In 2000, Intel began to look for new ways to promote its Pentium III Processor. It hoped to revive the brand and keep it fresh and top of mind among consumers.
Its agency at the time, Euro RSCG MVBMS, came to Intel with some ideas based on three guys wearing blue makeup doing odd creative things. Most of the people in the meeting were not familiar with the blue-faced men and thought the idea was completely shallow at first, Sean Connolly, worldwide advertising director for Intel Corp., said yesterday as a panelist during a session on working with talent.
But it wasn’t long before the team discovered that Blue Man Group, the Manhattan-born multi-media performance troupe, had some real popularity in New York and that its quirky show was catching on. For Intel, a co-marketing deal with the group became “far and away the most compelling and unique idea the agency had brought to us,” Connolly said.
For Blue Man Group, the partnership was a needed opportunity to raise its profile nationally. And, what caught Intel’s eye was the group’s creativity and innovation and the interest only deepened as they all began talking about ad development.
“There were certain elements of their nature that we thought were very much in sync with our brand,” Connolly said.
Following “millions” of collaborative meetings, the first 30-second spot was born for the Pentium III Processor titled “Paint Us.” The scene opens as three blue men are lobbing bright green paint balls at a white wall. As the sequence unfolds, two green lines begin to appear on the wall and then one blue man dumps a can of the paint over his head and launches himself into the wall. As he slides down the wall, a third green line appears and the voiceover says: “Get the power of three.”
Two more spots followed, one for the Pentium IV Processor and another for Intel’s Centrino wireless laptop. Results? Ad recognition doubled the historical average.
After the spots began to air, Intel decided to add an interactive component but admits that it was slow to get that started. After struggling with flash and GIF banner ads it focused on interactive video banners as a “true way” to capture Blue Man Group’s creativity and an effective way to communicate with consumers online. It incorporated some interactive components with the second flight of ads and by the third flight it had greatly expanded its online components.
“We got more sensible in how to integrate campaign components,” Connolly said. “It was a step forward that we only came to realize in the third round.”
Online ad awareness increased 19% versus the market average and nearly 40% of click throughs at its site in the spring of 2004 were delivered by the online videos. Interaction rates for the ads came in at historical highs, largely driven by the videos, Connolly said.
For Blue Man Group, the partnership also paid off.
“Obviously, it was an enormous media buy and it gave us the exposure that we never could have had as a small theater company,” Jennie Willink, VP-creative affairs and executive producer for the Blue Man Group said. In fact, the group is expanding internationally to open in both Berlin and London.
Connolly said that Intel looks differently than some marketers when dealing with talent.
“When we partner with talent its co-marketing, we don’t hire spokespeople,” he said. “We’re working with them because they stand for something that we stand for. We share like interests.”
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