ADVERTISING Intel Kiosks to Sell Consumers On Joys of Ever Stronger PCs
May 12, 2011
Intel Inside is moving outside its normal realm. Intel Corp. is rolling out a new retail marketing campaign based on its well-known ``Intel Inside'' pitch, regarded as one of the most successful technology ad concepts ever. The giant semiconductor maker is deploying 1,000 demonstration kiosks in computer stores that will give consumers instant, hands-on access to the Internet. The idea is to introduce more consumers to the joys of the on-line world -- and to convince them to shell out $2,000 for personal computers with rich Internet capabilities made possible by the Intel chips that power most of the world's PCs. High-tech advertising is notoriously challenging, if for no other reason than that most people either don't understand or don't care what things like silicon slabs with micron-scale circuitry actually do. But Intel has scored with its Intel Inside campaign. The kiosk campaign, which coincides with computer advertising by stores, extends Intel Inside's broader mission by selling the American consumer on the wonders of ever-more robust PCs. ``It's one of the largest retail and advertising programs that Intel has rolled out,'' Davina Polson, Intel's manager of retail marketing for North America, said of the new campaign. ``By far, it's the most complex because of the coordination with stores and Internet service providers.'' Intel wouldn't specify how much it will spend on the kiosk campaign, although it's expected to cost millions of dollars. The campaign will be coordinated with a wider Intel Inside blitz on TV and in print media for the crucial fall and Christmas selling seasons. The kiosks will be in Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA and Computer City national chains as well as regional stores across the country. The retailers will each launch their own ad campaigns to draw people into stores for ``Demo Days,'' where Intel representatives will show people how to make use of the kiosks. The stores themselves will provide the Internet connections and pay for the local phone connection to an Internet service provider. Connect time usually runs about $20 a month for consumers. The kiosks will bring more of a touch-and-feel consumer connection to the Intel Inside campaign, which in addition to being one of the tech sector's most successful is distinguished by having been largely created internally. The Intel Inside program was developed by Intel's corporate marketing vice president, Denny Caryl. The company administers the program, but its ads are made by Euro RSCG. The campaign, with its oblong logo and stickers slapped on PCs with Intel chips, has been a monumental brand awareness success for a product that most people never see. The Santa Clara, Calif., company's expenditures on the Intel Inside campaign supplement funds spent by each computer maker that participates in Intel's cooperative ad program. Altogether, the computer industry has spent about $2 billion on ads with the Intel Inside logo since 1991. Still, it's difficult to communicate through print or broadcast advertising the details of how to use computers for fun things like surfing the Internet, says Timothy Romine, president of Creative Strategies market research firm in Santa Clara. Hence, the kiosks. Intel hopes they will rid Internet-phobes of their fears by allowing them to actually use it. The kiosks will also demonstrate video phone capability, in which Intel's Proshare software can dial another computer user and initiate a live video conference. ``The Net is hard to understand for most people, and this helps make it real,'' said Mr. Romine. In addition to the 1,000 stores in which Intel will set up kiosks, another 2,500 to 3,000 stores will run simulations of Internet connections, flashing constantly changing images of World Wide Web sites. ``Intel is beginning to understand what product evangelism means,'' said Mr. Romine, an industry analyst. ``They're about to introduce some new multimedia technology and the only way to explain it is to show it.'' Others think Intel might take the concept still further. ``It's smart to educate the masses about the Net,'' said Wei-Taisha Hopp, president of DAE Advertising Inc. in San Francisco. ``But I would think they would get better results if they put the kiosks in places like airports where it's more likely you'll find people who are less technical.'' Ad Note ... ACCOUNT WIN: BellSouth handed its media-buying duties -- estimated to represent more than $100 million in billings -- to Western International Media, a unit of Interpublic Group. Western International beat out three other agencies for the assignment, including Preston Wendell, based in Atlanta; Lora Lessie Castillo, based in Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Creative Media, a unit of New York's Omnicom Group. The duties previously were handled by agencies including Preston Wendell and Lora Lessie Castillo.
