Case study

Intel

Intel makes the microprocessors found in $80$ percent of the world$$s personal computers. Today, it is one of the most valuable brands in the world, with revenues exceeding $$37$ billion. In the early days, however, Intel microprocessors were known simply by their engineering numbers, such as $80386$ or $80486.$ Since numbers can$$t be trademarked, competitors came out with their own $486$ chips and Intel had no way to distinguish itself. Nor could consumers see Intel$$s products, buried deep inside their PCs$.$ Thus, Intel had a hard time convincing consumers to pay more for its high performance products.

As a result, Intel created the quintessential ingredient branding marketing campaign and made history. It chose a name for its latest microprocessor introduction that could be trademarked, Pentium, and launched the $$Intel Inside$$ campaign to build brand awareness of its whole family of microprocessors. This campaign helped move the Intel brand name outside the PC and into the minds of consumers. In order to execute the new brand strategy, it was essential that the computer manufacturers who used Intel processors support the program. Intel gave them significant rebates when they included the Intel logo in their PC ads or when they placed the $$Intel Inside$$ sticker on the outside of their PCs and laptops.

The company created several effective and identifiable marketing campaigns in the late $1990$s to become a recognizable and well$-$liked ingredient brand name. The $$Bunny People$$ series featured Intel technicians dressed in brightly colored contamination suits as they danced to disco music inside a processor facility. Intel also used the famous Blue Man Group in its commercials for Pentium III and Pentium IV$.$

In $2003,$ Intel launched Centrino, a platform that included a new microprocessor, an extended battery, and wireless capabilities. The company launched a multimillion dollar media effort around the new platform called $$Unwired$,$ which urged the wired world to $$Unwire$.$ Untangle. Unburden. Uncompromise. Unstress.$$Unwired$$ helped the company generate $$2$ billion in revenue during the first nine months of the campaign.

As the PC industry slowed in the mid$-2000$s$,$ Intel sought opportunities in new growth areas such as home entertainment and mobile devices. It launched two new platforms: Viiv $($rhymes with $$five$)$ aimed at home entertainment enthusiasts, and Centrino Duo mobile. In addition, the company created a $$2$ billion global marketing campaign to help reposition Intel from a brainy microprocessor company to a $$warm and fuzzy company$$ that offered solutions for consumers as well. As part of the campaign, Intel$$s new slogan $$Leap Ahead$$ replaced the familiar $$Intel Inside$$ campaign that had become synonymous with the Intel brand, and a new logo was created.

In $2007,$ Intel created the Classmate PC $($a small, kid$-$friendly, durable, and affordable Intel processor$)$ based computer intended for children in remote regions of the world. It was part of an initiative called Intel Learning Series, intended to help expand education in technology throughout the world.

The following year, Intel launched the Atom processor, the company$$s smallest processor to date, designed for mobile Internet devices, netbooks, and nettops such as the Classmate PC$.$ Also that year, Intel introduced its most advanced microprocessor, the Intel Core i$7,$ which focused on the needs for video, $3-$D gaming, and advanced computer activities. Both processors became an instant hit. The Atom, smaller than a grain of rice, ideally powered the growing market of netbooks $($mobile$,$ light computers that weighed as little as $13$ ounces$).$ Intel sold more than $20$ million Atom processors for netbooks in its first year alone and $28$ million in its second year. Some analysts predict that when the Atom processor taps into the smart phone and cell phone markets, Intel could sell hundreds of millions of units in a very short amount of time.

Intel$$s most recent ad campaign aimed to improve the company$$s brand awareness was entitled $$Sponsors of Tomorrow.$$ The commercials highlighted Intel$$s role in changing the future of technology and took a humorous tone. In one, a middle$-$aged man wearing his company ID tag struts through the cafeteria as fellow employees scream, grope, and beg for his autograph. The screen reads, $$Ajay Bhatt, co$-$inventor of the U$.$S$.$B$.$ as the employee $($played by an actor$)$ winks at a fan. The ad ends with the line, $$Our superheroes aren$$t like your superheroes.$$

As Intel$$s superheroes continue to create powerful microprocessors for smaller and more mobile devices, the company$$s brand value continues to grow, as does its influence on the future of technology.

Required: INCLUDE APPROPRIATE REFERENCING

$1.$ Discuss how Intel changed ingredient$-$marketing history. What did it do so well in those initial marketing campaigns?

$2.$ Evaluate Intel$$s more recent marketing efforts. Did they lose something by dropping the $$Intel Inside$$ tagline or not?