NEW YORK -- IBM has one of the corporate world's best-known names, but that isn't stopping it from launching a branding campaign.
Big Blue kicks off a new branding campaign on Thursday by marketing the IBM brand name on its customers' products, a blue-and-white striped logo in the shape of a peeled-back flag that reads "IBM Technology."
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) wants to make sure consumers know when its technology is used in other companies' products from video game consoles to television set-top boxes, cell phones and digital cameras.
IBM is not the first high-tech company to use its logo to sell its brand name. A few years ago, leading computer chip maker Intel Corp. (INTC) launched its own branding campaign with the "Intel Inside" logo and a distinctive jingle, which catapulted Intel to one of the most recognizable brands in the world along with the likes of Coca-Cola Co. (KO).
The IBM campaign marks the first time the world's largest computer maker that has used its brand name to sell its technology on other manufacturers' consumer products.
The first product to carry the IBM logo will be Nintendo's GameCube gaming system that launches in Japan on Thursday.
"It is an opportunity for IBM to create recognition for itself," said Lee Green, IBM's corporate director of identity and design.
"This is a strategic area of business for IBM ... We are allowing customers to leverage that brand value," he said. IBM did not pay to place its own logo on the GameCube packaging.
The branding campaign comes while the computer industry is in the midst of a big slowdown.
One of the few big tech names still showing profit growth, IBM warned in July that sales at its microelectronics unit would fall off dramatically in the coming months. Many companies are seeking to diversify to offset the slowdown.
Green said the IBM campaign was not designed to compete with the Intel. "We really view this as being quite different from the 'Intel Inside' program," he said.
Green said he expected IBM to launch similiar co-branding campaigns with other consumer goods' companies that IBM works with and predicted significant interest because the IBM brand would be a good selling point.
"Customers realize that there is significant value in them being able to leverage the IBM brand," he said.
