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Applied Materials
Information for Everyone

Transforming a chip equipment maker into a famous Information Age brand.

Tokyo. Photo: RJ Muna

Applied Materials is the world's largest maker of chip manufacturing equipment, and yet, very few people in the retail investment market appreciated their leadership role and market position.

We were tasked with bringing that value into sharp relief.

Our first job was to sell AMAT's board of directors on an ambitious plan to produce a global, prime-time, broadcast advertising campaign. So we hired the legendary actor Martin Sheen to narrate our pitch film, and he added just the right note of gravitas to the brand positioning idea. 

"Applied Materials is opening an era of Information for Everyone."

Jim Morgan, Chairman Emeritus

To tell a compelling global story that was attention grabbing, memorable and yet easy to understand, we dramatized the ubiquity of microchips in a series of ground-breaking ads that were shot at several iconic locations:

 

We were the 1st to film a commercial inside the Forbidden City in Peking and on The Great Wall of China; 1st to film at the world's busiest intersection, Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo [soundtrack: Chihiro Onitsuka]; 1st to feature a Porsche in a non-Porsche ad, shot in the historic Sierra de Grazalema, Spain [soundtrack: Montrose Space Station # 5].

 

Additional photography was shot in Bombay, New York and California.

Our campaign made Applied Materials famous for the role it plays in making the Information Age accessible and affordable to everyone.

  • In spite of being heavily outspent in the media, recognition and interest in the ads outstripped those from tech bellwethers Intel, IBM and Cisco.

  • The Nasdaq amplified our message by celebrating AMAT as a visionary technology leader in their global brand advertising campaign. 

  • Today, even during volatile times, when ownership of other tech stocks decreases significantly, AMAT holds its ground or moves forward.

Source: Hall & Partners / Investors Business Daily

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"Mark Whitty possesses a rare combination of attributes for the advertising industry: he has high standards of excellence and he is a good budget manager. He provided standout, award-winning work for me at Applied Materials on a $50 million global advertising and branding campaign." 

Tom Hayes, VP Marketing

Services

Brand Strategy

Qual & Quant Research

TV, Print, Outdoor, Digital

Media Planning & Buying

Design, Video, Events 

Public Relations

Government Affairs

Client

Jim Morgan, CEO

Mike Splinter, CEO

Tom Hayes, VP Marketing

Joe Pon, VP Public Affairs

Collaborators

Paul Golubovich, Producer

Chris Kirk, Mind Bomb Films

Charles Wang, Salon Films

Pucho Mentasti, Palomar Pictures

Peter Ker, Peter Ker Associates

Ralf Schmerberg, Radical Media

RJ Muna, Muna Pictures

Jeanne Selvester, PHD Media

Chris Liu, Ketchum PR

Wayne Sayer, Washington D.C.

Mike Hall, Hall & Partners  

See other work

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