LIVE UPDATES: Read on, and see Intel’s official announcement unfolding. It’s all over now, and without much explanation of Will.i.am’s new role. What we do know is he’ll be re-writing Intel’s iconic Intel Inside jingle.
You read that right. Intel’s taking a leaf from the Polaroid management playbook and hiring a pop star to sit on its board. This time it’s Will.i.am, who’s signed on as Director of Creative Innovation. The news comes direct from Intel UK PR manager, Perveen Akhtar, although an official announcement has yet to go live on Intel’s website.
What’ll he be up to? No idea. But while we dig for more info why not enjoy this gallery of Will.i.am in a selection of ludicrous hats? And, yes, that first one is made of Lego.
Update: Intel is planning an announcement for 18:15 GMT, so we’ll doubtless hear more then.
Update: Intel’s Twitter account is directing towards http://www.intel.com/newsroom/will – there’s nothing but an error page there at the moment, but soon it’ll be bristling with celebrity tittle-tattle. Watch this space.
More information to follow… Below, and, potentially, more hats.
18:16 Intel VP Deborah Conrad and Will.i.am are holding a conference call right now. Will.i.am is wearing “some really cool shoes”. Which is nice.
18:20 “This is really about collaborating on content and product ideas,” says Conrad. She’s also “super excited about working with Will”. He’s “super excited too”… and now he’s talking about motown, and pressing records. We’re lost already, and this conference call is just five minutes old.
18:21: Ahh, now we’re following. “The record studio isn’t a big building any more, it’s a chip”… Will.i.am says he was “collaborating with Intel before this collaboration since I used their chips”
18:23: Intel is hoping for a more personal and “emotional connection with consumers”, through Will.i.am, says Conrad. They want to “embrace the creative expression of the technology that [Intel] puts in the hands of Will” – we’re going to go out on a limb here: Will.i.am is not going to design any Intel products, but rather cheerlead them.
18:25: Talking about celebrity endorsements, and drawing a parallel with a racing driver, Will.i.am says “I’m not a racecar driver, but the content I create races around the internet. It’s racing through you right now.” Again, he’s not mentioning any specific creations in partnership with Intel here. Instead, he’s going to advocate, advocate, advocate. Just as we’ve seen him do with the BlackBerry PlayBook and Nokia in recent months.
18:28: The Q&A has started. The first one is asking Intel to define what role Will.i.am will fullfil as a Brand Ambassador. Conrad says that hasn’t been finalised yet, but “if Will can do something musically to support us, that would be fantastic”. This doesn’t sound very concrete at all at the moment.
18:30: Quick reminder that some of Intel’s media materials to accompany this announcement aren’t live yet. And won’t be for hours. The impression here is that it’s quite a rushed announcement. So far we’re not clear on what Will.i.am will actually do for Intel… Except say they’re great, obviously. Those expecting products with his name on them will be disappointed it seems.
18:31: Will.i.am is now talking about his Black Eyed Peas 360 project. It’s very clever, he’s creating “3D content” by packaging music, images and video together. And it’s “edited with Intel chips” he says. “That’s what being a brand ambassador means to me” says Will.i.am.
18:35: Now Will.i.am is sounding like a fully-fledged Futurologist: “Why do I have to use a microphone nowadays? Just because that’s what they did yesterday? Why can’t you use a smartphone and upload your performance? Why can’t I record while I’m performing and show the audience what it’s like from my perspective?… why can’t my tablet not only be the maker of my music, but the distributor and publisher? Those little voids nobody’s paying attention to.”
18:35: Next question: Will Will.i.am have a hand in Intel’s Creators project? Conrad says they haven’t discussed it yet. We’re starting to wonder what has been discussed…
18:37: The thing that impressed Will.i.am most at Intel’s CES booth was “The smart TV. That changes the game, similar to how smartphones did. You never thought the TV should be smart. For so long you had the cable box and a whole bunch of channels. People like us, we always connected our computers to the TV so we could have a bigger screen… now everybody does that. It puts everybody on a bigger playing field.”
18:40: Oh, now hang on… Conrad says: “We’ve started working on some music. Our signature ID is a very important part of our brand, and we’re eager to hear what Will wants to do with it and how he might embelish it.” Is intel about to re-work its iconic “dum-dum-dum-dum” Intel-inside jingle?
18:41: Will.i.am says “Four years ago I never thought I’d be working with Intel. It’s unbelievable. It’s something I’ve wanted for a while, and it’s exciting. It’s like playing the Superbowl every day.”
