Yet the company will drop its trademark Intel Inside and dropped-e logo, it has confirmed.
In a bid to reflect its changing strategy toward consumer electronics, and away from its core commodity PC business, the company’s new tagline would be Intel. Leap Ahead. And the new Intel logo has an oval swirl around the company’s name.
However, Intel’s three-tone tune used in OEM and Intel TV commercials would remain, said an Intel spokesperson. That tune, which the company calls the Intel bong, would now appear when the new Intel logo or an Intel product logo appears on screen, he said.
The re-branding follows Intel’s reorganization early last year, from product groups into market segments, which was spearheaded by the company’s first non-engineering CEO Paul Otellini.
The new marketing campaign also comes within weeks of the appointment of former Samsung branding star Eric Kim to Intel’s chief marketing officer. On December 1, Kim became Intel’s first CMO in what a company spokesperson said underscored the increasing importance of marketing to consumers, a growing target audience for the company.
Intel has one of the most valuable brands in the world, and we intend to grow the value of our brand as we evolve the company, said Kim, in a statement. This evolution will allow Intel to be better recognized for our contributions, establish a stronger emotional connection with our audiences, and strengthen our overall position in the marketplace.
A company spokesperson said Grove is aware of the re-branding and has applauded it.
Pentium M-branded chips also are slowly being phased out in favor of low-powered Core-branded microprocessors, previously codenamed Yonah. Single- and dual-core devices are expected to be sold as Core Solo or Core Duo products.
Core processors will drive the upcoming Viiv multimedia consumer platform, which Otellini is expected to talk up at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Logos for other individual processors, chipsets and motherboards also will be redesigned, Intel said.
Otellini, who took the helm from Craig Barrett in May, reorganized the company around four key markets: mobile, digital home, enterprise and health. He also has helped steer the company away from its previous focus of microprocessor speed.
Santa Clara, California-based Intel did not disclose the estimated cost of the new marketing campaign, but some pundits have pegged it as much as $2bn during the course of 2006.
