What makes this hire important as Qualcomm and Intel often compete in similar markets. Penny will report directly for Steve Mollenkopf, chief executive officer of Qualcomm Incorporated.

Intel made a lot of investments in its brand and there is hardly anyone in the IT world who has never heard about Intel or its Intel inside campaigns. When Intel engaged with the Blue Man Group, many people associated them more with Intel than with a decades old performing act. This was definitely a job well done, and so was the Intel Inside branding.

This cost Intel billions of dollars over the last few decades but marketing dollars made much more impact than many believed possible. The market really cared about that Intel sticker on their products.

Baldwin has 35 years of marketing and branding expertise and worked with Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, AMD, NetApp and Hewlett-Packard on various marketing and communication tasks. She has been recognized by numerous creative and industry awards including Clios, Gold Lions and Emmys.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, Baldwin was vice president and general manager of Global Brand Management at Intel, responsible for developing and managing Intel’s global brand strategy, positioning and reputation. Baldwin was also responsible for partner marketing, New Technology Group and sports marketing globally.

Prior to Intel, Baldwin was executive vice president and chief marketing officer at McAfee. She has also held senior leadership positions at companies including Yahoo!, Young & Rubicam, Arnold Worldwide, McCann-Erickson and Ogilvy & Mather. So she has a great knowledge of the PR agencies that help drive a lot of publishing traffic for companies.

Steve Mollenkopf, chief executive officer, Qualcomm, said:

 “I am very pleased to welcome Penny to Qualcomm and I look forward to working with her. Penny’s extensive experience will help continue to drive our marketing program, which plays an important role in elevating Qualcomm’s presence and reputation around the world, showcasing the breadth of our technology solutions and driving confidence in our roadmap and future vision.”

Currently Intel and Qualcomm are after each other in IoT, 4G, 5G modem market, automotive and soon in the PC and server markets too. Having someone who worked at Intel on similar projects is a great hire. 

It would be interesting to pick Baldwin's brain about canceling the flagship Intel Developer Forum as we don’t know a single industry insider who thinks that was a good idea. Now she is here to help Qualcomm to boost people’s awareness about its many brands.