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Case: Intel 2006


2006



1991



1969
THE STORY

Andy Grove, Senior Advisor and ex-CEO, is of course a living legend. The bigger the past, the more the future must promise. To quickly build a new legend, new CEO Paul Otellini knew he must not only change the strategic paradigm --   he must communicate the change with impact and credibility. The substance of change would be real (essentially, from from PC-focused chips to market-facing chip/software 'platforms').  But Otellini also knew the communication challenge would be significant, perhaps beyond Intel's experience. So a year ago, he hired Samsung's marketing star Eric Kim and made him a direct report... an outsider who (as reported in Business Week) "could play bad cop and push through unpopular changes when necessary."  Kim then retained Inter Public Group's McCann Erickson for advertising counsel, and its FutureBrand unit for identity work.

On October 20, Kim indeed played bad cop: he told the leadership team that to put impact and credibility behind the new positioning (and implicitly, the new leadership), the 37-year-old "dropped-e" logo must go, along with the "intel inside" marketing badge.

To replace both marks FutureBrand designed a wordmark-in-a-swoosh, a variation of the Intel Inside swoosh, relocating its notch to anchor the Leap Ahead tagline. It's a balancing act, intended to express meaningful change yet retain the equity of a stable and trusted company.  Tony Spaeth


CREDITS

FutureBrand (NY)


CASE INFO

Submitted by: Tony Spaeth, 14/11/2006
Status: Estimated by Tony Spaeth
Category: Technology Hardware & Equipment
Country (HQ): United States


MATRIX DATA

DRIVERS

  

TOOLS

Strategic driver: 70%   
Broaden scope/scale/visibility
  Remove limiting category association
 20%  x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Situation facts: Corporate level facts: Industry definition
    x  Change event : High visibility: Campaign
Change internal culture
  Refresh & redirect competitive energy
 20%  x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Change event : Medium visibility: Launch event
Change expressed personality
  Renew/refresh public image
 30%  x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Change event : High visibility: Campaign
    
Functional driver: 30%   
Design weakness
  Increase visual strength/quality
 30%  x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant