Intel to Overhaul Brand at CES 2006

Intel said Thursday that it plans to unveil an all-new branding scheme and marketing campaign at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. The company is now expanding into markets outside of its traditional personal computer business, and the change is to be symbolic of that new path.

The two most visible changes will be to the company's logo, which has not updated in nearly three and a half decades. Gone will be the word Intel with the lowered "e," instead replaced with an oval swirl with the company's name inside.

Also gone will be the slogan "Intel Inside," which is to be replaced with the tagline "Leap Ahead." Companies will still be able to use the slogan to qualify for marketing subsidies from Intel for using their products.

The aging Pentium brand will also see its end as part of the plan. The Pentium M would be phased out in favor of a new low-power chip, Core, which would take center stage. The brand would be further delineated by the names Solo and Duo, meaning one or two processor cores.

Thus, the stickers on Intel machines would say something to the effect of "Core Solo Inside" to indicate which chip the PC was being powered with in order to qualify for the marketing subsidies.

The person responsible for Intel's rebranding is senior vice president Eric Kim, who was hired from Samsung a year ago to rework the company's image. Kim says Intel wanted to keep its branding simple, yet send the message that it continues to push the envelope of modern technology.

More details are expected in CEO Paul Otellini's keynote at CES 2006 next week.