Sarah Berkov
December 11, 2013
Principles of Public Relations
Intel Public Relations Campaign Plan
Situation Analysis
Mission
The client this plan is centered around is Intel Corporation, located in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Intel is a technology company that produces a variety of items, but they are specifically known
for their processors. They became known for their processors in 1971 when they introduced the
world’s first microprocessor. Since then, they have dominated the processor industry. The
overall mission of Intel is to, “delight our customers, employees, and shareholders by relentlessly
delivering the platform and technology advancements that become essential to the way we work
and live,” (2013). However, Intel also has a yearly mission statement. The statement for 2013 is
that, “this decade, we will create and extend computing technology to connect and enrich the
lives of every person on earth,”. They work towards this goal by constantly striving to create new
innovations in technology that can help connect people. Intel has become a household name and
is one of the 100 best companies to work for (CNN, 2013). The company has a mission to
maintain their brand image as an ethical company that provides a safe work environment and
also provides top of the line technology components and systems.
External Environment
Since Intel is a market leader in the processor industry, and technology in general, they
are faced with some external threats. One big threat is that they must be careful not to be seen as
a monopoly. If the government decided that Intel was a monopoly in the market, they could be
subject to strict regulations. The government could break up the monopoly or even enforce price
cut or tax them more if they believe the company is making too high of a return on investment.
This is one external factor that Intel must stay extremely aware of if they do not want to be
subject to these, or other, regulations.
Another key external environmental factor for Intel is the economy. Since Intel is in the
technology industry, it is not a ‘defensive’ stock. A defensive stock is one that is not as effected
by economic changes because it is a ‘necessity’ like food and electricity. People can wait to buy
a new processor for their computer, but not food. Since they are not a defensive stock, they are
subject to more influence, both positive and negative, by any drastic economic changes. When
the economy is bad, people will not be buying as many Intel products. This is evidenced when
you look at their financial statements. Their revenue in 2009 was $35,127,000,000 compared to
$53,341,000,000 in 2012 (Bloomberg Business Week, 2013). As you can tell from the upward
trend Intel as impacted by the economic downtown of 2008. Because the economy is constantly
shifting, this is an important external factor for Intel to keep in mind.
Customer demand is an important external environmental factor to monitor as well.
Currently, Intel is having a hard time meeting the demand for many of their products, especially
their solid state drives (SSDs serve the same purpose as a hard drive, but have no moving parts
inside so they are more stable and they perform at much higher speeds). Since the demand is
outweighing the supply, demand will slow and it will cost Intel sales in the long run. They have
started to build a new fabrication center in Hillsboro to try and keep up with the demand for their
products (Rogoway, 2012).
Another external market factor is product obsolescence. The technology market is
constantly changing and evolving and with that, products have shorter and shorter life cycles
before becoming obsolete. If Intel does not stay on top of the new innovations they, they will
lose sales. They also need to make sure that when a product is no longer selling well and has
become obsolete that they end-of-life that product. One example is their SSD 310 series. This
drive is designed for data centers, so they generally need to be replaced about every two to four
years. This product came out in 2010, but will be off the market by the end of 2014 (Darling,
2010). Though the drive is selling well still, it has already become somewhat obsolete compared
to new drives on the market, and it is expected that sales will drop off soon.
Business Analysis
This campaign is focused specifically on promotion Intel SSDs. Their biggest
competition is Samsung. Whereas Intel used to be at the top of this market in terms of market
share, they have drastically fallen. Samsung as a 31 percent market share, Sandisk has 16.8,
Toshiba 9.2 and Intel is fourth at 6.2 (Storage Newsletter, 2013). Clearly, Intel has lost their
market share in this realm of technology, but they are working to get it back. Currently, the
Samsung 840 is comparable to the Intel 530 series, their latest SSD to go on the market. Both
drives have very similar specifications. They are similarly matched on read and write speeds and
differ in price by about $30 (depends on the vendor and any specials running).
Since Intel has lost their market share, the biggest threat to them right now is that they
will be unable to gain it back. In the technology industry, lagging behind can be fatal. If you are
scene as lagging behind other technologies, people will not want your product. When it comes to
technology, people was the newest and best generally. If they are unable to improve this image
and be seen as a leader in this market again, they will have no way to gain back any market
share.
However, they have improved their SSDs to be comparable to market leaders like
Samsung. Since the Intel drive is competitive with the Samsung one, they have an opportunity to
capitalize on that information and improve their image in the SSD market. Since they are
currently not seen as a leader, they have a lot of freedom to come up with creative ways to
improve their brand image. Intel is a large company with a lot of brand recognition and they can
incorporate the fact that Intel is known for producing dependable and quality technology into
their promotions.
Not only has Intel specifically improved this SSD, but they are improving as an
organization. Intel got a new chief executive officer in May of this year (Clark, 2013). The
previous CEO was Paul Otellini, who was CEO for eight years. Though he was an amazing CEO
and love by the people at Intel, having a new CEO has allowed people to make more changes.
The new CEO is Brian Krzanich, or as he is often called by the people at Intel ‘BK’, who was
worked at Intel since 1982. Since he has become the CEO, there have been a lot of changes to
the way the organization is structured. Certain departments have been eliminated or combined
with others and new departments have been created. As with any major transition, there is a lot
of change.
Target Audience
This campaign is centered on the Intel SSD 530 series. This drive is targeted at an
enthusiast market segment. Enthusiast specifically refers to people who enjoy playing computer
games such as World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and others. The enthusiast segment is
generally males between the ages of 18 and 35. Intel has a specific Twitter account dedicated to
this segment. I used a social media analyzing site called Sprout Social to get some more
information on the people who follow this. As you can see if you look at the graphic (Photo 1),
91% of this audience is make and most are between the ages of 18 and 35 years old.
This group is interested in finding ways to improve their computers to get the best
possible gaming experience. One of the most common upgrades is an SSD because you get
considerable gains, such as significantly faster game load times, smoother playback, and
consistent performance. The 530 series in particular has fast load times and highly consistent
performance. A lot of gamers like to capture footage of them playing and upload it online. Since
the 530 series has consistent frames per second, they can do this and get quality footage. These
qualities are what will be emphasized in the public relations campaign for this product.
As mentioned, watching recordings of games online is a popular activity with this
segment, as well as watching product reviews before purchasing new technology for their
system. These people who do the reviews and post the videos are opinions leaders for this target
market. They also look up to eSports professional—people who make their living by competing
in online gaming tournaments. Most of these professionals are actually part of teams. I would try
and recruit some people in all of these groups, reviewers, video posters, and eSport professionals
to help promote the product since they are people that members of the target market look to for
advice and trust.
The Plan
The overall goal of this public relations plan is to improve the image of Intel SSDs and
put them back on the map as market leaders as well as increase sales. Since Intel has lost their
market share in the SSD market, they have been trying to improve their brand image and get
back on top. The systems theory is a good model for this plan. Systems theory explains that
organizations are interdependent with their environments and that various groups exist in these
external environments. This theory is part of the basis for the objectives of this public relations
plan. Part of this theory is that organizations, “…depend on resources from their environments,
such as ‘raw materials, a source of employees, and clients or customers for the service of the
products they produce,” (Lattimore, 2013). This theory is essential in guiding the public relations
plan because Intel is selling a product and the company depends groups of customers to buy their
products and keep the company alive. One these groups, in this instance, is the target market of
enthusiasts. The enthusiasts depend on the technology companies and opinion leaders to inform
them of the latest and greatest technological advances. The companies selling the products
depend on the enthusiasts to buy their products and discuss them positively. This relationship is
essential to companies like Intel.
Though systems theory is important to incorporate into the pubic relations plan, the core
theory this plan is based on is diffusion theory. Diffusion theory explains that people adopt and
information only after going through five steps: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and
adoption (Lattimore, 2013). This theory is the basis for the main objectives of this public
relations plan. One of the objectives is to increase awareness and understanding of the 530 series
and Intel SSDs in the next 6 months by making one million impressions. In order to get anyone
interested in the product and get him or her to consider buying it, they must first become aware
of it and then take an interest in it (Lattimore, 2013). The other main objective is to increase sales
of the Intel SSD 530 series by 25 percent in the next six months. The second objective is to get
people to hopefully test the product, or at least watch reviews of people testing it, and hopefully
buy the product.
One strategy to increase awareness of Intel SSDs is to attend and publicize Intel’s
attendance at PAX East in Boston from April 11to 13. PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo, it
started out in 2004 when, “ the folks at Penny Arcade decided they wanted a show exclusively
for gaming. Sure, comics, anime, and other nerd hobbies were cool, and those activities all had
their own shows… so what about games? From that idea spawned a small 4,500 person event in
Bellevue, Washington, focused on the culture and community that is gaming,” (PAX East, 2013).
The event has grown since then to about 70,000 attendees per event. This event specifically hosts
a large group of people from the target market and is an excellent way to reach many of them. At
the event Intel has a booth where people can come by and test out Intel products, so it is an
excellent way to showcase the 530 series. Not only that, but if people have a chance to physically
test out the product, they can see that it does perform well compared to competing products.
One tactic for this strategy is to drive traffic to the booth so that people will interface with
the product. The way I would drive traffic and get people to learn a little more about the product
is with something called a PAXport. A PAXport is basically a handout given out at the event,
which has boxes for about 15 of the other booths at the event, and you have to go around to all
the booths and get a stamp. The other side has some information about Intel, where they are
located at the event, and the 530 series. In order to turn the PAXport in to be entered into a raffle,
you must answer at least one question about the drive correctly. Ideally, while people are
answering these questions there interest will be piqued and they will test out the drives on the
free-to-play systems located in the booth. It would be easy to measure the number of impressions
made by the PAXports because you could simply figure out how many you had at the start and
subtract what you had at the end from that. This tactic follows the model set by diffusion theory.
First, people become aware of the product through the PAXport. Then they show interest in it by
completing the PAXport, then they evaluate it at the booth by looking at the product. They could
try out the idea by discussing it with others at the event to get their opinions and then hopefully
adopt the product by going out and purchasing it.
Another tactic for this strategy is organizing a gaming tournament in the booth. At the
event, Intel could sponsor a professional eSports team. The eSports team could play the teams of
attendees who are randomly selected. If they beat the professional team, they win an Intel SSD
530 series. This would be a good way to get people to interact with the product firsthand since
the systems they would be playing on have the exact SSD (the 530) that Intel is trying to get
them interested in. Additionally, Intel could give the eSports professionals 530s to put in their
gaming computers beforehand so that they could talk to the event attendees about the product
and what they like, or do not like, about it. Since the professionals are opinion leaders, it would
be a good way to engage the target market in a discussion about the product.
Another strategy for this goal would be to develop a social media campaign that engages
the target market and sparks their interest in the product. Using social media is a good way to
engage a large audience and make a lot of impressions. Plus, it is something accessible to people
wherever they are, unlike PAX. Though you can make a lot of impressions at PAX that are
impactful since people can interact with the product, you can only reach a limited number
whereas the possibilities with social media are unlimited.
The first tactic would be to engage the Intel Gaming Twitter followers about the product.
The best way to do this would be to do giveaways through the Twitter account. To engage them,
@IntelGaming could send out tweets everyday for a week with questions about the 530. The first
two people to reply would win prizes. However, just giving prizes to the first couple of people
would not cause as many people to engage because if they are not the first or fastest to respond,
they would have no chance of winning. To keep the audience engaged, they should also
randomly select another winner from all of the other people who tweet back to IntelGaming to
keep the rest of the audience engaged. Another way to make impressions is to tweet at other
people because then all of their followers would tweet as well. They could tweet at other
companies that use the 530 series as well as eSports professionals who use the 530 series in their
computers.
Another way they could engage their target audience is through Instagram. They could do
an Instagram challenge similar to the Twitter giveaway. They could challenge their followers to
post funny photos of them with their laptops and assign them a hashtag to use when they upload
the photos such as #IntelSSDChallenge. After collecting all the entries, Intel could chose three
winners. The best way to announce the challenge would be on both Instagram and Twitter to
maximize the number of impressions. The IntelGaming Twitter has more followers than the
Instagram so it would be a good way to also drive people to follow that as well.
Since the second objective is to increase sales, one strategy is to design a specific cover
for the SSD for an enthusiast market, since that is the target market. Members of this target
market like to customize their systems; often they will buy a clear case to put the components in
to show them off (Photo 3). Designing a case that would appeal to this market would be a good
way to increase sales because it would draw the target customers for this product to the 530
series.
One tactic for this strategy would be to directly engage the target market in the design
process. Intel could have several pre-made designs for this target market prepared to show
people. Instead of simply putting the new design out there, the company could ask people to vote
on which one they liked best. To get the most respondents, Intel would have to utilize various
outlets of communication. First, the company could engage the IntelGaming Twitter followers by
tweeting photos of the three designs and asking people to tweet back which design they liked the
best. The company could also post the same photo on Instagram and ask people to comment
about the design they wanted to vote for. Lastly, they could engage their target audience on
Facebook as well and have them comment voting for their favorite design.
The second tactic for this strategy would be to distribute some of the limited edition
special design drives to professional eSports pros. These people are opinion leaders to this target
market and trendsetters. The eSports pros could then review and promote the limited edition
drive on their social media outlets to reach the target market. Since these people are role models,
it would help drive the target audience to at least take an interest in the product and investigate it,
if not buy it.
The second strategy Intel could use to meet their objective would be to do promotions of
the product through their distributors. Some of the main distributors of Intel SSDs, and SSDs in
general, are Amazon and Newegg. Newegg is a website very similar to Amazon, but they only
sell technology products whereas Amazon sells a variety of items. Promoting the product
through distributors would be effective because if people are already looking at the product in a
place that they trust, they would be more inclined to buy the product.
The first tactic would be for Intel to coordinate a promotion with a distributor like
Newegg. If the product were on sale, it would of course make people more inclined to buy the
product. To make people aware of the sale, Newegg could include a banner in their weekly
emails. Newegg sends out emails every week to everyone who is on their emailing list, which is
made up of any subscribers and also anyone who has bought a product through them before.
These weekly emails include banners and weekly product spotlights (Photo 2). When the
products are highlighted in the email, they link directly to the product page on Newegg, which
has more information about the drive (Newegg, 2013).
The second tactic would be get popular gaming bloggers and YouTube reviewers to
review and promote the product. These reviewers are opinion leaders among this target market.
For example, one popular reviews is Linus of Linus Tech Tips, who has his own YouTube
channel dedicated to product reviews and advice. His channel on YouTube has 583,353
subscribers (YouTube, Linus, 2013). Another popular channel is TechnoBuffalo, which has
678,359 subscribers (YouTube, TechnoBuffalo, 2013). Newegg also has their own page where
they do product reviews and theirs has 286,108 (YouTube, Newegg, 2013). With just these three
reviewers alone, it reaches an audience of hundreds of thousands of people in the target market.
Having reviews like Linus, TechnoBuffalo, and Newegg review the products on YouTube would
help drive sales, since these reviews are opinion leaders for the market.
If Newegg did a review of the product, it would be especially helpful. When they do
product reviews on their YouTube channel, they often post them on the product page as well.
They in fact did this with another Intel product, which is a wireless adaptor (Newegg, Wireless,
2013). This video had about 10,000 views in a little over a month, which is very high for a nothighly sought after product like this sort of specific wireless adaptor (Newegg, Wireless, 2013).
It would be particularly beneficial if Newegg reviewed the product since they are also one of the
main sources of distribution for it. If people on the Newegg channel saw the video and that the
feedback was positive, they would be inclined to go look at the product and possibly buy it. The
same concept applies to other independent reviewers. Members of this target market not only
look up to, but also rely on these reviewers to get their firsthand opinions on the product outside
of just the numbers on the boxes.
References
Bloomberg Business Week. (2013). Intel corp. Retrieved from
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=INTC
Clark, D. (2013, May 2). Intel CEO is predictable, but not its no. 2. Wall Street Journal.
Retrieved from
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324766604578458650267324178
CNN. (2013). 100 best places to work. Retrieved from
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/?iid=bc_fl_header
Darling, P. (2010, December 29). New Intel sold-state drive 310 series offers dull SSD
performance in 1/8th the size. Intel newsroom. Retrieved from
http://newsroom.intel.com/docs/DOC-1551
Intel. (2013). General company information. Retrieved from
http://www.intel.com/intel/company/corp1.htm#anchor1
Lattimore, D & Baskin, O & Heiman, S & Toth, E. (2012). Public relations: The profession.
China: McGraw Hill.
Newegg. (2013) Intel 530 series. Retrieved from
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167175
PAX East. (2013) What is PAX?. Retrieved from http://east.paxsite.com/what-is-pax
Rogoway, M. (2013, October 24). Intel set to expand its Hillsboro research fab, D1X. Oregon
Live. Retrieved from http://www.oregonlive.com/siliconforest/index.ssf/2012/10/intel_set_to_expand_its_hillsb.html
Storage Newsletter. (2013, May 22). SSD unites grew 22% from 4Q12 to 1Q13—Trendfocus.
Retrieved from http://www.storagenewsletter.com/rubriques/marketreportsresearch/trendfocus-ssd-market/ **
YouTube. (2013, December 9). Linus Tech Tips. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/user/LinusTechTips
YouTube. (2013, December 9). Newegg TV. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/user/newegg
YouTube. (2013, December 9). Techno buffalo. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/user/jon4lakers
**Note: data on this site comes from Trendfocus, however I cannot access the original
information because you must pay for it.
Photo 1-Demonstrates Demographics of @IntelGaming Twitter Followers, reflective of target
market
Photo 2-Example of a Clear Case for Computer
Photo 3-Newegg Email Sample