In an effort to reflect the company’s shift towards the general consumer marketplace, chip-maker Intel Corporation is expected to formally launch a major re-branding effort at January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, scrapping its 37 year-old logo (the company name with a lowered “e”) and limiting use of the phrase Intel Inside.
Intel’s new all-blue logo will feature an elliptical swirl around the company’s name, while the tagline Leap ahead will replace Intel Inside in consumer-oriented products and marketing tools, although the company’s 1990’s catchphrase will remain part of marketing programs used by computer makers to promote systems with Intel processors (although new logo graphics making the rounds on the Internet largely use only the word “inside” for specific processor lines). Intel also seems intent on marketing its anticipated “Yonah” mobile processor under name “Core.”
Intel’s rebranding effort is seen as another step in CEO Paul Otellini’s broader strategy for the company, which has been unfolding since he took the reins of the company in May 2005. Intel is increasingly positioning itself as a consumer-oriented, digital media platform provider (most recently with its Viiv platform strategy) rather than merely a supplier of CPUs and components for other manufacturers. The moves are intended to pull diversified business towards Intel as the overall worldwide market growth for personal computers slows, and Intel faces growing competition in key areas of its business from rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
The branding overhaul also comes only a few weeks after Intel promoted former-Samsung branding honcho Eric Kim to Chief Marketing Officer. Intel originally hired Kim away from Samsung in 2004.
