Lenovo Invests In Brand Marketing To Ease Partners' Sales Of Lenovo Desktops

Chris Frey, vice president and channel chief at Lenovo, during a Tuesday morning keynote presentation at distributor Synnex's Varnex partner community in Las Vegas, told solution providers that the change in Lenovo strategy combined with the sales momentum the vendor is enjoying makes this a good time to be a Lenovo partner.

In the past, Lenovo depended on its solution provider partners to sell customers on the Lenovo brand, Frey said.

"We are now selling our brand for you so you can go out and sell our products," he said.

Solution providers have been telling Lenovo that it is important for customers to better know the Lenovo brand, Frey said.

As a result, Lenovo has invested millions of dollars on consumer-focused and business-focused advertising, including new television commercials Frey showed during his keynote presentation that feature motorcycle and parachuting daredevils participating in dangerous activities while still accessing data over their Lenovo notebook and tablet PCs.

"If you have to sell our brand as well as our products, that adds to the sales cycle," he said.

Lenovo is also being helped in its quest for brand name recognition by its fast rate of growth, Frey said. Lenovo enjoyed eight straight quarters as the PC industry's fastest growing vendor, a record which this quarter enabled it to overtake Dell as the world's second-largest PC maker two years ahead of its original plans, he said.

Lenovo's growth into a major power in the PC market came as a result of the vendor's increasing reliance on channel partners, Frey said.

For instance, he said, 85 percent of Lenovo's 2010 sales in North America went through indirect sales channels, compared to 65 percent in 2009. During that time, Lenovo's investment in the channel rose to 3.75 percent of total revenue, up from 2.55 percent in 2009, he said.

Lenovo has also worked with Synnex to extend credit financing to its partners and to extend special incentives to partners working in the healthcare, SLED (state, local, and education) markets, and the federal government markets, he said.

Lenovo has also worked with Synnex on what Frey called the "Beat Dell Program," he said. "I don't compete with you," he said. "I don't go direct. I don't have a services company. I want to go after them. You want to go after them."

Above all else, Frey said solution provider have to remind customers that desktop PCs are not dead.

"Don't be confused," he said. "Your customers are buying desktops from somebody. Make sure it's from you."

Lenovo is also becoming known its tablet PCs, which Frey said are differentiated for the business and commercial market with their HDMI and USB connectivity, their signature capture capabilities, and their digital pen.

Frey also told solution providers that Lenovo is enhancing its channel programs with better pricing and processes as well as bigger discounts on demo products of up to 50 percent.