Chinese IT company Lenovo opened a public relations hall inside Beijing Olympic Park on July 31. Lenovo chairman Yang Yuanqing met Chinese and foreign journalists after the opening ceremony.
Four years ago, Lenovo signed a US$50 million contract with the International Olympic Committee to sponsor the Olympics -- a first for a Chinese enterprise. At that time, Lenovo's annual sales were a little less than $3 billion. Chinese people were concerned about the deal, calling it "unreasonable gambling." But Yang said, "Samsung has grown from a South Korean home appliance maker to a top-class global brand through Olympic marketing, hasn't it? Olympic marketing is a prerequisite for us to become a global brand."

Using the Beijing Olympics to gain momentum, Lenovo is greatly benefiting from enhanced global brand recognition. With strong sales and high profits over the past three years, Lenovo leapt into the Fortune Global 500 club for the first time this year.

＃ Lenovo billboards inundate downtown Beijing

Downtown Beijing resembles a huge marketing ground for Lenovo. So many locations in Beijing are covered with Lenovo billboards that people remark on the phenomenon. Lenovo has set up more than 1,000 outdoor billboards in major locations in the city. About 500 city buses, including 65 double-decker carriers, plastered with Lenovo billboards navigate the city’s streets.

The tactic is part of a marketing strategy intended to maximize the global TV exposure of Lenovo during the Olympics. "IdeaPad," Lenovo's notebook computer, appears on the tables of China's CCTV anchors reporting from the games.

Lenovo is also conducting PR in key global markets, such as the U.S., Europe, Australia, and India. It is also having a chance to show off its technological prowess to the world, taking charge of all data processing, including the results of all Olympic events. This is a by-product of Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's PC division, which handled data over several Olympic Games. This year, Lenovo is using 700 server computers, 12,000 desktop PCs, 800 notebooks while managing about 600 technical personnel.

＃ Lenovo aims to emulate sports giants

In 1984 Lenovo started as a 10-man venture inside a small lab of the Institute of Computer Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since then, it has made one success after another. During its early days, the company imported IBM computers to sell in China. In the early 1990s, it began manufacturing its own computers. In 2000, it became Asia's largest computer manufacturer. In 2005, it bought IBM's PC business for $1.25 billion, emerging as one of the world's three largest computer manufacturers.

About 40 percent of Lenovo’s sales occur in China. According to the firm’s own analysis, a "discount China" phenomenon -- in which China-based firms spend three to four times more marketing expenses than their rivals in advanced countries -- is still a stumbling block to its advance into the global market.

To overcome this handicap, Lenovo is following Samsung's global strategy. For example, Lenovo bought IBM's PC division and decided to sponsor the Olympics. Like Samsung, Lenovo is diversifying its business into mobile phones and printers.

Huh Byung-hee, director of the Shanghai office of the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency, said, "Nike became a global brand using the 1984 Olympics for momentum. Samsung has established itself in the global market through a consistent Olympic marketing campaign since the 1988 Seoul Olympics. It seems likely that Lenovo will leap forward, given that it has the Chinese government's support and its own technology."

Source:chosun.com