Whittled down from an initial list which included ZenithOptimedia and MEC, the Intel account is believed to be worth $60 million in Asia-Pacific alone.
Though the brief contains country-specific variations, sources note that the chip giant is looking to minimise its use of traditional media and instead focus firing power on digital.
Though the brief contains country-specific variations, sources note that the chip giant is looking to minimise its use of traditional media and instead focus firing power on digital.
“At the moment, about 30 per cent of the media budget is being spent on digital,” said a source. “For the brief, Intel is looking at moving that to bet-ween 75 to 80 per cent.”
Other sources involved in the review have downplayed any shift.
“While its true that the emphasis will be on digital, it will be up to the agencies to defend how much to spend on different media and why,” said another source.
While some believe that Intel is targeting a younger demographic, it appears more likely that the brand is looking to use the power of digital to try and build a brand proposition that has become unclear.
“Consumers don’t really have a relationship with Intel as a brand,” explained one source. “All the good stuff that their products are associated with are attributed to PCs.”
There is broad agreement over this view. “The reality is, there is no true Intel relationship with the consumer,” said another source. “When consumers go into a computer store, Intel is not getting credit for things like graphics and reliability, which it drives.”
Intel’s long-running ‘Intel inside’ campaign is not included in the pitch, as Intel handles the interaction with the PC makers directly. However, the platform remains central to Intel’s branding efforts.
“Intel spends a lot of money on the ‘Intel inside’ promotion - part of this pitch is how to streamline the campaigns to help the brand get more return on investment from ‘Intel inside’ via the rest of its media spend,” explained a source.
Intel’s main competitors include the likes of AMD and IBM, along with new competition in the ultra-mobile PC and mobile internet categories.
A recent report by research consultancy In-Stat also named Via and ARM processor suppliers as new competitors Intel will have to battle with as it chases growth in new markets.
In addition, Intel is also set to review its creative business, won by McCann Erickson in 2005, after the media pitch is completed.
Intel representatives declined to comment for this story at press time.