Things change, even if we don’t want them
to. No company operating in the free market can be successful in perpetuity by delivering
the same products with the same marketing and the same margins. While it is
easy and natural to crave consistency and avoid risk, the changing nature of
life and our environment requires us to change, to adapt, and to take chances
in order to survive.
If one thing distinguishes Intel’s
innovative thinking, it is their 1990s strategy of branding a semiconductor
chip as a valuable feature that consumers would look for when they purchased a
computer. The campaign’s two decades of ubiquity make us forget this now, but
at the time it was an incredibly novel approach to marketing. People bought
computers because of the software, the specs, or a friend’s recommendation. Who
cared about who made some tiny chip inside the box that you couldn’t even see?
But with the proliferation of PCs, and with
consumers at a loss in trying to figure out what made one better than the
other, Intel saw an opportunity, and so it took a major risk. Intel’s
leadership was convinced this was the way to grow market share, however, and
the company invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the effort.
Intel’s plan was to shift the image of
Intel from that of a chip company to that of a producer of a coveted,
brand-name product that stood for performance.
Intel’s strategy was to go all out in the
CES (Consumer Electronics Show) by rolling out ever-larger, more elaborate and
immersive exhibits showcasing the company’s cutting-edge technology. Visitors
could not forget being inside the “Intel experience” and feeling like they were
touching the future. By using an amazing multimedia cascading exhibit, Intel
managed to convey to the audience that it was way ahead of almost everyone
else. The same impression could not be felt by reading a two-dimensional ad in
a magazine or even watching a television commercial. Intel wisely used the live
experience to change the very perception of its company, its products, and its
importance.
Today, Intel is pushing the "Intel experience" even further
Intel also cleverly used its CEO keynote
and marketing around the show, including signage, publications, and live
events, to ensure that every CES visitor knew about “Intel Inside.” Soon,
consumers looked for that label before buying a computer, much in the same way
that they look for the American Dental Association Seal of Acceptance when shopping
for a toothpaste. By marketing itself in that way, Intel transformed into a
brand known to millions of otherwise technology-illiterate consumers. Those
consumers might not have known a motherboard from a mainframe, but they had
“Intel Inside.”
The Intel marketing campaign brings to
light three key things:
First, a clever company can create
something out of almost nothing by thinking outside the box. Intel turned a
chip into a brand and that brand into billions in added sales.
Second, Intel’s success reveals the
power of trade shows to create an indelible live, interactive marketing
experience. Intel captured the critical influencers who attended the trade
show, including the media, retailers, and Wall Street. Intel’s marketing
wizardry impressed upon them that the company was becoming not just another
chip fabricator, but a brand in its own right.
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| Craig Barrett, former Intel CEO shows the 2005 version of the Entertainment PC while giving the keynote address |
Finally, Intel teaches us the value of a
visible CEO in enhancing and transforming the image of a company. Almost every
other year, Intel CEO Craig Barrett delivered a keynote address at CES. (His
successor, Paul Otellini, delivered the CES keynote in 2012.) Barrett used
every second of his allotted sixty minutes to demonstrate how Intel “got” the
future. The audience perception was that Intel was at the center of the product
offerings of so many other companies. The CEO would not only convey factual
information about the company and its products, but also leave every audience
member impressed by the importance and future of Intel.
Reference: GARY SHAPIRO
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