If you haven’t heard about Intel’s newest promotional effort, you’re in for a pre-Halloween treat. The company is “following in the footsteps”:http://www.clickz.com/experts/media/media_buy/article.php/3524906 of the marketing gurus at “Converse”:http://www.converse.com and “Audi”:http://www.audi.com by launching an ingenious branded film contest.
Product placement is old hat compared with this latest approach to merging brands and entertainment. In conjunction with “AtomFilms”:http://www.atomfilms.com, “Intel”:http://www.intel.com is asking consumers to produce original short films based on a “magic wand” theme — and requiring them to use an Intel processor to do it. Submissions to the “Intel Indies Film Contest”:http://www.atomfilms.com/af/spotlight/collections/intel_indies will be judged by a panel of Hollywood directors and film experts, and the winning film will be distributed to AtomFilm viewers.
Other prizes include $10,000 USD in cash and, of course, home electronics equipment. Intel also plans to use some of the entries as part of its own marketing efforts, and is promoting the contest via paid search and online advertising.
As with most “brand democratization”:http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_30/b3944097.htm (or “consumer-generated media”) campaigns, the goal here is to increase brand awareness and affinity among both contest participants and idle viewers. Intel’s contest also allows it to showcase what its products can do, and saves some bucks where developing ad material is concerned. Consumers, meanwhile, are more than happy to participate. There’s fame and winnings up for grabs.
Intel seems to be doing everything right with this promotion (though I’m not quite sure I get the significance of the “magic wand” theme…). Kudos to the company for thinking outside the box, distinguishing itself from its competitors, and delivering entertainment value. Who knew processing systems could be so exciting?