"Ashton Kutcher is the ultimate super user," said David Roman , Lenovo's chief marketing officer. "The super user is helpful to us in defining products and experiences that consumers want. His sense of what technology can do through his own use and the technology he's seen through his other startups [helps us.] And his celebrity helps us in marketing."
The marketing starts with a two-minute video titled "The New Guy's First Day at Lenovo," created by the Woo Agency, that offers a humorous take on Mr. Kutcher going through a Lenovo orientation and a bit of tech hazing. More online and social-media marketing will back the launch of the actor's involvement with the Yoga tablet. A series of Vines — without Mr. Kutcher — created by Digitas teased the device. TV advertising from Saatchi & Saatchi will air globally , but not in the U.S. initially, a spokeswoman said.
Lenovo has had solid success in the U.S. since taking over IBM's consumer division in 2005. It is now the No. 4 PC maker in the U.S. and No. 1 in the world, according to Gartner and IDC. Younger consumers are a key factor in Mr. Roman's strategy to build Lenovo into a power brand. The group will become especially important to Lenovo as it launches more cutting-edge products and readies a smartphone for the U.S. Mr. Kutcher brings than 15 million fans on Facebook and a roughly equal number of followers on Twitter, along with a social media Klout score of 89. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
While other tech companies like competitor HP have used celebrities extensively, including singer Gwen Stefani, actress Lea Michele and a parade of "Hands" campaign stars, Lenovo's U.S. marketing has mainly focused on product and lifestyle attributes. Lenovo is one of the few consumer tech companies that hasn't yet employed celebrities in the U.S. Singer will.i.am works with Intel; Lady Gaga is backed by Virgin Mobile; Beyonce starred in Vizio ads a few years ago; Keifer Sutherland did video for Acer; and both Zooey Deschanel and Samuel L. Jackson starred in Apple ads for Siri.
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