Sunnyvale (CA) – AMD decided to drop its “Smarter Choice” tagline in exchange for “The future is fusion” in an effort to highlight the combination of its microprocessor and graphics technologies. Fusion? Isn’t that the code-name for a future AMD micro-processor? Yup, but AMD believes that the word “fusion” describes the company’s overall focus as well and was therefore chosen as the keyword for its new marketing campaign. But AMD, of course, knows that this tagline could imply that the Fusion processor is AMD’s future and the company does not mind if you interpret it this way.

The ability to transport images, carry emotions and transport messages is critical for any brand and from time to time we see IT company’s either adjust or completely drop their marketing presence in favor of new images, emotions and messages. Intel did this some time ago, using tools such as the 2007 “Multiply” campaign to inject dynamics and emotions into what has been perceived as a dry and boring bland – and appears to be shifting its message again with the introduction of the Core i7 processors.

The new tagline and its meaning

AMD got tired of its general “Smarter Choice” tagline as well and felt it was time to support its brand with something new. Starting Thursday, AMD will be using the new tagline “The future is fusion”, which, according to the company has been created from the thought of AMD’s collaboration with partners, its impact on the industry and the balance (or “fusion”) of its technology. There is no other product that exemplifies this term as much as the Fusion processor, which “fuses” AMD’s microprocessor with the graphics engine of the ATI graphics unit. In fact, it is a tagline that also refers to the merger of AMD and ATI.

AMD’s chief marketing officer Nigel Dessau said that Fusion is “the most focused articulation yet of how AMD marries innovation with collaboration in ways that can yield benefits to the marketplace greater than the sum of its parts.” In effect, the new campaign will once again aim to convince consumers that individual technologies are less important than the combination of technologies, a balance of technologies, that create an experience at “work, home and play”. It is a clear shot at Intel, reiterating that a balanced platform consisting out of a decent microprocessor and a capable graphics engine will provide a better user experience than the experience a great CPU and not so capable graphics part can deliver.

“At work, Fusion means delivering leading server performance against real-world workloads with best-in-class performance-per-Watt and powerful virtualization capabilities,” Dessau said. “At home, Fusion means enabling people to share the full range of digital content on any screen they choose. At play, Fusion builds on the AMD and ATI record of leadership in providing the first 3-D graphics processing unit and driving the graphics for both the Microsoft Xbox™ 360 and Nintendo Wii game systems.”

The campaign will go into two directions with the promotion value aimed 1/3 at print and 2/3 online. It will promote a more factual presentation for the server clientele and an emotional and experience-focused campaign for consumers. Dessau told TG Daily that the campaign will include a “See for yourself” component, which will allow consumers to compare the experiences of AMD and Intel machines side-by-side in retail stores. Following an initial launch ad (see below), AMD will transition to specific messages and run the Fusion campaign until the end of the year.

Print ads will include messages such as “A smaller carbon footprint – Made possible by fusion”, “It’s just like reality only sharper - Made possible by fusion”, and “The opposite of cranking it to eleven - Made possible by fusion.”

Read on the next page: The Fusion processor, the Fusion utility and Conclusion

The Fusion processor

It is somewhat obvious that many people will interpret the word fusion in this tagline as being the company’s Fusion processor, which has been discussed by the company for more than two years now and which is due for release in late 2009 or early 2010. However, Dessau said that that the meaning of fusion in AMD’s tagline is meant to capture the entire scope and focus of AMD, not just the word of one product with the code-name “Fusion”.

While Dessau agreed that the Fusion processor captures some of that focus - the fusion of graphics and a traditional microprocessor – he indicated that Fusion will not receive the name Fusion as the final and commercial brand.

In the framework of this new marketing campaign, the executive noted that AMD would not be upset, if consumers would connect the company’s new tagline to the Fusion processor. The connection is sort of a positive side effect of the new tagline, he believes.

The Fusion utility

Coinciding with the launch of the new marketing campaign, AMD offers the Fusion for Gaming utility (beta), which allows users to fine-tune the performance of their PC for certain usage scenarios – such as gaming or mobile use. It works by shutting off certain Vista processes that negatively impact the performance or power consumption of a PC. Presets can be saved and the settings of a PC adjusted with one click.

According to AMD, there is an auto-tune tool for processors and chipsets, a clock multiplier control and clock calibration utility as well as a way to “accelerate” the hard drive. AMD did not say much the performance of a PC can be improved with this tool.

Conclusion: No fusion without confusion
 
Graphics and design is a matter of taste and we leave it up to you to decide what your first impression is (please let us know by writing a comment below.) In our mind there is no doubt that there is a lot of brainwork in this campaign and the thought of promoting a “balanced” platform is not only smart, but necessary, given AMD’s competitive situation. Graphics is AMD’s big advantage over Intel right now, as long as Larrabee isn’t out and as long as we don’t know how strong Intel’s graphics offering will be. In fact, we have to ask: AMD, what took you guys so long to bring ATI into the marketing fold?

Is fusion the right word to describe the AMD of today? We don’t know, but AMD would not be AMD if there wasn’t any con-fusion in its message. The connection to Fusion may raise questions, some ads are a bit complicated to understand and customers who do not know AMD may have a hard time figuring out what the word “fusion” really refers to.

But if you ask us, “The future is fusion” is certainly much more appropriate than “Smarter Choice”. AMD needs to go its own way and drop the kind of negative confrontation the previous tagline indicated.