Intel Corp, whose brand presence has been the inspiration of many, is dropping its 37-year-old logo created by the chip giant's founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore.
The California-based company will discard its "dropped e" logo that Intel has used since its founding in 1968. The company will also retire the "Intel Inside" advertising logo it has used since 1991, the San Jose Mercury News reported on Friday. Both made Intel the fifth-most valued brand in the world, according to Interbrand.
Its new logo, an oval swirl around the word 'intel', with the tag line "Leap Ahead" is part of a major marketing effort to emphasise the chipmaker's shift away from its core PC business into consumer products.
Intel chief executive Paul Otellini initiated the search for a new brand when he hired Eric Kim as chief marketing officer in September 2004. Kim helped Samsung build its brand into a worldwide powerhouse.
"Intel has one of the most valuable brands in the world, and we intend to grow the value of our brand as we evolve the company," said Kim, who was elevated to the company's chief marketing officer just weeks ago.
The company also will unveil a series of other logos to create brands around "platforms" of technologies as well as individual chips. For example, the "Viiv" logo will be associated with its living room desktop computer brand that will make its debut early next year.
"This was a cultural change where Paul said nothing is sacred," Intel spokesman Bill Calder said.
The new campaign starts with a major TV and print advertising campaign that begins next week in advance of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Calder would not say how much money Intel will spend, but he acknowledged the figure is likely to run into the hundreds of millions.
According to Kim's research, Intel's name and brand were associated with microprocessors, even though the company's technologies stretch into personal computers, communications, cell phones, handhelds and set-top boxes.
What's more, the collection of Intel logos for specific products had become a mess -- the company has 18 logos for its products.
Calder said Intel will continue its "Intel Inside" marketing subsidy programs, in which it gives PC makers money to advertise their computers with Intel chips. Intel will still dole out those funds, even though it is dropping the Intel Inside name.
