Inside the 'Inside Intel' Campaign (INTC)

"Intel Inside" was the first, and arguably the best, "ingredient" branding to come out of Madison Avenue. And thanks to that campaign everyone knows that Intel chips are inside computers. But the success of that ad push, which made its debut in 1991, created an image of Intel as a staid chipmaker. 

Defined by a logo
"People think of [Intel] as a microprocessor company and that's a shame," said Paul Venables, founder and creative director of Intel's creative agency, Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco. "Marketing in the past was always tied to the next chip or product and then co-branded with HP or Dell or other partners. ... 'Intel Inside' did a great job of making a brand out of something like chips at a time when ingredient branding was unheard of. But 10 or 20 years later, their whole identity was wrapped up in that little 'Intel Inside' logo."

If "Intel Inside" created the perception of a factory stamping out mini bits of silicon, then what's inside Intel? For starters, the company's inventors, who hold scores of patents for things such as universal serial buses (those connecting ports known as USBs), the DVD and airbag-safety technology and are working on futuristic projects including wireless power, neural sensors and personal robotics.

So the tech titan turned to a new marketing strategy this spring, called "Sponsors of Tomorrow," to change those perceptions, and now a second iteration, which launched Sunday night on the Emmy Awards, is beginning.

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