Intel 'antisocial', says AMD

AMD VP calls Intel's social media strategy "offensive". Fight, fight, fight!

The VP of advanced marketing at AMD, Patrick Moorhead, has publicly called Intel's refusal to deal with issues like battery life on blogs and Twitter "offensive and derogatory to consumers".

At an impromptu panel of executives at SXSW last week, Moorhead advised the corporate world bog it up a bit and act the twit by getting active on social media. "If you're a large company, a small company or a medium company, it doesn't matter" gushed the Veep, adding, however, it was of the utmost importance to "keep it honest, have integrity and have transparancy".

"At the end of the day, this whole system is based on trust" said Moorhead, warning "If you violate that trust, you're screwed".

AMD is certainly making a concerted push into the social media space, seeing possibilities for a long term strategy to strengthen its brands and interact with end users. It isn't always plain sailing, however, and we've heard the firm's legal beagles have oft gotten their collective knickers in a twist due to unauthorised posts or aggressive twit fights with rivals.

But Moorhead seems unperturbed by the potential pot-holes ahead, emphatically declaring it was important to "inject personality" into corportate social media (*Cough, Intel) and saying "If you're not making mistakes, you're not pushing the envelope and if you're not pushing the envelope, you're not going to get anywhere".

Neutering people from the corporate brand was the worst mistake a firm could make, said Moorhead, adding "social media is social because it's about people".

So, if it's all about openness and transparency, would AMD be willing to publicly release all documents relating to the cross license agreement? We asked. Moorhead's answer? "If Intel is prepared to unredact all the confidential information they don't want to open up in the antitrust suit, we will open up the redaction from the cross license agreement" said Moorhead, as AMD's lawyers mopped sweat off their crinkled brows.

Moorhead may well be playing a dangerous (and sometimes aggressive) game, but the Vice President, dubbed AMD's "social media guru" (and "the cat with nine lives"), doesn't seem too concerned. After all, according to him, it's all about "fast fail".

"There are no experts here. Get in, have a simple startegy, hurry up and make mistakes", he told us.

Hope AMD's legal team are prepared to pick up the pieces!