Lenovo Laptop-Promotional Strategy Essay

1. PERVASIVENESS: Advertising permits the seller to repeat a message many times. It also allows the buyer to compare messages of various competitors. Large scale advertising says something positive about the seller size, power and success. 2. AMPLIFIED EXPRESSIVENESS: Advertising provides opportunities for dramatizing the company and its products through the artful print sound color. ADVERTISING CAN BE USED TO BUILD UP A LONG TERM IMAGE FOR A PRODUCTPROMOTION The promotion mix within the marketing mix includes advertising, sales promotion and personal selling. Product promotion means making the product popular among the consumers and raising its sales through suitable measures the basic purpose is to widen the scope of marketing.  sales promotion means the promotional activities other than personal salesmanship, advertising and publicity which stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness through displays, exhibitions, demonstrations, free samples, discounts, premium etc. it is plus ingredient in marketing mix it act as bridge link in between advertising and personal salesmanship. It acts as a supporting facility to advertising and personal selling. FEATURES OF SALES PROMOTION1. SALES PROMOTION ACTS AS A TOOL IN MARKETING TO LUBRICATE MARKETING EFFORTS. 2. IT IS NECESSARY IN PRESENT COMPETITIVE WORLD AND CONSUMER ORIENTED MARKETING3. IT SUPPORTS ADVERTISING AND PERSONAL SELLING. 4. IT AMIS STIMULATING CONSUMER PURCHASING AT POINT OF SALE. 5. IT PROVIDES MORE SALES AND PROFITS TO PRODUCERS AND DEALERSNEED OF SALES PROMOTION1. FOR UNLOADING ACCUMULATED INVENTORY. 2. FOR INTRODUCING NEW PRODUCTS. 3. FOR OVERCOMING SEASONAL SLUMPS. 4. FOR SUPPORTING ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN. 5. FOR GETTING NEW ACCOUNTS. 5. FOR SUPPORTING AND SUPPLEMENTING SALESMAN EFFORTS. OBJECTIVES OF SALES PROMOTION1. TO RAISE VOLUME OF SALES OF PRODUCT. 2. TO RAISE BUYING RESPONSE AND POTENTIAL CONSUMERS. THREE MARKETING PROMOTION STRATEGYA] DEFINE YOUR VP-up stands for value proposition and it is critical to define what unique value you can bring to your customer. The three items that you should not define as your up. 1 low price-if your only differentiator is price, customer is in tough time. Price is probably the worst way to attempt to differentiate your company. Making low pricing your up is a mistake. 2. Quality products-they are not differentiator, they are an expectation. 3. service-good service is an expectation, not vp.good service is not simply a unique way you differentiate your business these days. Up need to focus on a unique way you do business, it can be way your information is packaged, a guarantee that no one else offers, or the way your product can transform people. Once you defined your value proposition, you must ensure that this message comes across clearly to your customers and prospects. An easy way to develop a business tag line based on your up and uses this tag in all your customers’ communications. B} MATCH THE MESSAGE TO THE CUSTOMER- the more you know and are able to define your various buyer personas, the more you will be able to communicate  tightly focused and powerful message that is relevant to particular customer. C} GIVE SOMETHING FOR NOTHING- this means to build trust by giving away something for nothing. Before you attempt to sell. You must create trust they want information. When they surf the internet they need information. The trust can be created over time by consistently showing customer the knowledge, expertise and valuesSTART OF LENOVO†Hope through Entrepreneurship† tells not just the story of Lenovo’s corporate social investments, but the company’s own history. In 1984, 11 computer scientists in Beijing, China had a vision to create a company that would bring the advantages of information technology to the Chinese people. With approximately $25,000 USD in seed money and the determination to turn their research into successful products, this team opened their business in a loaned space – a small, one-story bungalow in Beijing. Today, Lenovo is encouraging people around the world to make an impact. As Lenovo’s technology helps bridge the physical gap among different parts of the world, the company’s goal is to do the same through its social investments. Given Lenovo’s history and the nature of its business, the company focuses on helping people around the world transform their lives and their communities. To do this, Lenovo supports organizations that encourage business development and social entrepreneurship. Through microfinance institutions such as Opportunity International, Lenovo is helping provide crucial loans to help disadvantaged people in countries such as Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. HISTORY OF LENOVOThe following is a brief history of Lenovo:- 2000: Legend shares peak at HK$14.75 on March 6. – 2001: Dell takes the largest share of the worldwide PC market for the first time. Legend sales reach a peak of HK$27.2 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2001 and decline to HK$23.2 billion in the most recent fiscal year ended March 2004. – 2003: The Company changes brand name to Lenovo from Legend to avoid infringement of overseas brands. The company says it is preparing for expansion outside China, which has overtaken Japan to become the world’s second-largest PC market. The US remains the world’s largest PC market. – 2004: The Company changes its name to Lenovo Group. Time Warner Inc, the world’s largest media company, on January 7 exits a US$50 million Internet venture in China with Lenovo. China accounts for 99 percent of Lenovo’s sales in fiscal year ended March 2004 and 98 percent in the previous 12-month period. Lenovo’s first-quarter PC shipment growth in China lags rivals such as Dell, according to market researcher IDC Corp. Lenovo has a 10.9 percent share of the Asian market excluding Japan, compared with 7.3 percent for Dell. Lenovo’s Asian shipments rise 19 percent, compared with 52 percent for Dell. Lenovo’s sales of services and hand-held electronics grow the fastest of all its products in the most recent two fiscal years, each at an average rate that roughly quadruples. Computer sales rise at an average rate of 9 percent in the same period. – December 3, 2004: IBM in discussions with Lenovo about the sale of its PC business, the New York Times reports. – December 7, 2004: Lenovo says it’s in talks with a major international company about a possible acquisition. – December 8, 2004: Lenovo’s purchase of IBM’s personal computer business formally announced in Beijing yesterday. Acquisition expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2005. OBJECTIVE OF LENOVOLenovo nose-diving into rural marketChina’s top PC maker, Lenovo Group Ltd, by introducing cheaper computers, is plunging head-on into the country’s rural market, where PC penetration is low and purchasing power is weak. Analysts said the firm’s low-price strategy will help it strengthen its  market share, which is shrinking. But they are divided about the long-term profitability of the low-priced PCs. Lenovo last week introduced a new consumer PC series and an e-classroom solution aimed at users in ordinary households and the education sector in townships. The retail prices for the new PC models will range from 2,999 Yuan (US$361), a record low, to 5,999 Yuan (US$723). Lenovo previously focused on PCs that cost more than 5,000 Yuan (US$602). â€Å"The growth of the whole PC market is lackluster. But the township market remains largely untapped,† said Yang Yeaning, chief executive officer of Lenovo Group Ltd. The launch of the low-price PCs is part of Lenovo’s strategic shift. He expects shipments of the new PC series will reach 800,000-1 million units within a year. Beijing-based CCW Research said tapping the low-end market will increase Lenovo’s market share. And so it did.†Lenovo is delivering a message that it intends to cover all market segments, from high-end to low-end, â€Å"The low-price strategy puts pressure on some regional brands.Besides, operating systems are not pre-installed in the DIY market. â€Å"We have been put in an unfair position,† said Lu. â€Å"If all vendors pre-installed legitimate operating systems and pay the VAT, our market share would be much higher.†GAO estimates gross profit margins for Lenovo’s new series PCs will be about 8 per cent. For fiscal year 2003, Lenovo’s profit margins were 14.6 per cent, compared with 14.8 per cent in the last fiscal year. Edward Yu, president of research house Analysis International, predicted the profit margins will be much lower. â€Å"The shipments of PCs priced at 2,999 Yuan are unlikely to reach 100,000 units. Otherwise, it will be unprofitable,† Yu said. â€Å"The most likely scenario is quite a few of the PCs will be available in the marketplace. The low-priced move is largely a promotion strategy.†Since Lenovo is not adopting a â€Å"direct-sales† strategy, the firm is unlikely to save the â€Å"channel cost,† which usually accounts for nearly one-fifth of the price, Yu explained. Lu reaffirmed Lenovo will not follow Dell’s â€Å"direct-sales† strategy. Lenovo’s low-price strategy is expected to spark a round of price-cutting in China’s PC industry. China’s No 2 PC maker, Founder Technology, â€Å"will not rule out the possibility of making a similar move,† said I Dongfeng, the company’s managing president. Qi last week said he agreed China’s rural market promises much potential. â€Å"I think a PC price tag from 2,000-3,000 Yuan (US$241-361) for the rural market is appropriate,† he said. Another PC maker, Langchao, plans to launch a new PC model that will cost about 1,999 Yuan (US$241), some media have reported. A new round of price-cutting is expected dent profit margins industry-wide. Profits have been dropping due to intense competition. Statistics, released by Analysis last week, indicate PC sales in China in the year’s second quarter reached 17.53 billion Yuan (US$2.11 billion), up 17.8 per cent year-on-year. Shipments in the quarter totaled 2.91 million units, down 0.4 per cent compared with previous quarter, but up 39 per cent year-on-year. Lenovo’s market share dropped 5.6 per cent, year-on-year, during the period, Analysis said. Barcelona FC’s super soccer star Ronald de Assis Moriera of Brazil, better known as Ronaldinho has been named as the official representative of china’s PC giant, Lenovo, in its global promotion campaign. The two sides have signed a confidentiality agreement but Lenovo declined to talk about the details, the expenses in particular. According to Chen Shaopeng, senior vice-president of Lenovo Group and president of Lenovo’s greater China operation, partnering with an international sport star is an important part of Lenovo’s global marketing strategy. Lenovo hopes Ronaldinho’s personal charm and influence worldwide will help Lenovo’s global promotion campaign and gain popularity. During the one-year promotion, Lenovo will be authorized to use Ronaldinho’s personal images as well as all the brands of Barcelona FC. â€Å"I believe that combination of the charm of soccer and the sci-tech of computer will bring more color and pleasure to people’s life, noted Marc Ingle, vice president of Barcelona FC. The list of the commercial value of soccer stars done by Germany-based BBDO Consulting months before shows that Ronaldinho, with 32.6 million pounds tops the rank. SWOT AnalysisStrengths:Strong sale position in mainland (china) because of 90%sale from it. Market leader in china as Lenovo is learning more revenue from the mainland. Low production cost. Event sponsoring. Good marketing and distribution strategy. The PC giant earlier launched a product under the ThinkPad series for the student market at 7,999yuan and recently cut the price of a new PC product under the ThinkPad SL series to 3,000yuan from 5,000yuan. A market analyst says that the price of IT product is on the decline due to cost reduction of parts and terminal. Besides, the low- price strategy could produce the largest effect in the summer holiday due to high price sensitivity in the period. The company has begun to boost the promotion for online buyers, in particularly the youth and students, because the company could cut great cost to support its low-price strategy. With the extension of internet coverage, the booming online consumption is underpinned by reduced marginal cost due to more conveniences and increasing transparency of price for the components of IT products. The analyst believes that the campaign would bring great troubles to the domestic PC producers in the second and third camps, which might spark a new wave of merger and acquisition in China. LENOVO EXPANDS MOTORSPORTS PRESENCE TO INDYCAR SERIES FOR INDY 500 WITH CURB/ ALABAMIAN/BECK TEAM Lenovo Promotes Relationship with NBA by Highlighting the Finals on the CarINDIANAPOLIS — Lenovo, a leading computer company that creates the best-engineered PCs in the world, today announced a sponsorship agreement with the CURB/ Alabamian/Beck team for the crown jewel race within the Indy Car Series – the Indianapolis 500. The announcement marks Lenovo’s interest in identifying how motor sports can help drive the company’s goal for building brand awareness on a global scale. This coming weekend provides a significant opportunity for worldwide brand exposure. Lenovo is sponsoring teams at two of the racing world’s most prestigious races — the Indianapolis 500 and the Formula 1 race in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The Lenovo Indy Car Series announcement comes during the most important time of year for the series – the Indianapolis 500 weekends, when all eyes are on Indianapolis for what remains the world’s largest single-day spectator sporting event. The Lenovo logo will be placed on the black No. 98 CURB/ Alabamian/Beck Motor sports Dollar/Honda/Firestone car, driven by Alex Barron, for this weekend’s Indianapolis 500 race. In addition, the Lenovo-sponsored AT&T Williams Formula One car – a partnership announced earlier this year – races this weekend at Monaco. In an innovative cross promotion, the Indy 500 sponsorship also showcases Lenovo’s support for the NBA and The Finals, marking the first time the league’s marquee event has been promoted during an auto race. The front wings on the car will brand The Finals on ABC on June 7. Greg Odem and Mike Conley Jr., expected top selections in the NBA Draft in June and both Indianapolis natives, will be on-site in Pit Row as guests of Lenovo and driver Alex Barron. â€Å"Indy Car racing is a data-intensive, computing-intensive endeavor, highly focused and invested in innovation and development, and highly dependent on information technology,† said Tony George, Tony George, founder and CEO, Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body for the Indy Car Series. â€Å"We welcome Lenovo to this community and are excited to be working with the best in the business for PC technology.†The Indy Car Series has long been recognized for its technical leadership, and recently reinforced its leadership track record by being the first in the automobile racing world to use 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in Indy cars. That leadership makes the Indy Car Series an excellent partner for Lenovo, where engineering and innovation are top priorities. Effective deployment of information technology is a key part of the CURB/ Alabamian/Beck Motor sports strategic allocation process, and these decisions help determine the team’s success at the track. A Lenovo notebook PC will form an integral part of starting the Indy Car before each race, practice and test session. Lenovo PCs will support engineers in car research, test, development and manufacturing. They will support the drivers in their analysis and will support the management team in marketing, logistics, travel and race planning as well as networking, inventory, relationships with clients, sponsors and suppliers, human resources, finance and strategy. CURB/Agaganian/Beck Motor sports are a team in the Indy Racing League owned by Greg Beck, Cary Alabamian, and Mike Curb. The team’s car is a black No. 98 Dollar/Honda/Firestone car. The team participated as Team Leader Motor sports when two Indy Car Teams joined forces to field cars for the 2006 Indianapolis 500. The first team was Beck Motor sports owned by Greg Beck which was founded in 1995. The second team R. Kent Baker Racing owned by Kent Baker which was founded in 1988. Both Baker and Beck had many years experience working with their own and various other Indy Car teams. They were joined by Cary Alabamian and Mike Curb of Curb Alabamian Motor sports. About the Indy Car Series:The Indy Car Series is the premier open-wheel series in the U.S., competing on a challenging combination of super  speedways, short ovals, scenic road courses and temporary street circuits. In 2007 the Indy Car Series will conduct 16 events in the U.S. and one in Japan, all available worldwide through a comprehensive, long-term agreement with ABC Sports/ ESPN. A leader in motor sports technology, the Indy Car Series is the first racing series to power its Honda engines on 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol. The Indy Car Series continues to the be the fastest and most competitive racing series, attracting a diverse lineup of drivers including Marco Amoretti, Sam Cornish Jr., and Dania Patrick. OLYMPIC GAME Lenovo, worldwide partner of the Olympic Torch Relay and the exclusive computing equipment supplier for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, is offering limited-edition notebook PCs inspired by the Lenovo-designed Olympic torch leading into the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Bid on this limited-edition Lenovo 3000 V200 notebook PC signed by Gail Emmys of the U.K. Badminton team, the last one of only three available exclusively through this auction. With the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games just one week away, here’s your last chance to win this commemorative notebook PC!About the limited-edition Lenovo 3000 V200 notebook PCLike the â€Å"Cloud of Promise† on which the design is based, the notebook cover features striking swirls of silver against a pure red base color. Gail’s signature is prominently displayed on the cover of the notebook (signed with a black Sharpie Fine Point Permanent marker). Due to export restrictions and policies, this product is only available for shipment within the U.K. or to the U.S.A. Bids will only be accepted from bidders with shipping addresses in the U.K. or U.S.A. Specs:Lenovo 3000 V Series notebooks are built to provide worry-free computing in a stylish, media-friendly and powerful ultra portable widescreen. LENOVO BOOSTS ONLINE SALES THROUGH BARGAIN PROMOTION China’s leading PC producer Lenovo Group (0992.HK; LNVGY.PK), recently initiated a series of market promotion activities for low-price products in domestic online market. The PC giant earlier launched a product under the ThinkPad series for the student market at 7,999 Yuan and recently cut the price of a new PC product under the ThinkPad SL series to 3,000 Yuan from 5,000 Yuan. Besides, the low- price strategy could produce the largest effect in the summer holiday due to high price sensitivity in the period. The company has begun to boost the promotion for online buyers, in particularly the youth and students, because the company could cut great cost to support its low-price strategy. With the extension of internet coverage, the booming online consumption is underpinned by reduced marginal cost due to more conveniences and increasing transparency of price for the components of IT products. The analyst believes that the campaign would bring great troubles to the domestic PC producers in the second and third camps, which might spark a new wave of merger and acquisition in China. Lenovo launch in IndiaReconnecting with Television AdvertisingLenovo creates promotional flexibility with Google TV Ads. How does a computer manufacturer create brand awareness in a critical new  market? This was one of Lenovo’s biggest challenges following their acquisition of IBM’s Personal Computing division in 2005. IBM’s ThinkPad was already a bestselling laptop product line worldwide, but the Lenovo brand was virtually unknown outside of China. The acquisition elevated Lenovo to the world’s third largest PC Company and Lenovo set out to elevate its brand awareness in the US. Gary Milner, global interactive marketing manager at Lenovo, was hard at work developing and executing the online piece of Lenovo’s marketing plan; for this he turned to Google. â€Å"We started working aggressively with Ad Words to stimulate direct sales,† Gary said. â€Å"The online metrics showed us a clear payoff through increased traffic to our site, and we were able to quickly determine what messages and promotions customers were responding to,† he recalls. As the Lenovo team became more skilled in applying these metrics to better measure and improve the success of its online marketing initiatives, the team began looking for ways to extend their reach through other forms of media. The Google TV Ads product was intriguing because it offered the measurement and accountability of online. The Power of Sight, Sound and MotionAt the 2006 Winter Olympics, Lenovo used television advertising to generate brand awareness and drive sales. Right away Lenovo understood the power of television but didn’t have the budget to make it a permanent part of their marketing mix. â€Å"We saw right away that we got huge spikes in online traffic after that campaign, so we knew that TV was working for us. But at the time it proved to be a very hard medium for us to work with in a scalable way,† Gary remembers. When Gary and his team were introduced to the Google TV Ads platform, they were excited to see that many of the limitations that had kept them from using television more extensively were addressed. Google TV Ads’ digital platform allowed for easy campaign set up and management and complete flexibility across 95 networks. â€Å"The fact that we could configure and run our campaigns through an online interface was really appealing.† says Gary. A Variety ShowLenovo’s goal was to use Google TV Ads to generate interest and sales by offering viewers a variety of discounts and promotions. But which promotions would be most effective and generate the greatest response? Gary and his team were eager to find out. â€Å"We worked with an agency to create 50 plus promotional variations of our existing ad which saved us the money and trouble of producing a whole new creative,† Gary explains. This promotional strategy demanded a level of flexibility that was not available to Lenovo through the standard TV buying process. â€Å"Google did with TV what they’d done with search – they put control in the hands of the advertiser. The platform gave us the ability to easily upload ad creative and change them day-by-day based on our marketing needs.†Ã¢â‚¬ With 50 different versions of our commercial we had a lot of opportunity for experimentation,† says David Barbara, another member of Lenovo’s global interactive marketing team. â€Å"Be it free shipping or a 40 percent off discount — we could swap out any of our promotions as often as we wanted based on which deals we were running or which ads got the best response.† The more comfortable Lenovo got with the system, the more sophisticated their experiments became. David continually adjusted the campaigns to optimize reach and CPMs (cost per thousand impression). â€Å"We started to better understand which networks gave us the level of impressions we needed to make an impact.†Channeling successIn some of their ads, Lenovo featured a vanity URL – ExperienceLenovo.com – developed exclusively for their Google TV Ads. By tracking up tick in traffic to the website, the team learned that TV Ads enabled Lenovo to reach new, qualified audiences. â€Å"We found that 68 percent of the traffic to ExperienceLenovo.com was direct, meaning users were typing the URL directly into their browsers. The only way they could have gotten there was if they remembered the URL from the television spots we ran with Google,† says Gary. â€Å"Additionally, about 65 percent of people who created a customer account with the site during the time we were running Google TV Ads had never interacted with a Lenovo site before.† This meant that L enovo was attracting new customers. Google TV Ads worked so well for Lenovo that the team had decided to do more  of it. â€Å"TV advertising has not only brought us increased brand awareness, but it has impacted our success online as well – and Google put all of that within our reach.†Ã¢â‚¬ The Google TV Ads platform gives us a flexible, measurable alternative to network buys,† Gary said, â€Å"but most importantly, it lets us control our own destiny.†BRAND AMBASSADORYesterday, PC Company Lenovo, Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Torch Relay and TOP Sponsor of the Beijing Olympic Games 2008, launched its second phase of three online auctions in India as part of a global online philanthropic countdown to the Olympic Games. Just as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay travels around the world, a new Lenovo auction is beginning each week in a different country, as a countdown down to the Olympic Games. The auction features limited-edition, notebook PCs inspired by the Lenovo-designed Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch, and signed by Saif Ali Khan, the Bellwood star. The limited-edition notebook PC offers the Olympic fans the opportunity to bid and own a part of Olympic history, with a personal touch by Saif Ali Khan. The auction site will be closed at midnight of Friday, May 23rd, 2008. The third and final phase of auction in India will begin on July 29th, 2008. Saif Ali Khan was one of the six Lenovo torchbearers who ran with the Lenovo-designed torch ‘Cloud of Promise’ in the New Delhi leg of the Olympic Torch Relay on April 17th. The other five comprised Leander Peas (Tennis professional) Amar Babu (Managing Director, Lenovo India), S Ramadorai, Jaishankar K and Dr. Vaibhav Bagaria, the Open Nomination winner from Nagpur. The first phase of the auction, held in February, saw very encouraging response from Indians, with over a dozen bids and over thousand page views in India alone. The first notebook, Lenovo 3000 V200, was auctioned for $ 825.99Hundred percent of the proceeds from the auction will be distributed through the Lenovo Hope Fund to select philanthropies, including Right to Play. ENVIRONMENT Lenovo is committed to environmental leadership in all of its  business activities, from its operations to the design of its products and use of its technology. Lenovo’s corporate policy on environmental affairs is supported by the company’s global environmental management system, which is the key element of the company’s efforts to achieve results consistent with environmental leadership and ensures the company is vigilant in protecting the environment across all of its operations worldwide. Climate ChangeIn recognition of the need for control of the greenhouse gases for which industry is responsible, Lenovo has set a voluntary target of improving our operational carbon efficiency by 10% by 2012, against a baseline of 2007. This 2007 baseline will be published in our 2007/8 Sustainability Report. The Lenovo Energy CalculatorThis tool uses actual energy calculations from internal Lenovo testing, to determine the energy savings on our Lenovo desktops, notebooks and monitors. The energy savings are based on an estimated usage model for various configurations. Costs per Kilowatt Hour are based on 2007 US dollar calculations. Rates by country are based on 2007 information published by the United States Department of Energy. CO2 emission factors are from the US Dept. of Energy’s most recent data published in 2002. The tool allows you to select â€Å"Customize† and input your specific cost, CO2 emission factor and usage profile. Please select the â€Å"More Info† tab in the tool for more details on using these features. The Lenovo Energy Calculator provides an estimate and should only be used as a guide. Lenovo does not guarantee the savings as your company’s usage mayNew Lenovo-Designed Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay Components Unveiled BEIJING February 5, 2008 – In addition to designing the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch that will travel the world on its way to herald the arrival of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Lenovo has designed new torch relay components including the Lantern and Local City Cauldrons. The lantern houses the Olympic flame once it is lit in Olympia, Greece and safely carries the â€Å"mother flame† from city to city for the duration of the relay while the Olympic cauldron will be lit by the day’s last torchbearer at each end-of-day city celebration.The design extends the ‘Cloud of Promise’ design motif from the Olympic Torch to the lantern and cauldron. Lenovo’s designers  drew their inspiration for the lantern from the traditional lanterns that once adorned the walls of ancient Chinese palaces. PROMOTIONSKAUN BANEGA CROREPATI Lenovo gains from promotion through Kaun Banega CrorepatiChina based maker of personal computersLenovo has said that they have achieved tremendous sales boost and brand awareness inIndia through their marketing initiatives. The company specially credited their sponsorship of the popular gaming show on the television featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Kaun Banega Crorepati. Senior vice PrPROMOTION IN MALLCandid Marketing has created a unique activity to take the new Idea Pad brand by Lenovo to masses through experiential marketing. A mall promotion has been designed by the agency keeping in mind the brand’s target audience, and to interactively communicate product features. A large ‘Idea Meter’ bulb was created similar to that of the Idea Pad brand logo, and participants were invited to take part in a contest of witty ideas. The winner would be the one with the wittiest idea, which reflected through the intensity with which the ‘idea bulb’ glowed. The glow of the bulb is determined by the audience’s reaction to the idea. Winners of the Idea Meter contest took home brand merchandise. The promotion area also doubled up as a space in which customers could test the features of the new product line and sample the product itself. The activity traveled through malls and larger retails formats of six major metros in the country – Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Collate and Mumbai. The activity kick started on 21 June 2008 and will continue till 3 August 2008. Candid Marketing was involved with conceptualizing, designing and developing the Idea Meter. The task was to intrigue customers and lead them into sampling the product and increase awareness of the new series, said an agency representative.