Brand Communication

SNSD (Girl's Generation), South Korea Brand Ambassadors

Intel has used the Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model to “create awareness, linking points-of-parity and points-of-difference associations, elicit positive judgments or feelings and facilitate a stronger customer-brand connection and brand resonance”. The key to its brand-building success, ultimately creating unique brand identities, is consistency – staying consistent with the use of brand elements and programs.

Brand Building

Advertising

Intel used a traditional approach to brand building using TV and print supported by place advertising to create exposure and attention of the brand. The intent was to change consumer perceptions and behavior about an impersonal technology company. The advertising used ultimately increases sales.

The Evolution of Intel Advertisements

Promotion

Intel is an ingredient brand therefore it was important to the brand to gain support from OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to create a pull strategy with consumers. Co-op advertising agreements were developed to establish a push strategy with these manufacturers to facilitate the sale of the product. These agreements provided the manufacturers with funding to include the Intel logo in their TV and print ads, eliciting positive feelings about the ingredient brand. These trade promotions also used the well-known Intel jingle to create a customer-brand connection when the consumer heard an ad on TV.

Will.i.am joins Intel as Director of Creative Innovation

Brand associations

As an ingredient brand, Intel’s key challenge is convincing the end-user that the ingredient is just as important as the end product. Consumer brand associations are corporate related including confidence, innovative, trusted/reliable, leader, and precise, focused and high quality. These associations are also built on the OEMs that Intel has partnered with and have developed a category point of parity. A limitation to this would be creating enough awareness and preference for the ingredient brand that consumer will not buy another product without this ingredient.

Intel Criteria

Intel has successfully created the most effective and efficient communication program using Keller’s suggested relevant criteria in assessing the collective impact of its programs.

As Keller states in the text, marketers should use “mix and match” communication options to build brand equity, choosing a variety of different tactics. Even though Intel’s focused efforts have proven successful, it could have also potentially limited itself by not using a broad view brand-building approach. It focused on two to three marketing options to building its brands potentially limiting brand recall and recognition. However, by focusing its efforts on these limited options, it was able to successfully become an expert in its marketing programs.

Reference: Keller, Kevin. 2008. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity

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