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Intel will outsource marketing to Accenture and AI, laying off many of its own workers

MKWVentures said:
Historically, "marketing" at Intel has many very different areas.
Technical marketing (and Field application engineers) and strategic marketing are part of Business unit and would be difficult to outsource.
Branding, advertising marketing, campaigns is more tied to sales.
Click to expand...
Which should not be it must includes closely guarded IP as well.
MKWVentures said:
this organization was disputed even 10-20 years ago about who controls what and what is the scope. I would guess the hit will be on SMG type people.

I would expect this would be the type of thing LBT would completely overhaul since it has historically seemed to have redundancies and inefficiencies.
Click to expand...
Well from the incident I have heard some random team at Intel went to cruise on company budget and people were in awe 🤣🤣.
 
Daniel Nenni said:
I remember the "Intel Inside" marketing push. It was brilliant. It could only go down from there. The AI PC marketing people should be fired.
Click to expand...
Intel is in a strategic bind: its historical strength in integrated design and manufacturing (IDM) is now a liability in a world where TSMC dominates advanced process technology, and companies like Apple, NVIDIA, and AMD are thriving as fabless players. Add to that the economics of <2nm fabs (~$30–40B per site) and TSMC’s superior time-to-yield, industry-leading yield curves, and “right-first-time” execution further squeeze Intel’s options.

Intel’s “Intel Inside” campaign, launched in 1991, was one of the most effective B2B2C co-marketing programs in tech history but its coercive underpinnings are still remembered by many OEM partners, and it arguably contributed to longer-term channel resentment that still lasts today.

Outsourcing Intel’s marketing to Accenture, with a heavy reliance on AI-driven efficiencies, is a bold move, however, it comes with deep strategic risks, especially if Intel hopes to shed the legacy of its channel bullying, like the coercive “Intel Inside” era. This begs the question that cuts to the heart of the challenge: If AI is only as good as the data it’s trained, and Intel’s historical brand baggage is part of that data environment, both structurally and sentimentally - where will the NEW CREATIVE ideas come from in order to make this strategy successful?
 
I think many people — including professionals — don’t fully understand the boundaries of current AI capabilities. You can find many similar posts on LinkedIn where people base their conclusions on personal experience and opinion.

While it's true that people can generate better ideas, the real question is: at what cost? I prefer an all-in approach. If Intel wants to promote its AI offerings like Nvidia does, it should treat itself as customer zero.
 
blueone said:
A perspective from a former Intel marketing person who I knew and respected, and I agree with her position.

www.techarena.ai

Intel's AI Marketing Move: Sign of the Times or CEO Sideshow?

Intel's decision to outsource marketing to Accenture and generative AI sparks debate: is this a visionary leap into the future of work or a symptom of a deeper retreat from innovation leadership?
www.techarena.ai www.techarena.ai
Click to expand...
Good link.

I decided to (be lazy) ask Grok what companies have had successful marketing campaigns that were outsourced. It did pop a few interesting ones (I spot checked the links and they appear legit):

Slack, Proctor and Gamble, Cisco, Air BnB, and Dollar Shave Club.

One common theme was that the third party agencies ran hard on social media to build the brand's success, i.e "specialized skills in reaching out through digital channels". I suspect a good agency could easily beat Intel's internal marketing in this realm, though - like your article says - that doesn't explain how GenAI will perform magic for Intel.
 
A little more on Accenture. Accenture is a public company (stock symbol ACN), so its results are published. Their gross margin is about 33%, and their net margin is about 17%. They have 791,000 employees (!). I'd buy a ticket to a presentation that explains how Accenture is going to save Intel money while creating more marketing value, unless the Intel deal is a loss leader to initially win the business.

 
Xebec said:
Good link.

I decided to (be lazy) ask Grok what companies have had successful marketing campaigns that were outsourced. It did pop a few interesting ones (I spot checked the links and they appear legit):

Slack, Proctor and Gamble, Cisco, Air BnB, and Dollar Shave Club.

One common theme was that the third party agencies ran hard on social media to build the brand's success, i.e "specialized skills in reaching out through digital channels". I suspect a good agency could easily beat Intel's internal marketing in this realm, though - like your article says - that doesn't explain how GenAI will perform magic for Intel.
Click to expand...
I looked up Cisco's deal with Accenture, and it doesn't look like marketing outsourcing to me, it looks like Accenture is providing cloud computing-related professional services which will highlight Cisco solutions.

www.cisco.com

Accenture and Cisco

Accenture and Cisco
www.cisco.com
 
blueone said:
I looked up Cisco's deal with Accenture, and it doesn't look like marketing outsourcing to me, it looks like Accenture is providing cloud computing-related professional services which will highlight Cisco solutions.

www.cisco.com

Accenture and Cisco

Accenture and Cisco
www.cisco.com
Click to expand...
100% agree... I dont think this is what I consider marketing. Outsourcing this kind of stuff is typical in smaller companies I have worked with.
 
KevinMeyer said:
Intel is in a strategic bind: its historical strength in integrated design and manufacturing (IDM) is now a liability in a world where TSMC dominates advanced process technology, and companies like Apple, NVIDIA, and AMD are thriving as fabless players. Add to that the economics of <2nm fabs (~$30–40B per site) and TSMC’s superior time-to-yield, industry-leading yield curves, and “right-first-time” execution further squeeze Intel’s options.

Intel’s “Intel Inside” campaign, launched in 1991, was one of the most effective B2B2C co-marketing programs in tech history but its coercive underpinnings are still remembered by many OEM partners, and it arguably contributed to longer-term channel resentment that still lasts today.

Outsourcing Intel’s marketing to Accenture, with a heavy reliance on AI-driven efficiencies, is a bold move, however, it comes with deep strategic risks, especially if Intel hopes to shed the legacy of its channel bullying, like the coercive “Intel Inside” era. This begs the question that cuts to the heart of the challenge: If AI is only as good as the data it’s trained, and Intel’s historical brand baggage is part of that data environment, both structurally and sentimentally - where will the NEW CREATIVE ideas come from in order to make this strategy successful?
Click to expand...
cheesehead said:
Nobody quoting Henry Ford here?
"those who stop marketing to save money are like those who stop a clock to save time"

IMHO we can all have an opinion on Intel´s past and current marketing, but outsourcing this part of the business is a very bad sign for the overall state of Intel.
Click to expand...


One way to look at this is that Intel is in a difficult or dire situation, both financially and in terms of product competitiveness. Using AI through Accenture to replace Intel’s own marketing staff seems like a desperate move and more of an excuse than a strategy.

It’s ultimately about saving money in the short term just to stay afloat. The AI angle in this news shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
 
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