联想打造国际范

    中国公司如何在本国消费者眼中塑造大牌的形象？联想（Lenovo）给出的答案是少一点中国味。

    联想将于今秋晚些时候进行一轮推广活动，它引入了一个英文口号：“Lenovo: For those who do”（联想：为了行动派）。去年时，联想也在北美等地进行过类似的营销。这个多渠道的宣传攻势结合了电视、网络和平面广告，主要由总部位于纽约的广告代理商盛世公司（Saatchi and Saatchi）设计，成本预计为1亿美元。

    联想在国内市场的营销攻势目前仍处于早期规划阶段，但公司首席营销官大卫•罗曼向《财富》杂志（Fortune）透露，推广活动将同样令人兴奋。不过这些新广告将由一家中国广告公司设计。

    联想希望改变多年来的形象，首席营销官大卫•罗曼承认联想公司的形象有些老派。联想可能是中国最大的个人电脑制造商，但罗曼认为该品牌与一个成功但在老化的产品类别绑在了一起。罗曼坦承：“为了在智能手机和平板电脑领域获得成功，我们还必须使联想在这些领域变得更酷、更新潮。”

    罗曼可谓一语中的。去年底，调研机构高德纳（Gartner）对北京18到55岁的高收入群体进行了抽样调查。结果显示，相比于国内品牌，国际品牌在吸引力上具有压倒性优势。“我不喜欢国内品牌，我喜欢苹果（Apple），”高德纳分析师北川美佳子引用当时一位参与者的话说。虽然联想在中国赫赫有名，但苹果和宝马（BMW）等更出名的国际品牌仍被中国人视为身份与地位的象征。

    Forrester研究公司分析师萨拉•罗特曼•艾普斯表示，一个成功的国际品牌，其标准之一是确保在不同市场使用同样的品牌名。所以，虽然很多产品的营销手册经常是用当地语言编写的，但其品牌和产品名称往往仍是英文。例如索尼（Sony）及其PlayStation 3游戏机，还有三星（Samsung）及其智能手机系列。现在，联想正在朝这方面不懈努力。

    联想新的市场策略能否在中国奏效仍然是个未知数。分析师向《财富》表示，在中国这个品牌认同已根深蒂固的国家，重塑品牌的难度很大。它不比在美国，因为美国人的品牌认同感要小得多。而作为一家中国公司，想塑造具有国际认知力的品牌可谓难上加难。不过，罗曼说：“我们希望联想能成为第一批走向世界的中国公司。”

    译者：项航

    How does a Chinese company make itself cool to locals? For Lenovo, the answer is to appear less Chinese.

    Later this fall it is unleashing a campaign that imports the same English slogan -- "Lenovo: For those who do" – from a similar global campaign it rolled out to regions like North America last year. That multi-channel effort, a combination of action-heavy TV, Web, and print advertising, was designed largely by the New York-based ad agency Saatchi and Saatchi and cost an estimated $100 million.

    While Lenovo's Chinese marketing campaign is still in the early planning stages, CMO David Roman tells Fortune to expect a campaign in the same adrenaline-pumping vein. But these new ads will be designed by a Chinese agency instead.

    Lenovo wants to revamp its tired image, which CMO David Roman admits is somewhat avuncular. It may be the largest PC maker in China, but it is a brand he admits remains tied to a successful, if aging, device category. "In order to be successful in smartphones and tablets, we also have to make Lenovo cooler and hipper in these spaces," Roman admits.

    He may have a point. Late last year, when Gartner Research held a focus group among high-income individuals in Beijing between the ages of 18 and 55, the overwhelming consensus was that international brands were more appealing than domestic ones. "I don't want this domestic brand. I want Apple," Mikako Kitagawa, a Gartner Research analyst, recalls participants saying. Although Lenovo has a strong reputation and is widely respected in China, stronger global brands like Apple (AAPL) and BMW are viewed as status symbols there.

    Part of owning a successful global brand often involves having one voice with which you speak to the customer, says Sarah Rotman Epps, a Forrester Research analyst. The fine print on marketing materials will often be in that country's native language, but the brand and product name remains in English. Case in point: Sony (SNE) and its PlayStation 3 video game console or Samsung and its smartphone ecosystem. In that respect, Lenovo is playing catch-up.

    Whether the company's new marketing efforts pay off in its native country remains to be seen. Analysts Fortune spoke to agree that casting a company in a different light is much harder to do in a market like China where it already has a strong brand perception as opposed to the U.S., where it's much lesser known. Being a Chinese company aiming for widespread global recognition represents an even bigger challenge, although it's certainly one the company recognizes. Says Roman: "We hope Lenovo will be the first of a number of brands to emerge."