Applied Materials

Applied Materials
Information for Everyone

A small share of voice needs a big idea.

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Tokyo. Photo: RJ Muna

Even though Applied Materials had been laboring for over 30 years at building a marquee name in the semiconductor industry, less than half of the retail investment market had heard of them; and beyond awareness, only a small portion of investors appreciated the fact that Applied makes the systems used to produce virtually every new microchip in the world.

During the worst downturn in the semiconductor industry's history, we were tasked with bringing that astonishing value into sharp relief.

The immediate, yet daunting challenge — for an eighteen-month-old agency, founded in the summer of '99, now watching its own industry implode in the dot-com crash — was to sell a conservative board of directors on a wildly ambitious, $30 million global broadcast advertising program in year one alone—a plan that was met with immediate jeers by competitors who pointed out that Applied didn't sell a single consumer product.

We opened our pitch in the CEO’s bunker-like conference room in Santa Clara with a short film narrated by Hollywood legend Martin Sheen. I felt sure the board members would collectively cheer and bang approval on the polished mahogany. Instead, the Chairman politely thanked me for our time and immediately moved on to the next item on the agenda. Cool as you like.

Several finger-nail biting weeks later, we were given the brief of a lifetime:

"Make Applied Materials famous for making the Information Age more accessible and affordable to everyone."

David N.K. Wang, Executive Vice President

How do you memorably express global leadership in super-complex chip manufacturing technology without evoking Orwellian overtones or corporate chest-beating? We knew that if the advertising felt like advertising, we were screwed. To dramatize the ubiquitous nature of microchips, we anchored Applied's story against some of the most iconic backdrops on Earth—and let the sheer scale argue for us. So we threw out traditional scripts, hired a visionary director and relied on our 'nothing is impossible' attitude to survive monumental, cinematic logistical battles around the globe:

SPAIN: Porsche — a brand notoriously protective of its cars — had granted us one of the first arrangements of its kind for a non-automotive company, but the 996 Turbos that were being shipped from Stuttgart for our shoot were locked at the border due to a Foot-and-Mouth disease crisis. Worse, while we had arranged to have the mountain roads of a popular national park closed for several days, storms grounded our helicopter and obliterated the shooting schedule. While I stared at mounting overage bills and drank Rioja in Ronda, our production company deployed a legendary London-based 'fixer'. Our cars cleared customs, the Guardia Civil extended the Sierra de Grazalema road closure, clouds parted and Sammy Hagar's breakout vocal, 'Space Station #5', accompanied aerial footage of Bobby Unser Jr. barreling through a mountain pass in the 996 Turbo.

JAPAN: We had arranged to shoot at the world's busiest pedestrian crossing, the Shibuya Scramble — a location so tightly controlled by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police that even Hollywood productions have had to build replica sets rather than film there directly. The location was contextually vital—Applied was doing 40% of its business in Japan and we couldn't afford a single slip-up. Naturally, things went sideways. The Police inexplicably revoked our filming permit. Our tough Australian production manager on site gave it to me straight: the only way to reinstate the permit involved sitting down with the Yakuza. Fortunately, the Japanese have never been keen on discussing delicate matters in public, so the story behind our eleventh-hour reprieve will remain a trade secret. The edit was accompanied by an enigmatic track sung in Japanese by Chihiro Onitsuka, and Ad Age readers recognized the commercial as being "the best spot in America."

CHINA: For the grand finale, we wanted to contrast cutting-edge silicon technology against thousands of years of human engineering. Legendary film producer Charles Wang helped us become the first advertiser in history to shoot inside Peking’s Forbidden City, and along the Great Wall of China. Throughout the production, we were shadowed by somber-looking members of the CCP. But all I suffered on this shoot was a nasty bout of dysentery.

Supported by striking print and outdoor imagery captured by the fearless photographer RJ Muna across Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Andalusia, we bypassed traditional ad clutter to let the epic nature of our subject matter do the talking.

Facing a volatile international market, CEO Jim Morgan leveraged the campaign to address the industry and press, elevating the brand narrative into a macroeconomic mission statement: proof that Applied Materials wasn't just selling machines, it was democratizing the digital age. By leaving the "cake in the oven"—resisting the urge to change messaging prematurely—the strategy allowed the narrative to fully bake into the market's consciousness, creating an unforgettable and enduring cognitive shortcut.

Within five years, the campaign completely transformed the retail investment market's perception of the company and its long-term resilience—so much so that our tagline, "Information for Everyone," was formally codified into Applied Materials’ SEC filings, annual reports, and even served as the title for the official book celebrating the company’s 35-year history.

Performance: Public recognition and ad interest completely outstripped heavily funded campaigns from entrenched rivals Intel, IBM, and Cisco.
Cultural Validation: Nasdaq amplified our messaging by featuring Applied Materials prominently in its nationwide "Visionary Leaders" campaign.
Equity Growth: Pre-campaign, AMAT stock hit a 52-week low of $26.59. By July 2026, valued at nearly $450 billion, it had climbed past $560 a share — more than 20x that low.

Source: Hall & Partners. Ad Age. Wall Street Journal. AMAT stock data: Nasdaq / Yahoo Finance, July 2026.

Mark Whitty joined Tom Hayes on CNBC to discuss the campaign.

Nasdaq's "Visionary Leaders" feature on Applied Materials

"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."