Makeover moment

New York, May 15 (Reuters): ‘Intel Inside’, the famed slogan for No. 1 computer chip maker Intel Corp could take on a new meaning as the company foresees an advertising campaign for the budding integration of digital technologies in the home.

Intel chief executive Craig Barrett said on Friday the company’s upcoming big ad push would revolve around the ‘digital home’, with the personal computer serving as a hub for managing everything from digital photos to music files and video recordings.

“The digital home is a major topic that not just Intel but everybody is talking about,” Barrett said in an interview with Reuters. “So you probably should expect there would be a major campaign on the digital home on the horizon.”

Barrett said the campaign could follow a similar model to market the company’s Centrino notebook computer chips.

In February, Intel shifted the thrust of its marketing for Centrino from business customers to home users, with ads in popular magazines like People and cable television channel Comedy Central. The ads were created by Havas agency Euro RSCG MVBMS in New York.

Outside the United States, Intel has made a bigger advertising pitch in emerging markets which are building up their technology infrastructure, Barrett said, without giving spending figures.

“We have a major campaign this year to expand our presence in emerging markets, both countries and metropolitan areas,” Barrett said. “Our goal this year is to have physical marketing ‘Intel Inside’ presence in about 1200 metropolitan areas in emerging markets.”

He added there was not yet reason for concern that foreign anger over the US war in Iraq was affecting leading American brands.

“The major worldwide brands still carry a lot of value in emerging marketplaces,” Barrett said. “If you took ‘Intel Inside’ ... you would probably find our brand is stronger on a relative basis in China than it is in the United States.”