Intel decided to increase its co-op ad spend in digital media by 35% reports Online Spin.  Intel Corp. spends $300 million on their advetising worldwide.  So this is a hefty chunk of change we're talking about here.

 ”We’re going where the consumers have gone,” Sean Maloney, executive vice president at Intel, told The New York Times. “For the longest period of time, consumers formed their attitudes through TV, print, radio, and from the middle ’90s onward, there was more influence from the Net,” he was quoted as saying.

Any marketing or PR 101 class will teach you that you have to keep your eye on where the consumers are.  And just when you think you have them pegged, they shift.  This shift in media influence has been happening for quite a while and there is no doubt anymore that online is where the consumers are.

Take note that Maloney is talking about co-op advertising.  It's 'Intel Insde' brands like Dell, HP, Toshiba, sony and Lenovo.  So they will also be shifting their budgets to more digital media.

In the past 6 months online advertising hit the $10 billion mark, up 27% from last year.

What's in your marketing and PR plan for 2008?