Compaq Inks Supplies, Marketing Deal with Disney

Compaq Computer Corp. Thursday signed on with the Walt Disney Internet Group as its preferred technology provider in a three-year marketing and co-branding agreement worth more than $100 million.

Compaq will advertise on Walt Disney Internet Group Web sites and the host will load up on the computer maker’s hardware and technology services. Walt Disney Internet Group will also lend its content to Compaq consumer products.

From servers to laptops, Compaq’s products will power Disney.com, ESPN.com, ABC.com and ABCNEWS.com, which collectively receive nearly two billion page views per month, something Compaq is clearly in the know about and will put to use.

In the two-way deal, the Disney sites will also loom large on Compaq’s Presario computers.

Internet Group Chairman Steve Bornstein got right to the point in a company statement issued Thursday when he said the alliance is a “very significant revenue generating opportunity for our business.”

“It allows us to consolidate our technology platform and focus our planned technology investment with Compaq, one of the world’s leading technology companies that offers leading edge technology infrastructure solutions,” Bornstein said.

The deal is an extension of a 10-year corporate alliance inked between the two outfits last April.

Compaq had already been a major provider of servers, PCs and services to Disney, but the corporate deal and Thursday’s deal underline the benefits the major brands have in working with each other: Disney enjoys Compaq’s services and technology and it pays handsomely for them while Compaq benefits from the cash and the good faith of one of the largest entertainment and media conglomerates in the world.