| Lenovo
has asked their retailers to redefine their retail look and feel, so that a consumer
who comes to buy their computer has the same feel as he does when he goes in to
buy high end branded clothes such as Van Huesen. Other promotional activities
include sops such as an all expenses paid to meet Saif, enjoy 10 holiday packages
to the Maldives, have 500 exclusive backpacks for a select few and 10 original
Hindi film DVDs for all buyers of the 3000Y.
Right from the time of taking over from IBM, Lenovo India has been
aggressively involved in brand transition and in just 7 months from
Febrauary 2006 to September end claim that the brand recall rate
has almost doubled from 38 per cent to almost 74 per cent, the rate
of recall growth far exceeding those of the other well known brands
such as Dell, Compaq and Acer who have been around for a much longer
time. As per the agreement with IBM, Lenovo actually have 5 years
time for the transition.
Leveraging consumer passions in India through Bollywood and cricket
is the Lenovo mantra. They have been aggressive in their initiatives
which started with the high visibility and connect with icons like
Amitabh Bachchan through the Kaun Banega Crorepati show. Besides
this they have also sponsored the Kaun Rahega Crorepati show on
CNBC, maintained a visibility during telecast of cricket matches,
and a high visibility in Hindi films like Corporate. On the international
sports arena, Lenovo roped in Ronaldinho as brand ambassador during
World Cup Football 2006.
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The
TVC features Saif in a Tom Hanks Castaway setting being rescued by
a chopper. On reaching home, his wife fails to recognise him, his
appearance is that of a bedraggled and unshaven man and the wife is
just on the point of dialing the cops for reporting an intruder, when
Saif rushes to his Lenovo notebook and the camera on the computer
does a face match and accepts him as an user. This ad is meant to
harp on the face recognition feature that comes bundled with the 3000Y
series units that have an inbuilt camera. The ad has been directed
by Rajesh Krishna of the Mentos, Indica and Hutch fame, the creative
work has been done by O & M and media buying is by Mindshare.