Star ATM Network to Woo Youths at 'Star Wars'

Star Systems Inc., the automated teller machine network, plans to advertise before movies, including some of the first showings of the new "Star Wars" movie.

The promotion, slightly unusual for a transaction processing company, is unrelated to the company's recent announcement that it has selected the Star brand name over Honor.

Star Systems of San Diego merged last year with the Honor network of Maitland, Fla., and the new parent company, H&S Holding Co., is based in Honor's old headquarters.

Beginning Friday-two days after the opening of "Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace"-Star Systems' advertisements will run for 14 weeks on 450 screens in seven western cities.

The campaign slogan is, "You never know when you'll need money." It will be shown at theaters in Denver, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, and Seattle.

Because the Honor name is still being used in the Southeast, that network's home territory, the ads will not be shown there.

This is the second year in a row that Star Systems has chosen this form of advertising to supplement its radio, bus shelter, and kiosk ads.

Movie ads have been "a very effective approach for us," said Nikki Waters, a spokeswoman for Star Systems. "We really have liked being able to target that audience in a visual way."

The ads "remind consumers of the benefits that are provided to them by their financial institutions, and help support retailers by reminding consumers they have access to cash with their ATM cards," she said.

Star bought the ad slots from National Cinema Network's On-Screen Entertainment program, which shows a rotation of commercials, trivia questions, and Hollywood facts on movie screens before feature films begin.

The three slides Star has placed in rotation depict people in situations where cash would come in handy. In one example, a bride is stranded in a limousine in the desert, trying to hitch a ride.

National Cinema Network says its programming is seen primarily by teens and young adults, the audience Star targeted when it chose its name. In a survey by Interbrand of New York that compared perceptions of the two brands, Star had wider appeal than Honor among younger people.

"Both brands were surprisingly strong and quite equal in prominence in their different markets-Honor on the Eastern Seaboard and Star in the West," said Ronald V. Congemi, president and chief executive officer of Star System. But "they did tend to deliver different messages."

The Interbrand survey, which included 1,200 consumer interviews, found the Star name more closely linked in people's minds to broad-based delivery of electronic banking services, Mr. Congemi said. People were surveyed in 12 markets-five in Honor's territory, five in Star's, and two "neutral" ones-he said.

A May board meeting at which the Star name was chosen was an early step in integrating the networks, Mr. Congemi said. Marketing materials for the banking industry will begin circulating June 1, he said, and a separate consumer-oriented campaign will start next year.

Star's board will meet in August to discuss operating rules and fee structures, and again in November to address "technology migration issues," Mr. Congemi said.

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