From inside to out: Reinventing a brand globally and locally

Received (in revised form): 1st June, 2017

LOUISE FELTON is Intel’s senior director of brand strategy, campaigns and programmes. Since 2014, she and her team have led the effort to revitalise the Intel brand globally and to reverse years of declines in brand perceptions and relevance. She believes in the power of storytelling to create lasting connections with audiences. As Intel evolves from an ingredient to an experiential brand, Louise is focused on the creation of programmes that authentically make Intel a part of the cultural fabric and current conversation, with brand experiences in music, sports and entertainment, and integrations into branded entertainment and content.

Louise Felton Abstract Two years ago, Intel was at a crossroads. As the leader in personal computer chip technology, Intel had built its business and brand through the persistent focus on ‘Intel Inside’. With the personal computer market softening, perceptions of the company as relevant and innovative were weakening. Third-party brand studies had dramatically reduced Intel’s brand ranking. Proprietary brand research underscored the declining state of the brand. As technology rapidly evolved, with more and more brands entering the market, Intel’s role, brand visibility and relevance had become overshadowed. With future growth expected to come from categories fuelled by the data centre, the Internet of Things, wearable technology, drones, virtual reality and other innovations, Intel needed to redefine the brand, connect people to the experiences that Intel makes possible, expand the brand domain, and increase relevance in order to be a vital, vibrant and leading brand for the future. A bold goal was established: to reinvent, revitalise and transform the Intel brand, connecting Intel’s equity as the power inside to the amazing experiences enabled outside. This paper tells the story of that brand transformation and how localisation of a global strategy drove meaningful impact on Intel’s relevance and brand value around the world.

Keywords Intel, technology, transformation, brand value, experience, localisation, brand strategy

BRAND AT A CROSSROADS Global Brands and Millward Brown’s TM Two years ago, Intel was at a crossroads. BrandZ Most Valuable Brands — As the leader in personal computer chip had dramatically reduced Intel’s brand technology, Intel had built its business ­ranking. Interbrand dropped Intel from and brand through the consistent and the 4th best brand in 2000 to number ­persistent focus on ‘Intel Inside’. The 12 by 2014. BrandZ, between 2012 and brand was almost exclusively tied to 2014, dropped Intel from 49 to 86. Our the PC category, and with the personal proprietary brand research underscored ­computer market softening, perceptions the declining state of the brand, docu- Louise Felton Intel Corporation of the company as relevant and innova- menting a steady downtick on core met- 2200 Mission College Boulevard Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA tive were weakening.­ Third-party brand rics ­correlated to brand consideration, Tel: +01 (415) 320-5169 E-mail: [email protected] ­studies — including Interbrand’s Best purchase intent and preference.

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As technology rapidly evolved, with equity as the power inside to the amazing more and more brands and products experiences Intel enables outside. So we entering the market and spending aggres- set about turning one of technology’s sively to grab mind and market share, greatest ingredient brands into one of Intel’s role, brand visibility and relevance the world’s more innovative experiential had become overshadowed. With future brands, inspired and guided by our new growth expected to come from categories brand promise: Intel Makes Amazing fuelled by the data centre, the Internet of Experiences Possible. Things, wearable technology, drones, vir- We kicked off our repositioning effort tual reality and other innovations, Intel with a new integrated campaign that needed to redefine the brand, connect portrayed all of the surprising places and people to the experiences that Intel makes spaces where Intel technology exists that possible, expand the brand domain, and no one gave us credit for, showcasing increase relevance in order to be a vital, Intel’s role in everything from healthcare vibrant and leading brand for the future. to aerospace, fashion to music, animation The challenge was particularly acute to autonomous driving, and so much with the Millennial population, whose more. Against a musical backdrop that increasing buying power and influence mashed up one of the world’s most famous made them critical to Intel’s future brand and iconic masterpieces, Beethoven’s Fifth and business growth. For these digi- Symphony, with Intel’s own iconic 5-note tal natives, technology is ubiquitous and audio signature ‘bong’, the campaign chal- integral to every aspect of their lives. lenged people to rethink Intel and our While technology permeates their lives, role in the world. Millennials did not know the depth and But we knew that we could not just breadth of how Intel technology is a part proclaim that Intel makes amazing expe- of so many facets of society, business and riences possible. We had to actually deliver life. In fact, they did not know much, if tangible, visceral, emotional, powerful, anything, about the brand. real-world experiences where the role of For them, Intel was, quite simply, irrel- Intel technology was not only integral, but evant; the company had gone from inside inescapable. Without Intel, those experi- to invisible. We had a clear, if dramatic, ences simply would not be possible. brand mandate: evolve or die. Experiences are today’s cultural cur- As a brand strategist, the opportunity rency. What you have seen, where you to fundamentally reinvent a brand can have been and what you have accom- be both exciting and daunting, especially plished are the stories that make up your when the brand in question is one of the unique life. And while we often use tech- Fortune 100 with a nearly 50-year his- nology to preserve those moments, when tory and over US$50bn in annual revenue. done right, technology can actually con- But there was no question that we had to tribute to the creation of experiences that change our approach in order to influence are deeper, richer, more dimensional, more the trajectory of the brand and support sharable and more memorable. our future business growth ambition and For Millennials, experiences define potential. their identities and communities. Research A bold and audacious goal was estab- in eight countries helped us better under- lished: to reinvent, revitalise and trans- stand this young generation and their life form the Intel brand by connecting Intel’s passion points so that we could create

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culturally relevant, compelling and unique performance lighting, audio and projec- experiences based on their interests, such tion systems in perfect harmony with Lady as sports, music and gaming. With these Gaga. Using Intel® RealSense™, an ani- insights, we built a vision and plan to mated face was developed for her through deliver one-of-a-kind experiences infused digital facial projection mapping that ena- with Intel technology, where the tech- bled Lady Gaga to don a number of Bowie’s nology was always an organic part of the iconic looks, all in a single performance in experience; never technology for technol- real time, to mind-blowing effect. ogy’s sake alone. With a special technology-enabled And while our repositioning had a ring, Lady Gaga controlled how she global mandate, we wanted to create appeared on a large LED wall behind her, experiences relevant to local consumers, generating real-time effects as she rotated tailored to specific market insights, cul- and animated her wrists and arms. An tural priorities and interests. Intel needed innovative combination of her Intel ring cultural cache, and that would manifest in and holographic display materials were different ways depending on the market. used to generate a three-dimensional At the same time, we had to find ways hologram of Bowie. In another inno- to scale the experiences so that we could vative application, her rose gold piano reach a far broader population beyond took on a life of its own as three Intel® those who would be able to connect with Atom™ processor-powered robot legs the experiences first-hand: each experi- danced as one to add unexpected motion ence needed built-in social and PR hooks effects to a traditionally staid and steady that could amplify and expand reach and instrument. impact. No brand had ever been allowed into The Grammys broadcast before, but The Grammys saw the amazing potential A SPOTLIGHT PERFORMANCE inherent in celebrating technology and ON MUSIC’S BIGGEST NIGHT spotlighting what was driving so much The language of music unites people of the innovation in musical artistry, cre- around the world. And there was no better ation and performance. With the global moment to launch the brand repositioning audience and press attention, Intel was at effort than with The Grammys, one of the the forefront of shifting perceptions of the most visible, largest world music stages. We brand in bold, dramatic fashion. set out to create a performance inspired by The tribute was the most talked about and infused with Intel technology, created moment of the night. In addition to the in partnership with arguably one of the 25 million people watching the broad- most innovative and creative musical art- cast, an accompanying campaign gave ists today, Lady Gaga. behind-the-scenes access, deconstructing In collaboration with Intel technolo- the performance and collaboration, show- gists, Intel’s in-house creative agency, and ing how technology and creativity came Lady Gaga’s creative team, a spotlight per- together. The work generated more than formance was conceived and designed to 120 news stories and 10 billion impres- pay tribute to the recent passing of David sions worldwide, with brand lift of 122 Bowie. Specialised hardware powered by per cent when measuring benchmarks for Intel processors provided the requisite how Millennials saw Intel as an innovative high performance to choreograph the brand.

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As the first major brand experience, a series of animated digital films, we The Grammys put Intel squarely into the depicted important moments and myths middle of pop culture and conversation. from China’s past. Epic battles and love From there, we looked to develop local stories told from generation to genera- experiences to drive similar engagement, tion came to life. But in each one, many relevance and cultural cache. characters were faceless. Why? Because we wanted to transport people into the past, to blur the lines between centuries-old HISTORY COMES ALIVE stories and the modern day, and connect One of our most creative and successful Chinese Millennials with China’s history local programmes debuted in China and by quite literally projecting them into it. was rooted in a powerful insight about Intel RealSense 3D facial-scanning tech- today’s modern, young and tech-savvy nology digitally captured people’s faces consumers in that country. and pushed that data up to the cloud Xi’an is a city in northwest China, rich where it was integrated in near-real-time in history, serving as the imperial capital to the films. The finished films were for ten ancient dynasties. Today, Xi’an is a then projected onto the ancient Xi’an bustling modern city, home to more than city walls in monumental, dramatic and eight million people. The old city, sur- larger-than-life fashion, stunning the rounded by the original 40-ft-high and audience as they saw themselves playing 40-ft-wide city wall, is now dwarfed by history’s greatest heroes, princesses, warri- the towering apartment and office build- ors and emperors. ings that have sprung up around the orig- Because they were playing active and inal city and spread widely beyond. And vital roles in the films, they were not yet the original historic part of the city is simply passive viewers in the experi- still visible, with its impressive gates and ence. People raptly watched the drama massive walls that for centuries protected unfold, seeing themselves in starring roles. its residents from marauding armies. Xi’an Through the cloud, we pushed customised is, in many ways, emblematic of modern video directly to their WeChat accounts China, a country propelling itself head- for higher-quality, more personally rele- long into the future, sometimes at the vant social sharing. expense of preserving and celebrating its Modern Chinese Millennials became rich and storied past. the historic characters, immersed in their This dynamic led Intel’s marketing team worlds, sharing in their emotions, expe- in China to uncover a powerful insight: riencing the adventure, tragedy, romance, despite being surrounded by centuries of thrill and success of people who were history, many Chinese Millennials were otherwise remote or irrelevant. History disconnected from the country’s past. It became personal; history came alive. seemed remote, irrelevant and uninter- After the initial launch in Xi’an, the esting, and they simply had no personal experience was taken to eight other cities, connection to it. enabling thousands of Chinese Millennials That is where Intel innovation came to participate in the films. The effort into play. ­garnered over 700 million impressions, Working with our agency and crea- with more than 4.6 million video views. tive partners, we developed a programme In addition, core brand metrics rose signif- called ‘History Comes Alive’. Through icantly, with a 20 per cent increase in Intel

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being perceived as innovative and 23 per There was no off-the-shelf technology cent increase in being perceived as deliv- solution for what the RSC envisioned. ering breakthrough technology. Inspired by a shared vision for what could be possible and a passion for the power of storytelling, the Intel research teams ALL THE WORLD’s A STAGE undertook the challenge, working to pro- Intel went from Asia to EMEA with totype multiple systems configurations to a spectacular collaboration with the supply the right technical capabilities with Royal Shakespeare Company in the flexibility required for a production Stratford-Upon-Avon in England, result- that evolved every night and the reliabil- ing in one of the most ground-breaking ity required for a show that ran for three experiences of the year. hours, eight times a week. Inspired by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich’s This collaboration squarely fit with 2014 keynote at the Consumer Electronics Intel’s objective to reinvent the Intel Show where a huge digital whale swam brand and introduce a new, younger gen- out of the screen to soar over the audi- eration to Intel through amazing expe- ence, the Royal Shakespeare Company riences. The team developed rich video contacted Intel to collaborate on a bold featuring interviews with the cast, tech- reimagining of the live theatre expe- nical staff and artistic directors to unfold rience. Could Intel technology enable the story of the collaboration and to other-worldly and magical characters to provide a behind-the-scenes view of perform onstage, in real-time, with human how Intel technology made the produc- actors in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the tion possible. A robust social and digital most technologically advanced and chal- media campaign gave audiences world- lenging play of its time? Over the course wide a peek into the production, scal- of two years of testing, learning, trialling, ing the experience far beyond the stage failing and reinventing, Intel, the RSC and in England. Press and influencers from Imaginarium Studios created a custom around the world, representing main- technical solution designed to fully real- stream, arts and technology media, were ise the power of Shakespeare’s storytell- invited to attend the opening perfor- ing and make the live theatre experience mance and given exclusive access, inter- more immersive and amazing. views and tours. The programme secured For the first time, performance-capture more than 500 pieces of coverage inter- technology was used to render an ani- nationally, across mainstream, tech and mated character — Ariel the shape-shifting lifestyle press, resulting in 84 million spirit — in real time, live on stage. While impressions. Video and social content digital avatars are a staple of video games and garnered 6.3 million engagements and movies, the complex and time-consuming 9.8 million video views. post-production process could not be used The combined efforts of the RSC for live theatre. Instead, Intel created giant and Intel resulted in a fully sold-out workstations, powered by Intel® Core™ eight-week run for the show, with early i7 K-SKUs and Intel® Xeon™ processors, success triggering a commitment to with redundant back-up systems, to allow live-stream the performance to cinemas the digital characters to render and act throughout the EU and the US, followed alongside human actors with no lag time by an eight-week live run in London at and no room for error. the famed Barbican Theatre.

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The partnership between the RSC and and unique ways how your brand can Intel broke new ground for creative com- improve their lives. By embracing Intel’s munities. The shared vision of the RSC equity as the technology ‘inside’, we were and Intel for the possibilities inherent in able to redefine our brand promise from a breakthrough experience has demon- ‘inside’ to ‘outside’, and make one of the strated new ways that technology can foremost technology brands once again enhance creativity and storytelling and visible, viable and vibrant. elevate the enjoyment of classic artistic The experiences staged around performances. the world made a significant impact on Intel brand value and perceptions. Between 2014 and 2016, Intel brand DELIVERING IMPACT AND VALUE value increased by $3bn on Interbrand’s To change long-held brand perceptions Best Global Brands list. In the same time required imagination, creativity, tenacity, period on Millward Brown’s BrandZ, confidence and innovative partnerships. Intel moved up by more than 30 positions We found all of these to be of far greater and increased brand value by $7bn. Our importance than budget alone. Because proprietary brand tracker chronicled sig- when you can organically, contextually nificant improvement on all of our core and authentically integrate your brand metrics across all audiences, including the in unique ways that are meaningful to hard-to-reach and hard-to-influence mil- your audience, you will make an indelible lennial cohort. impact with experiences that leave a last- In today’s culture, technology plays a ing impression. vital and integral role in making expe- Reinventing your brand does not mean riences better than ever. Technology can having to sever from the past. When trying unleash creativity and inspire experiences to reach new audiences and make your that leave a lasting memory and impact. brand relevant to them, it is critical to meet Those are the kinds of experiences we are them where they already are and demon- investing in, and the kinds of experiences strate in meaningful, tangible, powerful that we want the Intel brand to stand for.

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