Lenovo acquired Think and IBM's desktop business at the end of 2004, taking the mainland PC contender from eighth to third place in global markets behind Dell and HP.
The acquisition -- a first by a Chinese company of an iconic Western brand -- provided Lenovo with the use of the 'IBM' brand in conjunction with 'Think' for a five-year term. Lenovo is now leveraging the Think brand for the roll-out of its first global campaign, which seeks to develop a brand name powerful enough to compete effectively against Dell and HP in worldwide markets, where the company's share has dipped recently to 7.2 per cent with shipments failing to keep pace with gains by market leaders, according to IDC. The campaign precedes next month's roll-out of the first Lenovo-branded products in markets outside China and coincides with the company's involvement as a sponsor of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
The acquisition -- a first by a Chinese company of an iconic Western brand -- provided Lenovo with the use of the 'IBM' brand in conjunction with 'Think' for a five-year term. Lenovo is now leveraging the Think brand for the roll-out of its first global campaign, which seeks to develop a brand name powerful enough to compete effectively against Dell and HP in worldwide markets, where the company's share has dipped recently to 7.2 per cent with shipments failing to keep pace with gains by market leaders, according to IDC. The campaign precedes next month's roll-out of the first Lenovo-branded products in markets outside China and coincides with the company's involvement as a sponsor of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
"The new campaign is to show customers that the ThinkPad brand has not gone away and that the same level of quality is still there," said David Shaw, Lenovo's director of programme marketing, Asia-Pacific.
"What's worth noting is that the Think ads now seek to establish an emotional connection with the customer. IBM's advertising has always been very professional, corporate and formal, regarded as a bit detached. The new ads connect more vividly and are slightly in-your-face to acknowledge customer needs."
Developed by Ogilvy & Mather, one ad poses the question: 'How much is your life worth?' in an effort to resonate with consumers who carry important information in their PC notebooks. The ads will run across TV for the first time in Singapore and Malaysia, breaking away from IBM's traditional price-point advertising. Outdoor advertising will also be unveiled across other regional markets.
Meanwhile, at the Torino Olympics, Lenovo (China's first global sponsor of the Games) is airing a 30-second TVC on major US networks and has sponsored a daily news feature on the NBC-Olympics.com site. The brand is also backing hockey news reports on NBC with a Lenovo Hockey Update. "We're using the Games to establish Lenovo as a global player," noted Shaw. Lenovo is believed to have forked out up to US$100 million for the sponsorship which covers Turin and the Beijing games.
