V/Speak

As an employee and shareholder, it always pleases me when we successfully navigate our analyst call and the stock actually goes up (that’s rare).  Today beat everyone’s expectations.  Here’s the snapshot:

First-Quarter Results

• Revenue $10.3 Billion
• Gross Margin 63%
• Operating Income $3.4 Billion
• Net Income $2.4 Billion
• EPS 43 Cents

That took the Street’s breath away and pushed our stock into territory we haven’t seen in a while.  Granted, that’s not saying a ton if you’ve been tracking our stock the last couple of years, but any north bound growth is a big deal during these financial times.  What I’m most pleased about is the fact that our CEO, Paul Otellini, paints an optimistic picture for our near term outlook as well:

“The investments we’re making in leading edge technology are delivering the most compelling product line-up in our history, said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. These leadership products combined with growing worldwide demand and continued outstanding execution resulted in Intel’s best first quarter ever. Looking forward, we’re optimistic about our business as Intel products are designed into a variety of new and exciting segments.”

Here’s to Sponsoring Tomorrow…

David Veneski Intel

I’ve been a Blackberry user for a long time – a really long time.  I’ve become a master of the ‘intuitive’ text feature (with only one phrase being the bane of my existence, but that’s another story) and I’m a fan of the small form factor of the Pearl 8110 – it fits easily in your front pocket, does most everything I need it to do, and is a very reliable device.

However this year, as in years past with Intel, I’ve been asked to take the lead on a new media vehicle and explore all of our options for marketing and advertising programs in that space.  Hence, my Blackberry got a mate – in the form of an iPhone.  Now, I’ve been a long time ‘listener’ but have made the transition to first time ‘caller’…to use a radio talk show line.  I’m not convinced that I’m going to be excited about carrying two devices (although many of my counterparts already do it), it is a necessary evil to be proficient in the trends of the mobile web.  Next step – securing an Android device…

We’re pretty excited about the opportunities that are presenting themselves in the mobile space and are intent on creating some innovative and first mover programs that bring the Intel brand to a ‘third’ screen.  We’ve already done some good work in the Americas with our iPhone app and our Global team has partnered with a leading mobile agency and a leading web-based streaming music company to create a compelling mobile experience that gives iPhone users a unique ‘station’ modeled after the 3 types of ‘Core’ processors – each providing a unique listening experience.  This is the first time a custom channel has been developed for a mobile device on Pandora – kudos to our Global team for making that happen.

Stay tuned – it’s going to be an exciting ride on the Mobile Web for us this year.

David Veneski Advertising, Intel, Mobile Marketing Intel, Mobile

One of the really great things about working at Intel is the fact that I get to work on some amazing programs.  As a GIGANTIC sports fan and an ardent user of great technology, I have been spoiled this year.  Not only are we announcing and launching  a new family of Intel Core processors, we are doing so around major events in the first half of the year.  First, there was the Super Bowl.  Next was last Sunday’s first ever foray in the Academy Awards.  Starting this Sunday, we are unveiling a major relationship with CBS and their coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tourney – aka, March Madness.  Don’t let me tell the tale, rather read what Stuart Elliott’s (New York Times Advertising columnist) take in today’s Media Decoder blog.  We’re very happy with this coverage – Mr. Elliott did a nice job capturing the essence of a very complicated integrated media effort.  I’ll be watching the whole tourney – from Selection Sunday, to the Play-In game, the National Championship game on April 5th in Indianapolis.

David Veneski Advertising, Integrated Marketing, Intel 2010 Core Family, Intel, March Madness

It’s award season…and I am not just talking about the Oscars.  You’ll have to wait for Sunday night’s telecast to see our spot in broadcast.

Following FastCompany’s list of most innovative companies (Intel was ranked #14), Fortune Magazine released it’s list of the world’s most admired companies for 2010.  Intel comes in at #31 – up two spots from last year.  I think the first comment in our section says it best:

“Of course Intel should be admired .. one of the best companies based in Silicon Valley working with the greatest minds in the world .. life as we know it would never have been the same with out Intel’s innovations…”

Thank you Ismail – we agree…

David Veneski Intel Intel, Most Admired

Slipping a little from last year, but still making the top 20 – Intel ranks well in Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2010.  Fast Company focuses in on Single Chip Cloud Computing but that only scratches the surface of the innovation going on in this company.  Consider our design wins in Health Care, our new 2010 Core Processor Family and on an entertainment level – our Sponsors of Tomorrow advertising campaign.  All great stuff coming out of the halls of Intel.

David Veneski Intel Fast Company, Innovation, Intel

We’ve been out of the mix in terms of being an advertiser in the Super Bowl for more than a decade (12 years to be precise).  This past Sunday, we changed that in a big way – debuting two new ads (Lunch Room and Generations) during the game and again in the post-game show (which we were also the primary sponsor of).  Not only did we have an exciting game to watch, but as an Intel employee it gave me a great sense of pride to see our name on such a grand sporting stage.  The team that I work with did a great job of pulling all of this together – we’ve all been working very hard to make this happen and to see it come off without a hitch was fantastic.  If you haven’t seen our newest spot, featuring Jeffrey the Robot, I’ve embedded it below.  We also spent a great deal of time promoting through the social graph, as ComputerWorld notes in an article released Monday.

David Veneski Advertising, Intel, Sports Intel, Jeffrey, Super Bowl

I am a big fan of media partners that go the extra mile to make an experience good for the client.  We recently did a pretty cool execution with Digg around our new product announcement at CES.  We worked with Chas Edwards and the Digg team to create ‘content’ ads and ‘digg’ ads that offered up a great value to the customer – aggregation of the best stories coming out of CES, in multiple places our target audience consumes content.  Yep – that’s right – we aren’t forcing them to come to Intel.com, rather, we’ll bring that content directly to them…wherever they are by offering a teaser link that drives them to a content hub on Digg (see below, credit ChasNote).  As I’ve stated before, driving people to Intel.com is not my first priority.  Bringing them great content (from Intel) in their natural browsing path, is.  We’ve done that in our program with Digg.

David Veneski Advertising, Intel 2010 Core Family, CES, Digg

At long last, Intel made the list again for Fortune’s Top 100 companies to work for.  For 2010, we come in at #98.  It’s been quite some time since Intel has made this list (we were on it from 1998 through 2004 with positions ranging from 65-28), although last year we were recognized as the #23 company to work at in terms of developing strong leaders.  A great quote from that recognition was spot on, in my assessment:

“The companies that made the cut have one thing in common: They know that investing in their employees isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity.“

David Veneski Intel Fortune Top 100, Intel

It’s Monday, Consumer Electronics Show is over, we’re all back from Vegas and best of all – we unveiled our latest line of processors that are set to turn your computers into the ‘smartest’ PC on the block.  On January 7th, our CEO announced our latest family of ‘Core’ processors at his CES Keynote – the all new 2010 Intel® Core™ processor family featuring the trio of i3, i5, and i7.

One of my favorite quotes from Paul’s keynote was about how we are no longer ‘confined’ to our computer…

“Computing is no longer confined to your computer – it’s everywhere,” Otellini said during his CES keynote speech. “Advances in connectivity, intuitive user interfaces, immersive content and computer chip performance have allowed computing to move into new areas. Computing moving into all manner of devices and experiences all around us improves our personal productivity and enjoyment.” (credit: Intel Pressroom)

The reviews are in from several of the major review sites and, from the word go – it’s a smashing success.  From my read of Anand Lal Shimpi’s review the biggest ‘feature’ of the new Core i5 processor (‘Arrandale’) is the vastly improved performance.  Anand has been reviewing our technology for a long time and, in my opinion, is one of the best at providing a comprehensive and detail rich review of each sku we release.  This round of reviews does not disappoint.

As always, Engadget has the most comprehensive blog post about Paul’s Keynote @ CES, and a quick search on Twitter reveals that the buzz about our new processor family was at it’s peak during the show and continues on even after the ubergeeks have left Sin City.  The only question left – When are YOU upgrading?

David Veneski Intel 2010 Core Family, CES, Intel

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!

David Veneski Digital Marketing, Intel 2009 Summary, mylifescoop, Pandora