Wow Komete, great post ! Im with you on most point, they NEED to do commercials, there's still a hell lot of people who simply doesnt know what AMD is lol. They may answer its a new car brand and that would not surprise me.
That show that even when AMD took major market part with the AMD64, they didnt capitalize enough with marketing to let people know they exists and they are the "alternative".
It's never too late to begin tho, well its too late when the compagny is closing but eh, i hope it wont happen
Here in Quebec you have VERY cheap AMD PC in store, everything medium & high-end tends to be Intel powered.
Little off-topic : Last nite i was on anandtech forum and i saw a guy that was hoping AMD would close, that it would be BETTER for the consumer... Still can't believe someone could think that way, and im open minded lol
AMD must try more of those things to put them on the world track again. Next ATI GPU looks promising, i they can simplify their computer offering with new brand and sticker that's good too, but my real hope is that they will invest and capitalize with marketing on their next winning-situation. At least if they want to grow in the home-CPU domain, and in-store strong presence.
AMD's general strategy is to support their OEM and distributors with marketing material who they hope in turn will promote AMD positively by creating compelling systems that consumers will want. AMD's idea has always been that the system matters to the consumer, the total package and what it will do, and that the design components on the inside don't matter at all as long as the system performs the function they want in an attractive total package, and that is the OEM's domain, not the chip maker.
The big issue in my mind has always been misinformation at retail. I think there is this common perception that Intel makes superior product at every spec in the spectrum. I bet if you were to ask a non techie what is better, and Intel Celeron or an AMD Phenom II, they would say, well its the Intel one, right? AMD could throw money into TV advertising to combat this, but then Intel would just throw more in and they would never be able to compete with it, what AMD needs to do strategically is make the hardware spec less focused and make the possibilities that the total system creates for them the focus.
OEM's, and Microsoft all want AMD to succeed on a certain level. They have helped to drive component costs down through competition, they ushered in 64 bit computing, they have eased creating platform systems by supplying the chipset, CPU and graphics all in a singular package.
AMD can't go toe to toe with Intel using the same strategy, it would be David vs. Goliath without the happy ending. Look, even when AMD had the best Chips on earth with the original Athlon, the Athlon XP and the Athlon 64 it did not matter because Intel had the muscle to bully the OEM's, to advertise falsehoods, and shape the game to their advantage.
What AMD needs to do is change the rules on how the game is played. They need to make people want an HP DV2 for its sleek portable design and HD video processing capability rather than make people desire a product because its AMD or Intel specific.
I have also suggested to them that they could use a slightly better presence at retail to educate the sales staff on the benefits of AMD platforms. I think they could win man battles there if the sales staff had a better understanding of what AMD platform computing solutions are and why they are desirable to OEM's and consumers.
OEM’s are in the game to make a profit. That’s why 8 out of 10 AMD system you see in the wild often use the cheapest and most under performing parts to bundle with AMD systems. AMD has been and still is a way for OEM’s to make a nice profit with little investment. And I’m sorry, AMD hasn’t done squat to insure John Q Public can buy a great performing platform in retail stores. Create the demand for the product and OEM’s will beg to sell it any way you want it.
Since I’ve been using AMD, around 10 years or so, AMD has supported the enthusiasts with open arms, even if they were not vocal about it at times. Why? Probably because it is the cheapest form of marketing, word of mouth. But I ask myself, has it really helped them? The answer is no, because taking the word of a pimple headed nephew over all the pc’s you see at work with the shiny intel inside stickers on them is hard to do. Advertising works. It’s proven to work. Mega billions upon billions if not a trillions go into advertising every year. There is only one catch to advertising. Once you start you can’t stop.
It would be a waste of money for AMD to try and run around training retailers on how to sell their OEM’s products. Why? Because the turnaround in retail is insane. They would literally have to revisit stores once a month. At the store level it isn’t AMD that should be pushing for training, it’s the OEM’s. AMD has already made its sale. Now it’s the OEM’s challenge to sell the product. That’s why HP does commercials. But if you are an OEM and you have $2 million of intel product you may have to take back or $400,000 of AMD, which one will you push to be sold? I don’t know about you but I’m going to push to sell the 2 million with catchy Intel commercials that actually helps sell the product with cute slogans and shiny stickers. It’s the sure thing.
This idea that AMD can’t go toe to toe with Intel is silly. Did it stop Apple from going against IBM? Did it stop MS from going against Apple? Did it stop Google from going against Yahoo? The list goes on and on. There is only one thing stopping AMD, it’s AMD and their ridiculous grass roots marketing schemes.
In conclusion, AMD has a history of fumbling every opportunity that has come their way. They are sitting on a marketing goldmine. They have a trifecta going on and the best they come up with is 3 red stickers that has all the excitement of choosing between different grades of motor oil.
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LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited September 2009
Ah, I was hoping you'd keep going, Komete. That was fun reading.
Leonardo I could go on and on about AMD but I am loyal and happy consumer of their products. Just wish they would grow up, get some direction, and grow a pair already.
Has Google ever aired a traditional TV advertisment? Not to my knowledge, I know Yahoo has, Microsoft is doing it with bing now.
Google got where they are because they made a compelling product and Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton and Chris Parillo would not shut up about it on the old tech TV (RIP).
So your Google vs. Yahoo analogy does not fit your analogy that grass roots marketing does not work. If there has ever been a grass roots word of mouth success bigger than Google, I don't know what it is.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to see AMD do some compelling TV advertising, but once again, its David and Goliath. AMD could air an add where Intel could air five more. What AMD might want to get behind is something on a specific product that is innovative, perhaps the DV2 is the best current example of this. A blitz of adds for HD capable ultra portables, a multimedia powerhouse in a package that weighs about 3 pounds, now that says something more than AMD, or Intel inside, it says, look at this sexy product, thats what Apple does with its marketing most of the time.
Thing about Apple, they spend a boat load on TV adds, but is the mac share of users going up in leaps and bounds? Not really, instead of 7.5% of the market, they now enjoy close to a 9% share. Apple's core revenue is from Ipod, Iphone and Itunes, which are also heavily advertised, the difference, those adds are not selling Apple, they are selling a product that many people find compelling, that's how you market technology.
Intel's adds, sure, they are there, the USB rockstar add recently, the Blue Man Group years ago, but has it garnered them any significant shift in share or perception that they did not have dating back to the first Pentium chips? Intel is just kind of one of these companies that people know about, like Coca Cola, like McDonalds, its part of the culture, people know who they are even if they don't know much about microprocessors, they understand that Intel has been selling the most of them for a very long time and while the ad and the silly tone at the end may help to keep that in their psyche, I'm not sure you could offer any hard evidence that it has impacted their share vs. what they would have had by getting the jump on the market with the Pentium.
I'm about to shock a couple people here.
Intel is at where they are at because of having the best product at an exceptionally good time to have it. At the dawn of the Internet era in the mid to late 90's nobody had better chips that Intel. AMD started to produce good product a couple years later with the slot Athlon's, but many people had already purchased their first desktop machine, and most of them were already indoctrinated Intel users, they identified with the brand and never gave it another thought. AMD put alot of money into advertising with the Slot Athlon's, they had giant retail headers, full feature's in PC magazine, I recall some radio adds talking about Athlon, but then Intel decided to use its clout with the OEM's to slow AMD down and the rest is history.
AMD could run some TV adds, but if all they are saying is hey, we are AMD the only company with total system platform solutions, nobody is going to notice, but if you show off a compelling product that AMD powers, that might be something entirely different.
What AMD might want to get behind is something on a specific product that is innovative, perhaps the DV2 is the best current example of this. A blitz of adds for HD capable ultra portables, a multimedia powerhouse in a package that weighs about 3 pounds, now that says something more than AMD, or Intel inside, it says, look at this sexy product
... and that will result in nice sales of the DV2 - and almost nobody will associate it with AMD, and if they do, it probably won't make them want to buy AMD next time around either.
Intel's rockstar ad is an instant classic that I will always remember. On the other hand AMD's cricket player is just "cheesy". I have never seen it before. Thanks, Komete.
I was reading the previous posts and let me add my 2c too.
Average consumer is not stupid. Everyone lives their brightest moments when it is about their interests. They may seem ignorant or unaware but they actually make their research on the Internet. They do care about the slightest performance advantage and read the reviews everywhere they can find. And there are many (right or wrong) reviews available on the internet. That is why AMD had a growing market share when Athlon 64 was better than Pentium 4. And that is also why AMD's marketshare dropped with Intel's release of Core architecture. Today, AMD is struggling because "good enough" is not good enough. There is no problem of perception. As simple as that, at least to me.
I think this sounds great, sure, we're all going to look at the benchmarks and the specs, but when my mom's best friend asks what to get I can tell them to make sure it has an AMD Vision sticker on it. Okay, maybe an oversimplification (especially since they probably wouldn't be buying an individual graphic card) but simplifying the system for the every day guy sounds great.
Comments
That show that even when AMD took major market part with the AMD64, they didnt capitalize enough with marketing to let people know they exists and they are the "alternative".
It's never too late to begin tho, well its too late when the compagny is closing but eh, i hope it wont happen
Here in Quebec you have VERY cheap AMD PC in store, everything medium & high-end tends to be Intel powered.
Little off-topic : Last nite i was on anandtech forum and i saw a guy that was hoping AMD would close, that it would be BETTER for the consumer... Still can't believe someone could think that way, and im open minded lol
AMD must try more of those things to put them on the world track again. Next ATI GPU looks promising, i they can simplify their computer offering with new brand and sticker that's good too, but my real hope is that they will invest and capitalize with marketing on their next winning-situation. At least if they want to grow in the home-CPU domain, and in-store strong presence.
AMD's general strategy is to support their OEM and distributors with marketing material who they hope in turn will promote AMD positively by creating compelling systems that consumers will want. AMD's idea has always been that the system matters to the consumer, the total package and what it will do, and that the design components on the inside don't matter at all as long as the system performs the function they want in an attractive total package, and that is the OEM's domain, not the chip maker.
The big issue in my mind has always been misinformation at retail. I think there is this common perception that Intel makes superior product at every spec in the spectrum. I bet if you were to ask a non techie what is better, and Intel Celeron or an AMD Phenom II, they would say, well its the Intel one, right? AMD could throw money into TV advertising to combat this, but then Intel would just throw more in and they would never be able to compete with it, what AMD needs to do strategically is make the hardware spec less focused and make the possibilities that the total system creates for them the focus.
OEM's, and Microsoft all want AMD to succeed on a certain level. They have helped to drive component costs down through competition, they ushered in 64 bit computing, they have eased creating platform systems by supplying the chipset, CPU and graphics all in a singular package.
AMD can't go toe to toe with Intel using the same strategy, it would be David vs. Goliath without the happy ending. Look, even when AMD had the best Chips on earth with the original Athlon, the Athlon XP and the Athlon 64 it did not matter because Intel had the muscle to bully the OEM's, to advertise falsehoods, and shape the game to their advantage.
What AMD needs to do is change the rules on how the game is played. They need to make people want an HP DV2 for its sleek portable design and HD video processing capability rather than make people desire a product because its AMD or Intel specific.
I have also suggested to them that they could use a slightly better presence at retail to educate the sales staff on the benefits of AMD platforms. I think they could win man battles there if the sales staff had a better understanding of what AMD platform computing solutions are and why they are desirable to OEM's and consumers.
OEM’s are in the game to make a profit. That’s why 8 out of 10 AMD system you see in the wild often use the cheapest and most under performing parts to bundle with AMD systems. AMD has been and still is a way for OEM’s to make a nice profit with little investment. And I’m sorry, AMD hasn’t done squat to insure John Q Public can buy a great performing platform in retail stores. Create the demand for the product and OEM’s will beg to sell it any way you want it.
Since I’ve been using AMD, around 10 years or so, AMD has supported the enthusiasts with open arms, even if they were not vocal about it at times. Why? Probably because it is the cheapest form of marketing, word of mouth. But I ask myself, has it really helped them? The answer is no, because taking the word of a pimple headed nephew over all the pc’s you see at work with the shiny intel inside stickers on them is hard to do. Advertising works. It’s proven to work. Mega billions upon billions if not a trillions go into advertising every year. There is only one catch to advertising. Once you start you can’t stop.
It would be a waste of money for AMD to try and run around training retailers on how to sell their OEM’s products. Why? Because the turnaround in retail is insane. They would literally have to revisit stores once a month. At the store level it isn’t AMD that should be pushing for training, it’s the OEM’s. AMD has already made its sale. Now it’s the OEM’s challenge to sell the product. That’s why HP does commercials. But if you are an OEM and you have $2 million of intel product you may have to take back or $400,000 of AMD, which one will you push to be sold? I don’t know about you but I’m going to push to sell the 2 million with catchy Intel commercials that actually helps sell the product with cute slogans and shiny stickers. It’s the sure thing.
This idea that AMD can’t go toe to toe with Intel is silly. Did it stop Apple from going against IBM? Did it stop MS from going against Apple? Did it stop Google from going against Yahoo? The list goes on and on. There is only one thing stopping AMD, it’s AMD and their ridiculous grass roots marketing schemes.
In conclusion, AMD has a history of fumbling every opportunity that has come their way. They are sitting on a marketing goldmine. They have a trifecta going on and the best they come up with is 3 red stickers that has all the excitement of choosing between different grades of motor oil.
Google got where they are because they made a compelling product and Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton and Chris Parillo would not shut up about it on the old tech TV (RIP).
So your Google vs. Yahoo analogy does not fit your analogy that grass roots marketing does not work. If there has ever been a grass roots word of mouth success bigger than Google, I don't know what it is.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to see AMD do some compelling TV advertising, but once again, its David and Goliath. AMD could air an add where Intel could air five more. What AMD might want to get behind is something on a specific product that is innovative, perhaps the DV2 is the best current example of this. A blitz of adds for HD capable ultra portables, a multimedia powerhouse in a package that weighs about 3 pounds, now that says something more than AMD, or Intel inside, it says, look at this sexy product, thats what Apple does with its marketing most of the time.
Thing about Apple, they spend a boat load on TV adds, but is the mac share of users going up in leaps and bounds? Not really, instead of 7.5% of the market, they now enjoy close to a 9% share. Apple's core revenue is from Ipod, Iphone and Itunes, which are also heavily advertised, the difference, those adds are not selling Apple, they are selling a product that many people find compelling, that's how you market technology.
Intel's adds, sure, they are there, the USB rockstar add recently, the Blue Man Group years ago, but has it garnered them any significant shift in share or perception that they did not have dating back to the first Pentium chips? Intel is just kind of one of these companies that people know about, like Coca Cola, like McDonalds, its part of the culture, people know who they are even if they don't know much about microprocessors, they understand that Intel has been selling the most of them for a very long time and while the ad and the silly tone at the end may help to keep that in their psyche, I'm not sure you could offer any hard evidence that it has impacted their share vs. what they would have had by getting the jump on the market with the Pentium.
I'm about to shock a couple people here.
Intel is at where they are at because of having the best product at an exceptionally good time to have it. At the dawn of the Internet era in the mid to late 90's nobody had better chips that Intel. AMD started to produce good product a couple years later with the slot Athlon's, but many people had already purchased their first desktop machine, and most of them were already indoctrinated Intel users, they identified with the brand and never gave it another thought. AMD put alot of money into advertising with the Slot Athlon's, they had giant retail headers, full feature's in PC magazine, I recall some radio adds talking about Athlon, but then Intel decided to use its clout with the OEM's to slow AMD down and the rest is history.
AMD could run some TV adds, but if all they are saying is hey, we are AMD the only company with total system platform solutions, nobody is going to notice, but if you show off a compelling product that AMD powers, that might be something entirely different.
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Oh and some classic AMD training.
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... and that will result in nice sales of the DV2 - and almost nobody will associate it with AMD, and if they do, it probably won't make them want to buy AMD next time around either.
I was reading the previous posts and let me add my 2c too.
Average consumer is not stupid. Everyone lives their brightest moments when it is about their interests. They may seem ignorant or unaware but they actually make their research on the Internet. They do care about the slightest performance advantage and read the reviews everywhere they can find. And there are many (right or wrong) reviews available on the internet. That is why AMD had a growing market share when Athlon 64 was better than Pentium 4. And that is also why AMD's marketshare dropped with Intel's release of Core architecture. Today, AMD is struggling because "good enough" is not good enough. There is no problem of perception. As simple as that, at least to me.