Lenovo Case Analysis

The Best Course of Action
According to the facts presented in the case, the adoption of Lenovo as a master brand is the best 
course of action. Though this alternative is risky, it is worthy because of the ultimate good image it 
would create for all the brands on offer at a global scale. Making Lenovo a master brand helps to 
make the core products of the company to the entire world. Master or family branding is where a 
family brand is associated with several brand extensions. The use of the company’s brand name 
across the entire products’ range lowers development costs and boosts sales if the corporate image 
is associated with innovativeness, expertise, and reliability, which are factors that influence consumer 
evaluations directly (Kotler, 2012, p. 123).
The company actually chooses to use this strategy with great level of ingenuity. The first global 
advertising campaign is signed off with “ThinkPad,” the second campaign emphasizes that Lenovo is 
doing better than IBM by improving the ThinkPad, while the third campaign stresses that the Lenovo 
master brand represents innovation (Quelch & Knoop, 2006, p. 10). Introduction of brand extension is 

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facilitated under the master brand. New products that are introduced as brand extensions often 
succeed because the customers’ expectations of the new product are based on their knowledge 
about the parent brand and how relevant they find the information (Kotler, 2012, p. 123).
Any product sold under an umbrella of a brand name develops an identity out of the customers’ 
perceptions of the product, the marketing activity, word-of-mouth marketing, and the individual 
psychological set of customers (Wright, et al., 2007, p. 140). In effect, corporate brand endorsement 
in the international markets reassures consumers and is an integrating force, which unifies different 
brand identities on a global scale (Rajagopal & Sanchez, 2004, 246). Assurance that consumers 
benefit from the product is vital for successful marketing. Moreover, brand equity is leveraged in a 
new context if the master brand makes the product more appealing to customers and its positive 
associations are relevant and appropriate (Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000, p. 18). With the master 
brand strategy in place, continuous success of the Lenovo brand and its extensions is guaranteed.
References
1. Aaker, D. A. & Joachimsthaler, E. (2000). The brand relationship spectrum: The key to the 
brand architecture challenge. California Management Review, 42(4), 8-23.
2. Kotler, Philip. (2012). A Framework for Marketing Management, P. Kotler and K. L. Keller (Ed). 
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson education Inc.
3. Quelch, J. & Knoop, C. (2006). Lenovo: Building a global brand. Harvard Business School.
4. Rajagopal & Sanchez, R. (2004). Conceptual analysis of brand architecture and relationships 
within product categories. Brand Management, 11(3), 233–247.
5. Wright, L. T. Millman, C. & Martin, L. M. (2007). Research issues in building brand equity and 
global brands in the pc market. Journal of Marketing Management, 23(1-2), 137-155.
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