Innovations become truly transformational when they solve a problem you didn't know you had.
Here’s an old school example. When I would visit my granny, she would ask us kids to jump up and go change the channel for her on the TV. Then along came a TV remote.
A modern equivalent is the ability to store things in the cloud. I honestly didn’t mind storing all my work on my desktop. Then I traveled overseas where access could be tricky to count on. Then there was a global pandemic. These reasons and more contributed to the relief, ease and delight of having my work stored securely in the cloud, so I could access it whenever, wherever, on whatever device I needed to.
This is the responsibility of great companies, in the technology industry and elsewhere. Great companies should innovate towards solving problems people don’t even realize are issues in their lives - yet feel amazing once they’re solved. Marketing's job is then to talk about that feeling: the promise of what this innovation will solve.
In both instances, customers are a vital part of the equation. They provide inspiration.
The nuts and bolts of product marketing
The answer to the question of “how do we tell a story about a promise” can vary widely depending not only on the innovation, but on the people talking about it, and the people being talked to. Lenovo builds technology based on user insight and customer feedback across millions of data points. I’ve talked before about how our customer insight programs apply to our marketing campaigns at Lenovo on LinkedIn and with the Forbes Communications Council.
You have to speak to customers in their language and from their point of view. That’s the art of great communication and great marketing - it speaks to me, to my heart, and if you win my heart, you win my wallet. Why did you choose that car, those jeans, that bag? It’s often because that brand means something to you, and these days, it’s not just ‘lowest price’ that wins.
Where to find inspirational insights and how to use them
Is your next prospective customer Gen Z or Millennial? Are they highly selective or laid back? Are they on TikTok or LinkedIn? Are they looking for a status symbol or something to help them unplug and unwind? These factors and many more influence the device you can create for them, and the story you can tell about that device.
Many of our core customers are Gen Z, for example. There’s a big opportunity to showcase the promise and benefits of the technology that many Gen Z use every day. Our Customer Insights Center of Excellence (COE) is one part of what helps to surface this inspiration at Lenovo. I created this COE as part of our marketing transformation journey. They research from the ground up to help inform our product marketing messaging, copywriting, and creative work. They and our product marketers are also great at challenging product and development teams, asking the tough questions: why are you building that? What’s it for? What itch does it scratch that our customers didn’t know was an issue for them before?
Here's one example of their work: in our research on the gaming industry, our Customer Insights COE found that many gamers are using their gaming laptops not only for gaming, but also for productivity and everyday work. While competitors at the time were flaunting more flashy, aggressive designs, our design team created a more modern and polished aesthetic. Our marketing teams then took this gamer insight and created Lenovo Legion’s Stylish on the Outside, Savage on the Inside sub-brand and product marketing campaign a few years ago: PCs that look sleek enough for the boardroom, yet can still handle resource-intensive AAA titles in downtime.
Meaningful innovation and meaningful marketing
In many markets around the globe, it’s important that you’re also tuned into the local nuances. For us, when we talk about our message in Brazil, for example, it needs to mean something unique to that market, which may be different from what it means to customers in the US. Are Gen Z consumers in Germany the same as Gen Z consumers in India? Do they want the same things, in products or in marketing? Not always.
One way customers’ values and worldviews can influence our design and marketing decisions is deciding where and how a company’s logo is placed on products. We’ve done a ton of research to understand where and how customers want to see different elements of our logos. I’ll never forget one of our analysts reporting one test audience looking at a particular logo test and saying “Wow, that logo is way too big and obtrusive!” Meanwhile, another test audience said, “No, not big enough!” They wanted people to see the logos and know they had a premium product. So it becomes all about having a deep and nuanced understanding of your customer and testing extensively to find the perfect balance.
For Lenovo, having a wide variety of products and solutions to suit the different needs of our customers dovetails perfectly with our vision of delivering smarter technology for all and the democratization of technology. We'll be able to craft technology for you that's useful in any form you need - in a powerful workstation, a smartphone that fits in your pocket to IT solutions in the cloud, a new form factor that breaks the boundaries of laptops or tablets, and more.
I believe that meaningful innovation and meaningful product marketing go hand in hand, and neither can be accomplished without deep involvement with your customers. Customers provide inspiration for us and expect us to inspire their imaginations. Without a doubt, our customers help drive our vision of delivering smarter technology for all.
This article was originally posted at the following link as part of Emily Ketchen’s (VP/CMO – Lenovo’s Intelligent Services Group) “Ketchen’s Corner” newsletter.
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