we are really doing is leveraging what has already been done. A lot of it is back to basics. When you go to a period of discovery or rediscovery, you kind of go back to what you are really good at.
As a company that has been struggling, we need to really focus on things that we are naturally good at first -- get a bunch of wins under our belt and energise not only our employees but also people who buy from us.
