Make Lenovo a global brand
(People's daily online)
Updated: 2006-06-19 17:01 Yong Tang: What is the biggest obstacle for Lenovo brand building? Lenovo has
been wrongly attacked in the United States for the fact it is a state-owned
company and it may endanger American national security. American Department of
State recently just decided not to use Lenovo computers for their classified
tasks as a result of the criticism from Capitol Hill.
Advani: We are trying to inform the government officials and our customers
that Lenovo is a market driven company. The Chinese government doesn't make
decisions in Lenovo. Lenovo makes decisions like any free market enterprise. The
issue also gives us an opportunity to tell people what Lenovo stands for. Lenovo
is all of those innovative products, high quality products, and excellent
customer service. For us, communicating this message to the press and the
customers and influential people is our strategy. There are now people who are
standing up for us. Some analysts are writing very positive and supportive
articles about us.
Yong Tang: But some Americans may not buy Lenovo products due to the above
-mentioned reasons?
Advani: Every smart person knows that any PC they buy is being made in China
anyway. I know there are a lot of conversations that are taking place in the
press. They are saying: What is the big deal? If you look at HP, you look at
Dell, you look at all those PC companies, they are all making PCs in China
today. You take any PC and turn it over on the backside, it says "Made in
China". When you look at American companies and European companies, they are
very much aligned with China. They don't regard Chin as an adversary; they
regard China as a huge market opportunity, just like India. Over 2 billion
people in the rapidly growing middle class with incredible purchasing power.
That is one angle.
The second approach is the natural resources in India and China. Because of
the flat world and the Internet technology we can all be a part of virtual
community. I think increasingly countries have alignment with each other. When
we ask our customers "Is China an important region for you", not one customer
said NO. Then I would say, do you want to know how we get 40% of market share in
China? We can help you with that. Customers get excited. Dell would take their
customers to see its supply chains and manufacturing chains. That is to show
customers how efficient they are. We can do that too for our customers.
Yong Tang: I know you have an important strategy for 2008 Olympic Games. Why
does Lenovo want to be associated with that event?
Advani: For the same reason we linked to 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Italy.
What do Olympic Games stand for? It is the most international sports event.
Olympic Games stand for international goodwill and pursuit of excellence. These
are all values Lenovo has. So being affiliated with Olympic Games along with
other partners like Coca Cola and Samsung is one good thing. We can provide IT
equipment to the International Olympic Committee.
In Italy we had 10,000 Lenovo PCs and we had 200 events. 60 events are for
sub zero in the mountain. We show we are able to run as complex as the Olympic
IT infrastructure. By participating in that event Lenovo has achieved tremendous
credibility. I was so proud when I was in Torino, Italy and I saw how much hard
work the Lenovo employees put into. Our employees came from China, US and many
other countries. Everything went smoothly without a single issue. The Olympic
Games are uniting Lenovo employees around the world. Everyone had a common
vision.
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