Lenovo Campaign Lands At LAX With Focus On Quality

Lenovo's latest ad campaign, paying homage to its engineers, scientists and inventors, arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport this week.

Teaming up with French airport advertising contractor JCDecaux, the computer maker decided to run video and still ads in nine newly installed 12-by-6-foot backlit displays in each arrival terminal at LAX. The displays incorporate a 57-inch, HDTV screen to engage consumers with moving ads.

The ads designed by New York-based Ogilvy show gratitude toward employees who design Lenovo's PCs from the inside out. The headline reads: "From The World's Best Engineers Come The World's Best-Engineered PC." The theme highlights the PC's features, from wireless to water-resistant, and the ability to work well in a variety of extreme conditions.

While Lenovo holds the top spot for PC makers in China, it remains hidden under IBM's shadow in the United States since agreeing to purchase Big Blue's personal computing division in 2004 for $1.25 billion in cash and equity. A year in the making, the ads aim to heighten awareness for the Lenovo brand in the United States by targeting consumer and business travelers passing through Los Angeles and other major U.S. airports.

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The worldwide campaign calls attention to product development with outdoor signage as well as print and online ads. The advertising message: "If you're looking to buy a PC, engineering matters" says it all, insists Greg Ketchum, Ogilvy senior partner and group creative director.

Lenovo's going after the foot traffic in airports, according to Michael Piluso, Lenovo's worldwide media manager. "We got lucky that LAX decided to launch a new platform called The Hollywood Network at the same time," he says. "The Hollywood Network uses large-format flat video screens in place of what most airports have, which is traditional static or diorama format billboards."

Familiar with high-tech interactive advertising, Lenovo runs ads in Australia's airports that rely on technology to change the image when someone approaches the video board, Piluso says.

The U.S. ads began running in eight major airports this month, but will expand to 10 across the country by the beginning of 2008. To measure success, Lenovo plans to conduct an intercept research marketing study in airport terminals.

Lenovo also worked closely with media planning and buying partners MindShare and Aviator to get the airport campaign off the ground. Ogilvy's Ketchum says the next big ad campaign from Lenovo focuses on the Beijing Olympics.

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