Intel to revive ‘Intel inside’ marketing ploy
Intel has ditched its “Multiply” advertising strategy just a year after it was launched in favour of a return to its Intel Inside strapline.
The new “Chips” positioning is a return to the company’s strategy of focusing on Intel chips as an integral component of a product rather than the benefits of the chips on their own. The new campaign, which will be rolled out globally next month, has the strapline “Great Computing Starts with Intel inside”.
The move comes just weeks after Intel was forced to issue an apology and pull an execution of the Multiply campaign in the US after consumers complained it had racist connotations.
Intel UK & Ireland director of marketing Chris Hogg says the new strategy is not related to the issues around the Multiply execution that was axed. He adds: “This was always a long-term campaign objective for the second half of this year and is purely coincidental.”
He says the decision to revert to its previous style of advertising was the result of market research. “Our research showed consumers do not credit processors for the benefits we were promoting with Multiply. This new strategy highlights the fact that Intel processors are at the heart of what computers can do for you.”
Intel denies the Multiply strategy was a failure but says it did not deliver the intended message. The new ads, which have been created by McCann Erickson, will focus on Intel Core Duo chips inside portable computer products and will reinforce their video and multimedia capabilities.
He adds that product reviews and consumer input will play a large part of the marketing strategy.
Earlier this year in an exclusive interview with Marketing Week, Intel global marketing chief Don MacDonald hinted at a return to past ad strategies and admitted that “Intel took its eye off the ball” (MW May 17).
