The Marketing Strategy

Lenovo Corporation sells laptop computers. At this time, your major competitors in the laptop market are Apple and Microsoft computers. Lenovo's wishes to further penetrate the consumer laptop market and the 18- to 25-year-old demographic.

You have been hired as a marketing manager at Lenovo Corporation and need to come up with a market strategy to increase Lenovo's market share in the consumer laptop market for the 18 to 25-year-old demographic.

The development teams at Lenovo are researching ways that they can best the competition in the laptop market for college students. As the strategy marketing executive, you've been asked to give input into their next R & D kickoff meeting. It is the first time that the Lenovo laptop development teams have worked in person with marketing executive. Usually strategic marketing plans are communicated through many channels within the company.

The demographic will be comprised of a mix of educational and occupational backgrounds, with some in undergraduate and graduate education programs, and others serving in young professional roles (or both working and in school). They are likely to want the following features:

• Smaller profile, slim build, and lightweight.
• Energy efficient with long battery life.
• Integrated communication features (such as a webcam).
• High resolution screen.
• Powerful enough to be used for multimedia and gaming.

These features be communicated to customers the following ways:

• The target group responds well to brand ambassadors and influencers.
• On-campus visits bring the product to the target group.
• Social media is a strong medium of communication for the target group and is an asset in market research, as well as soliciting feedback.
• Similarly, online marketing campaigns and online shopping experiences/promotions are important to this demographic.
• Branding and building loyalty must be considered.

1. How will you facilitate cross-team collaboration between the marketing management function and R&D teams at Lenovo?
2. How would you measure the success of the team?