Snapdragon Summit 2025 "Building the Snapdragon Brand" with Don McGuire, CMO of Qualcomm

Insights from Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit 2025: A Conversation with Don McGuire

In this episode, Leonard Lee, Executive Analyst at Next Curve, sits down with Don McGuire, CMO of Qualcomm, at the Snapdragon Summit 2025 in Maui. The discussion covers Qualcomm's journey and milestones, including the rise of Snapdragon as a consumer brand and the significance of its BrandZ ranking. They delve into Qualcomm's marketing strategies, emphasizing creativity, storytelling, and audience relevance. The conversation also explores upcoming technology trends like personal AI, edge computing, and the future of mobile and PC platforms. The episode highlights Qualcomm's role in advancing technology and its vision for the digital and AI-driven future.

00:00 Welcome to Snapdragon Summit 2025
00:44 Celebrating 10 Years of Snapdragon Summit
01:20 Snapdragon's Brand Journey
03:17 Marketing Strategies and Objectives
09:23 The Role of Technology in Brand Evolution
10:15 Personal AI and the Ecosystem of You
16:03 Product Announcements and Future Vision
16:33 Closing Remarks from Maui

Transcript

Leonard Lee: 0:00

Hey everybody, this is Leonard Lee, executive Analyst at Next Curve, and I'm here in Maui for Snapdragon Text. I'm at 2025 and I'm here with Don McGuire. Hey, Leonard, DMO. How's it going? I'm good. How are you, man? Great. And you know what, I just wanna start off by number one, thanking the Qualcomm organization for inviting me out. Absolutely. Glad to have you here. Really appreciate it. Yeah, it's fantastic being here. And just so everyone knows, there's nothing like being here live to experience, new experiences that Qualcomm is shaping for our digital future. Or you might even say it's the AI future, right? Right. Exactly right. Hmm. Congratulations. This is like the 10th Snapdragon Summit, right? 10th Snapdragon Summit. Yeah. I've been at all 10. I've been to three, so yeah, I've You were the first one. Yeah. I don't think I'm gonna catch up to you. No. Anytime soon, maybe. Yeah. And then also 40 years of qu four years, years of Qualcomm. That's incredible. 18 years of Snapdragon as a product. Yes. yes. Yeah, snap. Reagan is still a teen. We're still a teenager though. Like the product is a teenager. Yeah, but it looks like you've, accomplished quite a bit, right? it's been a long way. Yeah. Long way. Long way. And congratulations on some of the achievements that you've made. Thank you. Kantar, global Z. Brand Z number 38. you know, there's all sorts of brand measurement lists out there. There's inner brand, there's the future brand index and things. But what we're really excited about, where we showed up and how we showed up on Brand Z. First of all, this first time Snapdragon as a brand has showed up on any list. Qualcomm, the company has showed up on more of the sort of enterprise value rated lists. Where they kind of just take your financial performance And that kind of thing. but this is the first time Snapdragon has shown up and brands Z tends to be more consumer brand Focused to show. Number one, fantastic to show up at number 38. Amazing. It's great. And it's really before we started to ramp our PC marketing efforts. It's really a credit to more of the partnerships and some of the things. Now that we've leaned into consumer advertising across, linear TV and streaming TV and out of home. More traditional advertising methods. I'd be interested to see where we go, where we come in. Oh, you know, man, Manchester United, you have F1, right? All these, media partnerships. It's a, you know what? I've been following you guys and covering you guys for a long time and it's, quite honestly, pretty amazing to see how you guys have taken the brand, mm-hmm. And really elevated to the level that you guys have. Maybe you can share with our audience a little bit about the journey. Sure. And how you guys got to where you're today. Mm-hmm. And then later on in our, discussion, I'd like to explore where you guys are taking these, because there are a lot of announcements here today. Mm-hmm. And by the way, I really loved Christiano's. vision keynote yesterday. Yeah. that really resonated with me just because next Curve's, next curve research has been. If you don't mind my plugging. Sure. Next curve. We've been pioneering research on edge. Computing and, Qualcomm, you guys have been an essential part of that journey just because of the technologies that you have Sure. And the solutions that you've been bringing to the market in the mobile space. So, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So, okay. So it literally, first it's great to have an objective. Yeah. a clear objective and, I have a clear objective and my team has a clear objective from, my boss, our CEO, which is, I want Snapdragon to be a globally recognized consumer brand embedded in culture. and that's a great objective. That's a tall order, especially for a product that you can't really buy, on its own. you can buy into the idea. You could buy into the technology and what it delivers. So that was a great objective and also a very tall order and a big challenge. and so it's great to start with an objective, too many things in the marketing world these days. when you scratch your head and say, why did they do that? it's because they didn't have a very strong objective. And then from there, it's really all about creativity and storytelling. and it's not necessarily about money. Right. it's not just, oh, I'm just gonna go spend a bunch of money to get it in front of as many eyeballs as possibly can.'cause you could do that. It may not resonate. I've never, had the unlimited budget. So it's been about creativity, it's been about relevance. you have to start. With audience, you have to provide context and then you have to make it relevant. And so, I think the team has done a very good job of that. And every decision we make and every, story that we tell every piece of content we develop and deploy, has that in mind. We've been smart, we've been efficient. I talked about efficiency in my opening remarks especially with our Man United Partnership. It's paid dividends and we're seeing the results. Obviously the journey is really exciting. You do have the outcomes, but maybe if you can qualify, what those objectives were. Yeah. Well, I mean, it starts with the master objective, which is make Snapdragon a globally recognized consumer brand, Uhhuh, right? embedded in culture. And so then it's like, okay, well how do you do that? And where do you do that? And, and how do you connect with your audiences? Okay, well if that's what we wanna do, how do we get people to understand? Because it's beyond awareness. Yeah. Right? It's just like you, you can drive awareness, but awareness without resonance mm-hmm. Or without affinity, right. Is not, it doesn't then create the outcomes that you want, which is more of the financial metrics, the results that then drive business and then underneath that, okay, then what's the journey? How are we gonna get there? Yeah. and that's how we make decisions. where does Snapdragon show up? Right. and then how do we connect the dots for people, around the role that Snapdragon plays, in their sort of digital life? And we decided a long time ago that the way we're gonna do that was by connecting ourselves to the experiences that the technology delivers that then connect to people's passions. Right. So people are passionate about things like sports or their favorite team, their favorite player, right? their favorite type of sport. They're passionate about art, they're passionate about music, photography, those things people are passionate about. So we've organized ourselves around those passion points and the experiences that the technology delivers through the devices And the ecosystem of devices. And with our brand partners, and that's how we build storytelling blocks. Yeah. To then go tell the story. and you see that come through in both regular advertising? like our back to school campaign that we're doing for compute right now, where we're really zeroing in on battery life That in your pc, which lets you then do more and create more and achieve more and not have to worry about, plugging in and finding a charger, to our partnerships with the likes of Man United. Or Live nation or, some of the things we've done, to bridge music and sport and culture altogether, like the launch we did with Kaleo and Manchester United to celebrate the season two, jerseys that aas so brilliantly designed and put together. So it all sort of comes together. Right. Yeah. and with every touch point, it's really about focusing on outcomes, not just activity. Yeah. like I said, aligning audience with context and relevance. Mm-hmm. and that's how we build the bridge. If you have the recipe correct, the cake will rise. I use baking references'cause I'm a big baker. it's kinda my therapy, but I, I I had no idea. Yeah, I had no idea. I'll bake you something, something. It's been challenging, but it's been fun and, we're on our way. we're not there, by any means, but we're definitely on our way and some of our milestones and intersection points along the way are proving to be signs of positivity that we're moving in the right direction. Yeah. Like we're doing the right things. and we also have to be able to test and learn and not be afraid to try things and not have them work out. so that we learn from them and adjust. Well, you know, I was gonna say, you sound a lot like an architect, like a technical architect, but then now I think I have to, I envision you as a, a chef or a baker. I mean, it is a recipe, right? Well, you, I mean Yeah. You know, that's what you're doing. And, for me, you guys have always been and still are, a technology company. Mm-hmm. And to me that's important and we always will be. Right. And to be able to construct a brand. Off of technology Is challenging. What you just outlined is actually pretty amazing. that is literally the taxonomy and the architecture of how you build something like that. I think a lot of tech companies struggle with that. A lot of companies that, oh yeah. Their technology first to make that bridge. Right. and they connect the dots. yeah. But I think it's important and, yeah. but I think as a tech marketer, you have an additional challenge, because your DNA as a company, and the people that create the opportunity for you Is a lot different than like a CPG company. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Where it's really all about. Brand and packaging and messaging. New and improved ultra, you know, whatever it might be. because the pro underlying product oftentimes is commoditized. Yeah. Right. it's laundry detergent or it's, you know, pretzels or whatever it is. And anybody can make a pretzel. Right? Yeah. so it's really the packaging and the ethos that you build around that make, that makes someone want to buy this pretzel versus that pretzel. for us, we have a great product. It does amazing things. Yeah. It changes people's lives. The, the exercise around that is a lot of different mm-hmm. Than, trying to market ultra tide. Right. For example. Right. and so it's, it's a different exercise. I didn't come from a CPG background. I came from a product marketing background. Yeah. In tech. Right. which probably gives me a little bit of an advantage as a CMO in tech. Mm-hmm. because you really have to understand your product. Yeah, absolutely. And your products are. Actually quite complex and the industry complex, right, is complex and very fluid. Absolutely fast, fast moving, right? Lot of engineers now you're getting all this AI stuff, so yeah. But here, let's talk about technology really quickly because obviously your technology and product roadmaps inform. how you guys have to evolve your brand, right? I assume I'm not putting words in mouth. Well, definitely how we evolve the story, right? one of the things I was particularly impressed with Christiano's keynote, going back to what I mentioned earlier. Edge Computing is an area that I've been researching for a very long time. He had a lot of cords with me. Um, in this presentation, and I'm just curious, what are some of these new pillars or trends in technology that are informing where you guys have arrived today? Because obviously you have a whole. Corn corpio of announcements that you've made in the past couple of days. Yeah. Well, I mean, what are those things that are really shaping if you, how shape where you, where we've landed? Right. If you, if you look at summit so far, right? We're in day two. Yeah. day one yesterday was really all about vision for where Technology is headed. Where sort of mobile technology is headed and, and it revolved around these kind of pillars of, personal ai. Right. And what does that mean, right? Mm-hmm. Because AI is just not ai, it's not the same, everywhere. and then why is personal AI so important? and then where does personal AI live? because in the world of ai, which, to get a little bit geeky here from the moment, like it's. Everyone seems to be just focusing on the data center and the cloud and, and the models and they're big and really, and the training really, um, well, if you look at the new cycles, right? Yeah. You know, I know you're being facetious, but, uh, or sarcastic, but, but it's true. And, and really the opportunity we believe, especially when it comes to personal ai and data, right? Mm-hmm. the richness of data mm-hmm. And the amount of data that's going to be generated is really gonna be closer to where the human is. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Right. and that's where Snapdragon lives. We live where humans live. Right? Right. Our technology connects people. allows people To connect to compute. to use tools. to advance their agendas. and their lives digitally and otherwise. And so this huge opportunity at the edge. is a real opportunity and it's what a lot of people are missing. Mm-hmm. Because if the data is where the human is, the human's at the edge. Right. And Snapdragon is where humans are. And so this whole idea of personal ai, which Chris talked about yesterday and where it's headed, with all the devices in your personal, space, which we've kind of, developed this idea and this terminology round, which is the ecosystem of you. Yeah. Right. Is it brings in that personalization, the different devices you may have in and around you, and how these things interact with each other and how you move through your day. That whole thing culminates into this idea of the ecosystem of you personal ai, that's going to actually be useful. for you and how we are going to bring that to life and we're going to help you, achieve, whatever goals associated with that or the objectives are. And so that was really yesterday. and I think it's a really fresh take. and a reality check. It's a point of view. Yeah. That is insightful. Because it's really based in reality. and insight and behavior. and it's also a fresh take into where is the value going to be created. for ai. And so it's an amazing place for us to be. And it's an amazing place for a product like Snapdragon. To live. Yeah. and so that was yesterday in Christiano's keynote, as you mentioned. And they call it edge computing, call it edge ai, whatever you wanna call it. The humans are here. Right. They're creating a lot of data. Mm-hmm. Right. they're in control and which is key. Which is key and personal AI and AI data allows you to stay in control. Yeah. Right. and then they can utilize our technology to actually put that, to use for them. Yeah. And a productive, meaningful way. Yeah. and it's really where intelligence becomes useful. Mm-hmm. Um, in your every day. Mm-hmm. we like to call it the art of possible. Yeah. Right. We showed people moving through their days with a fluidity mm-hmm. That currently may not exist without, personal ai. Mm-hmm. but it's, we're not too far away from it. Yeah. Where it's not just about, deep. Linear use cases, it's more about moments, right? That's what personal AI is gonna do. Mm-hmm. Right? It may be through glasses or or earbuds or whatever, but you're going to have this, you're gonna be walking along, and not only is it gonna be prompt and response mm-hmm from you, but it's gonna be ambient and it's gonna be. You know Right. Suggestive. Mm-hmm. And so it's gonna see what you see. It's gonna hear what you hear. So as you're walking through the park, it's gonna probably bring things like, like I see Bob. Yeah. Like didn't you say you wanted to have lunch with Bob? Do you want me to schedule lunch with Bob? Oh, great. I'll send Bob a calendar invite. Right. Yeah. And so we showed a little bit of that yesterday. How someone can move through their day. Using different devices, gestures, right. Speaking natural language, eyesight. and it's, so it's gonna be, it's no longer gonna be tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Yeah. Right. Or stroke tructure. It's going to be super, super interactive, supernatural, and, you know, voice is gonna become cool again and things like that. so that's what we showed off yesterday. And that really is a validation of this idea. Of this opportunity at the edge. Right. I think we've brought it to life in ways that nobody else has. And we've put it in perspective that nobody else has. and I think it's important for the audience to understand that a lot of what you've just described at the surface is compelling, but underneath the plumbing, the technology that needs to come together to enable that is complex Sure. I just have to say, you guys have that portfolio today, right? Yeah. You're in the infrastructure. So Chrisian talked about, perceptive infrastructure. Mm-hmm. when you look at 5G six G network intelligence. then he also mentioned, this is something that I thought was really interesting is this notion of changing computing models. That's really, gonna be a huge thing. going forward. And then also he mentioned hybrid ai. Distributed ai. And these new architectures you guys have been probably first to market with putting all these. emerging generative AI models of all varieties on device. Mm-hmm. Yeah. and so you guys have been doing a lot of pioneering work. And so I just wanted to emphasize that it's not easy. It takes great engineering And a portfolio technologies to make happen and a belief, right? You have to kind of invest ahead of the curve a little bit sometimes. we used to, we've done that with generations of wireless technology. Right. we started investing 10 years before the shift. so it's no different with ai, right? sometimes you have to, as we said in some of our content yesterday, it's like we're doing stuff that you may not even know you need yet. Yeah. Right. But they, but you will need it. That's kind of like your guy's DNA I mean, it's such brilliant inventors, right? Yeah, yeah. At Qualcomm, which is just amazing to be able to work with and represent. And then that parlayed itself into today. and we started with this great, very natural conversation between Christiano and Hannu. Hannu brought up this idea of personal models, right? Like, I'm a creator, I have my personal model, it's lives on device. It brings my portfolio together, but it's safe and it's private, it's my ip, right? and so they had that conversation and they made it real in the context of a creator. and then we went into the goods, right? Which is our product announcements. For this week, where we announced our next generation mobile platform and our next generation PC compute platform. Hey, Don. Hey, thanks a lot for taking us on this journey. I think you've done a great job of bridging all the great technology that, Qualcomm has expansive. By the way, there's a thing called Dragon Wing that's taking you guys into New Frontiers, right? That's right. There's a whole portfolio outside Snap. Even though we're here to talk about Snapdragon. This is Snapdragon, but Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but, uh, but yeah, we can, we can have another conversation about that. Yeah. Bridging technology with, the vision that was represented, yesterday in Christiano's vision keynote. So, again, there's nothing like being here. live at Snapdragon Summit and really appreciate the invitation. Yeah. And it's time to chat with you I've been wanting to have a conversation like this with you for quite some time and hopefully we'll have a lot more, especially around no better place than Maui. I agree. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me, Leonard. And, everyone remember to follow Next Curve as well as Qualcomm, and Snapdragon. Yeah. Snapdragon, yes. And live from Snapdragon Summit 2025 here in Maui. this is next curve, Leonard Lee signing off with Dom McGuire, CMO of Qualcomm. We'll see you next time.