Intel puts spotlight back on the processor

Chipmaker launches biggest marketing campaign since Centrino.

Intel has kicked off its largest marketing campaign since the introduction of the Centrino mobile processor in 2003. 

The new campaign aims to emphasise the importance of the processor and the performance gains achieved with Core 2 Duo chips, explained Nancy Bhagat, group director of integrated marketing at Intel.

"Processors have not been that relevant the past couple of years because the emphasis was on other parts of technology. So we stopped talking about it," Bhagat told vnunet.com.

"But now dual-core processors have delivered a leap ahead in performance. The processor is regaining relevance and significance."

The campaign spans print, online and television advertising. Bhagat declined to disclose the campaign's budget, but said that it is comparable to the Centrino campaign in 2003.

While one of Intel's previous television ads featured dancers in clean-room-style bunny suits, the current campaign centres around the theme of 'multiply' and the end-user experience that multiple cores delivers.

Bhagat denied that the campaign's focus on end users is an attempt to change Intel's image as a geeky company.

"We used to talk more about technology for technology's sake. We still care about the technology that we're innovating and driving. But now we're doing it in the context of the experience that we need to deliver," she said.

The campaign kicks off in the US today and will expand to the UK, Germany, France and Russia in the coming weeks. The campaign is scheduled to run through the 2006 holiday season.

Images and a video of one of the Intel television commercials are available on the Silicon Valley Sleuth blog.

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