Everyone has a discount during the holidays. Big whoop.
Deals are ubiquitous during the holiday season in a demand gen space. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, End of year Holidays–October through December every year is a mad rush of mad deals. Lenovo needed to stand out in this crowded promotional arena to drive website traffic to Lenovo.com. But, to do that in a marketplace crowded with deals, discounts, and price drops, we needed to stand for something more meaningful. More tangible. More human. So, we focused on the audience – and what tech has done, and continues to do. It’s not about the tech or the deal or the destination, it’s about what it can do for them.
Lenovo salutes those who pushed their tech above and beyond for so long with a great deal to help them replace it during the holiday season. We showed tech for what it really is – an invaluable part of our lives the past 18 months – showcasing scenes where we’ve found our tech, used our tech, and worn our tech to the max, all with a holiday skew. This scroll & skip stopping Creative spoke to Lenovo.com’s human benefits and tech solutions and totally stood out from the sea of sameness.
We drove traffic & revenue on Lenovo.com with a campaign that ‘zigged’ while all the competitors ‘zagged.’
While most of the tech space focuses on complicated technical specifications and discounts, Lenovo committed to prioritizing audience needs and usage within their communications, by positioning Lenovo.com as the premier tech destination to fulfill those needs – with a great deal, of course.
We leaned into an undeniable truth about the pandemic – it showed how much more we relied on our technology:
62% increase in spending on gaming hardware and accessories from 2019 to 2020 (Source: NPD Group)
38% increase in back-to-school spending on computers and hardware from 2019 (Source: Deloitte)
Over 100% increase in average daily views of "Cook with me" videos (Source: YouTube, via AP)
53% of students received instruction entirely remotely during the 2020 school year (Source: Education Next)
By keying in on this common truth, Lenovo was able to turn our collective dependence on tech into an anthemic call-to-action.
How did we do it? Instead of shiny and new, we showcased tech in its overworked, tossed around, neglected glory. Visually, we dove deep into people's passions – as their laptops and devices were subjected to spills, drops, dips, and mess. We captured original videography by filming realistic scenarios our audience found themselves in – parents and kids baking holiday treats, gamers taking out opponents over cookie crumbs and cocoa, people trying out gel nails at home because their local salons were closed, small biz owners spreadsheeting with sticky keyboards (lacking IT support). All with tech at the center of their world, with them through it all. It was a vivid take on widespread reality. A messy, chaotic, beautiful reality.
We got creative and targeted with our media, too. Anticipating the competitive market during the holidays, we tweaked our approach to lower-funnel performance marketing in order to stand out. Instead of the expected placements Lenovo always ran, we strategically leveraged unexpected, high impact ‘Go Big’ social units. Those like in-feed shoppable Facebook and IG units, video DPA carousels, Tiktok swipe-to-shop social video, Snapchat shoppable AR lens, Reddit Category takeovers, and surround-sound influencer posts.
Rolling out the ‘Tech Hard’ social campaign, we created a drum beat of awareness starting in early October. Then, amplified our spend by activating first-view and category takeover units across social platforms to ensure visibility. Commerce enabled tactics like in-feed shoppable Instagram and Facebook ads shortened the path to purchase, making the decision to buy a no brainer. Promoted posts ran on Reddit with a native ‘SPOILER’ label and a ‘NSFW’ Snapchat story warning users of the “graphic” nature of our messy tech hard footage. TikTok Influencers amplified ‘Tech Hard’ while a Snapchat AR experience brought users back into a familiar real-life mindset. With qualified prospects tuned in, product and promotion-first units were used in retargeting tactics to drive revenue.
Media placements were also prioritized per audience group based on consumption behavior and relevance. Our four core audience segments – gamers, students, small business owners, and general shoppers – got a great deal with tailored messaging that spoke to them and their needs.
We redefined the performance marketing space.
It’s a misconception that low-funnel tactics need to be dry and purely transactional. We showed tech taking a hit – and shattered category conventions. By leveraging this highly relevant and attention-grabbing creative during the most competitively saturated time of year, we drove click-thrus to Lenovo.com and increased revenue during the biggest sales period of the year.
The results prove it.
274% increase in site traffic the month of campaign launch (October 2021)
YoY gains in creative engagement, traffic efficiency, and revenue efficiency all doubled after the launch of Tech Hard (compared to the period before)
Click-Through Rate: 29% lift in engagement (CTR) YoY
Traffic Efficiency: 59% CPV efficiency gain YoY
Revenue Efficiency (Total Media Revenue): 23% revenue efficiency gain YoY
Revenue Efficiency (Last-Touch Revenue): 73% revenue efficiency gain YoY
‘Go Big’ Media placements triggered a 95% higher Click-Through Rate, alongside a 61% lower Cost per Click compared to business-as-usual flighted Social tactics for Lenovo.
Influencers: Generated 1.5X better traffic efficiency (compared to BAU Social tactics)
