[photopress:it_lenovo_olympics_1.jpg,full,alignright]Lenovo will end its sponsorship of the Olympics after the 2008 summer games in Beijing.
In explanation it said after the Beijing games, it will have accomplished its major goal for the sponsorship: raising awareness of the company’s brand.
This is indeed true. And it is appropriate that Lenovo should be involved with the Olympics in Beijing but not after that. For being a major sponsor costs big, big, huge money. And some sponsors have been so depleted by the experience that they have disappeared. Ansett Airlines in Australia being one of them.
Lenovo was a little-known company when it bought IBM’s personal computer division in 2005. It has managed to build on that brand and is slowly moving to selling more computers to consumers, instead of to the businesses that have been Lenovo’s top customers outside China.
Executives told U.S. News & World Report they thought Olympic advertising would be more effective than traditional marketing schemes. Which is undoubtedly true. But it is not a game for the faint of heart or the short of pocket.
How much did it cost Lenovo?
The company is not saying but no less than $80 million and possibly $100 million.
Lenovo has now said it will provide more than 500 technicians and some 20,000 pieces of network infrastructure, including computers, servers and monitors, in Beijing. After which, all things being equal, it will be well enough known not to have to indulge in such an expensive sponsorship again.
Source: Triangle Business Journal