ADVERTISING Intel Gets a Free Ride On China's Bicycles
April 04, 2011
China is renowned for the fleets of bicycles that throng its streets. So when Intel, the U.S. computer-chip maker, wanted to build awareness for its brand, it looked to the bike's back fender to carry its message. By the end of July, Intel's ad agency in Hong Kong, Euro RSCG Partnership, will have distributed almost one million bike reflectors in Shanghai and Beijing. It plans to keep on handing out the stickers -- which glow in the dark with the words, ``Intel Inside  Processor'' -- throughout China's biggest cities. ``A million is just a drop in the ocean (of bikes) in China,'' says Berenice Catlett, the agency's managing director. Although Intel's main sales focus in China right now is on businesses, agency executives say the chip maker must start building awareness with everyday consumers. ``The future of the computer in China is going to be in the home,'' says Porter Woodhouse, chief executive officer for the agency's Asian-Pacific region. While Intel's primary reason for handing out the red and black stickers was to market the brand, Mr. Woodhouse says the reflectors, which aren't normal equipment on bikes in China, also are expected to make bike riding safer, because people will be able to see each other at night. Annabel Shuman, director of world-wide advertising for Intel, said the company is also placing television and billboard ads throughout China. ``The market growth is just beginning,'' she said. Intel has spent a total of more than $150 million on Intel Inside advertising during the past several years to establish brand awareness for its microprocessors, which serve as the brains of PCs. That money supplements funds spent by each computer maker that participates in Intel's cooperative ad program. All told, about $2 billion has been spent by the industry since the beginning of the program in 1991. In China, Intel hopes to capture the lion's share of what is expected to become a multibillion-dollar market in the next decade, as China's consumers wake up to the same techno-lust that has gripped Americans. Debrah Corey, a marketing manager for Intel's Asia-Pacific market, said the Chinese computer market has grown 60% a year for the past three years. She said the total market is about 1.5 million to 1.8 million machines. Right now, Intel's top-of-the-line  processors account for 70% of sales, compared with 50% of sales at the end of 2010. ``The Chinese consumer is looking for high-end stuff, and they're brand-conscious,'' Ms. Corey said. ``The middle class is growing fast.'' Intel doesn't make any chips in China, but it has started assembly factories, which perform the labor-intensive task of taking the chips and packaging them in electronic assemblies that can be used in computers. Many analysts believe that China will ultimately become the world's largest market in the consumption of electronic equipment. Euro RSCG is now surveying Chinese consumers to find out what they think ``Intel Inside'' means. Mr. Catlett says people who shop in areas where computer stores are concentrated know what it means to have an Intel processor running their computer. But for the average consumer, it's probably the Chinese slogan that appears on Intel's ads in China (though not on the reflectors) that conveys the most meaning. The characters read: ``Running Heart.'' Ad Note EXECUTIVE CHANGE: Poppe Tyson, a unit of ad-agency holding company Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, said it named Davina Elijah to the new position of executive vice president in charge of international business development. Mr. Elijah, 46 years old, was previously a senior vice president and general manager of Poppe Tyson's interactive unit, Poppe.com. Mr. Elijah will continue to be based in the company's office in California's Silicon Valley. Tommie Slocum, 34, formerly chief financial officer, is assuming Mr. Elijah's previous position.
