A Final Word For 2009
I’m winding down the work year and as I do so, this will be my final post for 2009 in an effort to take a breath and recharge for 2010. What a year it’s been! This year was my first effort at a full time blog and marks a deeper dive into the Social Web. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to share experiences through speakerships, interviews, and even a podcast on Wired. The main thing I’ve enjoyed throughout this year’s work is the opportunity to learn from the smart people I come into contact with on a daily basis. There are a lot of hard working individuals inside and outside of Intel that are always innovating. I’m lucky that my role here allows a peek into many different projects and programs that are pushing the bounds of media and marketing.
On the Intel front, we’ve had some very good ‘best effort’ programs that have expanded our horizons into Cause Marketing w/ our FaceBook ‘Vote for a Cause‘ Program, unique activations that bring our brand campaign to life (thank you Maggie Mason!), and Social Platform building with our latest effort – My Life Scoop. We’ve also had some fun and brought you new features on my favorite Internet music source, Pandora (‘Add Variety’) because we thought it was important as a ‘Sponsor of Tomorrow’ to enhance your experience on a great site.
Finally, we did something very different at Intel. Something we’ve never done before. We marketed our BRAND – Intel, and not just focused on the next product to hit the street. We want you to live a better life through technology, and we needed to make sure that people understood what the Intel brand means and how we help with that. This shift in campaign focus has been a lot of fun as it’s allowed many of us at Intel to share in a common message. Deborah Conrad, our VP and GM of Corporate Marketing states that message best:
“What Intel develops today leads the path toward a better tomorrow.”
I think that people are beginning to see us in a different way and gain a better understanding of how exactly we make their lives better through technology.
2009 was the year that the Social Web exploded. Those that were aware of the power of Social Media, made the prediction early on. I think you will see in 2010 that ‘Social’ becomes mainstream and is a standard component to every marketing program rather than a new, never been done before, ‘feature’. Consumers want to share, they want their voices to be heard, and they want to digest content on their time and on the device of their choosing. Looking back we saw the rapid decline of print. Looking forward, we’re staring at the monumental rise of mobile. Those media institutions that adapt to the shift in media will live to fight another day, and those that don’t – will not.
I’m proud of the work we’ve done this year, I’m ‘smarter’ (thanks to the gracious sharing of others) in the space I specialize in, and I’m looking forward to more learning and innovation in 2010. Happy Holidays all…see you in the New Year!