Corey Carrillo, senior global search manager at Intel Corp., focuses primarily on paid search campaigns on behalf of the semiconductor chipmaker. But within the past few months he's helped lead a complete reorganization of the Intel search function to take advantage of synergies with social media, website development, mobile, content marketing and organic search.
BtoB: What was the impetus behind the reorganization of these teams and the integration of these various channels?
Corey Carrillo: All these things reinforce each other and, because of that, we had to improve our own strategies. The common thread here is content, touching people organically. But search is the glue that holds it all together. Search crosses all channels, including social media. There is the obvious strategic part, in connecting the dots and working with the same systems and tools, to share information and insights internally and also with our "Intel Inside" partners.
BtoB: What changes in the marketplace prompted the reorganization?
Carrillo: We started looking at the future of search and what it means for our audience's data consumption. This naturally touches on the cellphone; but as search evolves, it also includes new products that have the potential to be Internet-connected, such as cars, the items you wear, TVs or even refrigerators. Search opens up other avenues for us and new ways to reach people.
BtoB: How does content marketing fit into your approach to search?
Carrillo: Things become more content-driven when you're trying to reach IT decision-makers. IT isn't interested in information about computers; they know about that. And they know that Intel servers are the crux of a lot of the Internet and the data ecosystem. Instead, we have to reach the IT decision-maker about what all this means for their businesses. Thus, we provide messages about cloud computing, interconnectivity and data. Those are some of our stories, and search is the avenue for decision-makers to find that content.
BtoB: What kinds of obstacles have you faced in this process?
Carrillo: Our search agency, Covario Inc., found a lot of challenges for us, especially in understanding the search environment we play in internationally. Everyone focuses on the U.S. and Google, but the Chinese search engine Baidu plays with a different set of rules. We need a good view of the world, and Covario helped us realize what areas are ready for investments and where we might reapply our resources. Baidu is the major play in China, but we're also trialing other Chinese search engines, including Soso and Sogou. In Russia, we're very deep in Yandex; in Korea we're using Daum and Naver, and Yahoo is rich in Japan. We try to use them all. But without a doubt, it's still a Google play. And their way to go to market winds up being copied by others.
BtoB: How does the future of search look to you?
Carrillo: It's left to be written by Google. When you see what they're doing with product development, in particular with the Android mobile operating system, you're seeing the way they can get into everyone's lives. It's about knowing where you are, seeing what you have in your datebook, where you're consuming information and how you're spending, and using that information to make better recommendations to you. The day will come when they connect the dots and are able reach people in the critical moment with a paid search ad.