15.11: Case study - Intel and Toshiba

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One-line summary

Toshiba and Intel paired up to create an extremely successful social storytelling campaign that refreshed the ‘Intel inside’ slogan and boosted awareness of the new Ultrabook.

The problem

Intel and Toshiba both wanted to an opportunity to interact and raise awareness with younger consumers, aged 18–34 years old. They knew they didn’t want a regular ad, but something that would really engage the audience and get them to interact with the brands.

The solution

An interactive social film called ‘The Beauty inside’. The film starred real Hollywood stars and was a film about a character called Alex, who wakes up every day as a different person. On the inside he is the same, but on the outside, he looks like someone different. The story was about the fluid nature of identity and that despite outside appearances, it is what is inside that counts.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The Beauty Inside campaign for Intel and Toshiba *Adapted From Contently, 2016*

The campaign included a strong social element. Due to the changing nature of Alex, he could be played by anyone (male or female), and fans were invited to audition via the brand’s Facebook application for the role. Those chosen would star in the professionally filmed episodes with real Hollywood players. Additional audience created content was also shared in the Alex story on the Facebook page.

Watch this video about this incredible case study:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyMQIMeSCVY or the full six episodes as one movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbNP_c0wUxE

The outcome

Over 26 fans were cast in the film as Alex, chosen from over 4 000 contenders. And an additional 50 Alexes were featured on the ‘The Beauty Inside’s Facebook Timeline. The content resonated with the audience, and the social nature of the film sparked engagement and shares.

The results of the campaign were:

70 million video views
97% YouTube approval rating
26 million social interactions
40% lift in brand perception for Toshiba
66% lift in brand perception for Intel
Increase in sales of 300% during the event, when compared to previous weeks (Digital Training Academy, n.d.).

Despite being a few years old, this case study is a great example of how providing content with strong entertainment value to customers and engaging with them on an emotional and social level, can have dramatic results.