David Upstages Goliath: Atheros PR Campaign De-Positions Intel Centrino

Scenario: Betting that the allure of wireless mobility would drive the next cycle of computer notebook upgrades, Intel on March 12, 2003, launched its Centrino chip bundle, offering built-in wireless networking capabilities for the laptop computing industry. The noisy Intel launch, bolstered by a whopping $300 million ad campaign, was Intel's entry into the burgeoning Wi-Fi networking industry, and the company was staking claims for having breakthrough performance and enabling extended battery-life. Meanwhile, across Silicon Valley, an agile startup called Atheros had already pioneered the high-speed and multimode wireless LAN markets with chipsets that outstrip Centrino in performance and battery-efficiency. Atheros turned to its PR agency, A&R Partners Inc., to win influencers' attention amid the tidal wave of Centrino media.

It was a defining moment in the Wi-Fi market: Would an industry monolith take ownership of the new business category through the sheer force of its brand recognition and advertising strength? Could a hot technology startup penetrate Intel's well-financed armor? A&R strategically fanned debate among journalists and analysts, introducing Atheros executives as credible third-party arbiters of wireless computing questions. Target publications included the semiconductor and wireless industry's heaviest hitters, from Electronic Engineering Times to Business Week.

Objectives: Through an aggressive PR campaign, A&R and Atheros aimed to capture invaluable mindshare by positioning Atheros' more flexible, advanced and universal products as the technology leaders, in contrast to the limited Centrino offering. By making Atheros product features and performance the standard by which observers measured Intel's claims, the PR campaign would publicly validate Atheros' innovation and leadership in the fast-moving wireless networking industry.

A&R's de-positioning campaign, founded on research findings over several consecutive quarters, kicked off well before Intel's Centrino launch and continued through the introduction of Atheros' own third-generation products, scheduled for June 2003.

Plan Objectives:

• Objective 1: Infiltrate articles about Centrino, injecting Atheros' name and accomplishments, securing press coverage in 50 percent of all Centrino-focused stories.
• Objective 2: Exponentially multiply published third-party depictions by press and analysts of Centrino as a marketing offering, as opposed to a pioneering technology.
• Objective 3: Substantiate and amplify perceptions of Intel's wireless functionality as outdated, with pointers to Atheros' products as the best suited for laptop Wi-Fi usage.

Execution: Beginning six months before the Centrino launch, A&R pored over 300-plus press clippings about Intel's wireless strategy, gauging journalists' and analysts' receptivity, zeroing in on misconceptions, and crafting new messages.

• Mobilized PR SWAT team to prepare daily reports about Centrino news
  • Created pitch lists transforming influencers new to Wi-Fi or unaware of Atheros into knowledgeable converts
• Conceived and distributed issue-oriented white paper
  • Compared range of products and defined criteria for judging wireless technologies
• In three phases, freshened news angles for reverberating clarity
  • Injected Atheros' messages into Centrino stories before, during and after launch
    • In more than 100 briefings with more than 70 media and analysts over five months, challenged Intel's claims and evangelized Atheros' messages
  • Reaffirmed Atheros' leadership position in WLAN solutions at pivotal N+I conference, the COMDEX of networking innovations
    • In 20-plus media and analyst briefings, drove home superiority of Atheros' technology, marshalling customers and OEM deals as conclusive evidence
  • Successfully launched Atheros' third-generation wireless LAN chipsets, promoting standards and performance exceeding industry requirements and expectations

Results:

• Objective 1 result: Atheros infiltrated more than three-fourths of Centrino coverage, repeatedly praised in an otherwise mixed Intel story.
• Objective 2 result: Representative quote: "If you pull aside the marketing curtain, what you essentially see with Centrino is not a wireless story, but essentially a story about a company that has found a new way to reignite stagnating laptop PC sales."
• Objective 3 result: The "outdated Intel/innovative Atheros" evidenced by representative headline, "Atheros Inside While Intel's In Front." The article says, "There are other chipset developers making important contributions to Wi-Fi—and arguably more frequent and rapid innovations—than Intel. Atheros Communications, a Wi-Fi chipset developer in Sunnyvale, Calif., that just celebrated its fifth birthday last month, has seemingly done far more with the technology than Intel but with far less of a marketing budget to promote it."

Coverage metrics confirmed vast reach:

• Atheros impressions tripled to more than 30 million from March through June, up from previous four months
• Articles more than doubled to 900-plus during Atheros' third generation launch, up from November 2002 to February 2003

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