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Lenovo lifts profile through sponsorship

By Liu Baijia (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-01-25 13:46
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When Chinese computer makerLenovoGroup became the first Top Olympic Partner (TOP) from China in 2004, it was generally considered a bad move.

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This response was somewhat justified: TOP sponsorship is one of the most expensive in sport, and it usually costs about $50 million to get the rights from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The sponsor then spends at least three times that amount promoting the sponsorship.

Lenovo's revenue in the 2004 fiscal year was just $297 million.

But despite the drawbacks, Lenovo's partnerships with the IOC, football superstar Ronaldinho Gaucho and the US National Basketball Association (NBA), have been immensely helpful to its emergence as a significant global player.

Lenovo's Li Lan, vice-president for global Olympic marketing, identified five steps in the firm's sports marketing push.

Align sports marketing with the company's strategic demand.

In 2001, the Chinese computer maker, which has led the domestic market for six years, found itself reeling as the Internet bubble burst. Consumer demand dropped due to overspending in the Internet boom. Its Internet joint venture with AOL faced huge difficulties. And its shift to technology services, following IBM's lead, was not as successful as anticipated.

So Lenovo looked to overseas markets as a growth engine. But as a company that was largely unknown to the rest of the world, the plan was ambitious.

Beijing's successful bid to host the Olympic Games in 2008 offered a golden opportunity. The IOC was keen to install a Chinese firm as its TOP partner to stimulate the host nation's interest in the Games. And Chinese people also supported a domestic firm taking a leading role in the Games.

A TOP partner can expose its company and brand to billions of Olympic Games viewers worldwide. It has the right to use the Olympic logos to promote its brand and products in all IOC member countries and regions.

Build an emotional tie with customers.

A common misconception of many Chinese firms when it comes to sports marketing is that money does everything they just print logos on their business cards and products, air TV commercials and invite customers to Games events.

For Lenovo, it will be important to build an emotional tie. The firm wants to impress upon its customers and dealers that it is global, innovative and offers high-performance products.

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