David Blaine’s Intel-sponsored ‘Electrified’ event.
If anyone has ever tried to tell you that advertising doesn’t work, here’s some evidence that they’re wrong: Intel has launched a huge new digital campaign with the launch of Windows 8 and the results are plain to see. In the last few weeks, Google search trends for ‘Ultrabook’ have surpassed searches for ‘netbooks’ for the first time. The launch of Windows 8, Ultrabook ads from Intel hardware partners, and a new digital campaign from Intel are all involved in the activity spike. Intel’s latest efforts involve Angry Birds, Pandora, and David Blaine.
Angry Birds with Ultrabooks
A huge section of Intel’s Facebook page is now dedicated to Ultrabooks. The company has collaborated with the creators of Angry Birds to create an ‘Angry Birds in Ultrabook Adventure’, which is really just your typical lovable (or dreaded, in my case) Angry Birds fare with a few Intel accents here and there. It’s a 10-level version of the game that you can waste some time with right here:
Intel and Pandora
Intel is also running Ultrabook ads on Pandora and has also partnered with them to make a mini-site which goes ‘Inside the Music‘ (a play on ‘Intel Inside’, it would seem):
From strings to synths, we at Pandora listen for everything — and now for the first time, you can too. Get ready to uncover what’s Inside your Pandora music with an exclusive look at what defines your favorite genres. With the power of the Ultrabook, inspired by Intel, find out what’s Inside the Music.
Clicking through the site on various genres shows a short description of what aspects define each genre. There’s also a soundbyte accompanying each genre wherein the music is broken down to its various parts, which is actually kind of neat. You are invited to make a Pandora radio station of any genre you click on and there are some Ultrabook ads sprinkled throughout.
David Blaine’s ‘Electrified’
This Intel-sponsored stunt by magician David Blaine happened live in New York in early October.
Blaine apparently spent 72 hours surrounded by Tesla coils generating electrical arcs of 1 million volts. Arcs of electricity can make variable sounds and this was used so that the entire aparatus was actually playing music as it leaped to Blaine. It isn’t clear how Ultrabooks were involved, but it look pretty damn cool if you ask us! The New York Times has a little behind-the-scenes here:
Surprisingly, these digital efforts are not focusing on Ultrabook convertibles as some of Intel’s other recent Ultrabook work has done.
So far the ads have definitely translated into search interest, but are Ultrabooks appealing enough for much of that interest to turn into sales? It will take time before the answer becomes clear.
