Intel Social Effort Relies On Storytelling

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Intel is looking to bring awareness to its brand position of leveraging technology and innovation to solve problems through a new Web and social media marketing campaign that relies heavily on storytelling and less on brand placement.

The YouTube campaign, IdeaJam, debuted over the weekend, with a short video of an event in April that brought together 48 filmmakers to create a new media venture in 48 hours. The video shows the filmmakers breaking into six teams to compete in a contest to bring their ideas to life and sell them into production. In all, 12 videos of the brainstorming session will be shown, with new episodes debuting weekly, says Anthony Batt, president of Katalyst, the production company/agency behind the project.

"The IdeaJam will be a celebration of creation and inspiration," Batt tells Marketing Daily. Further IdeaJams will involve similar brainstorming sessions around the topics of education, music and animation, he says.

Aside from some light branding on the YouTube page where the videos will be hosted and casual mentions and placement within the programming, Intel's presence will be light throughout the campaign. The intention is to focus on the story being brought to life and enabled by Intel, Batt says.

"We could do hammer marketing, but what works better is to work with these people who can put your message out there," Laurie Koehler, consumer campaign activation manager for Intel, tells Marketing Daily. "It's not so much about emphasizing Intel's brand, but about building a relationship with the consumer."

The emphasis on story is a key component of Katalyst's mission and central to the intended virality and social aspect of the campaign, Batt says. In a time where consumers are constantly aware of advertising and corporate influence, having an appealing storyline gets consumers more emotionally involved.

"People have a natural ability to defend themselves against advertising. But they open themselves up to storytelling," Batt says. "We're taking an approach that, if you add to the conversation, people will share it with their friends."

Thus, the campaign is heavily reliant on social media to get the word out. The IdeaJams will be promoted through Intel's Facebook and Twitter feeds, as well as those of Katalyst and its co-founder, actor Ashton Kutcher (who famously reached one million Twitter followers last year). Kutcher also hosts the first IdeaJam, lending some celebrity to the proceeding.

"We look for people that have a distinct opinion on things [to lead the IdeaJams]," Batt says. "Ashton has a distinct opinion of digital media."

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