September marked an exciting month for Lenovo. On the back of the successful launch of its first consumer tablet, the IdeaPad Tablet K1, the company launched its first commercial tablet product, the ThinkPad Tablet, targeting enterprise customers and tech savvy users.

Ketchum was called upon early in the game to plan an end-to-end launch campaign for the ThinkPad Tablet. With business users as a key target group, the team was faced with an expanded audience universe. A media roundtable three weeks before the official launch was designed to spread word of Lenovo’s first commercial tablet through business and finance media, with messaging around the business viability of commercial tablets, and what professional users look for in an enterpriselevel tablet product. Early media exposures paved the way for the official launch in late September.

A round of street dance performances over lunch time was staged in the week prior to the actual launch event. Dancers performed in the high-traffic business districts of Tsimshatsui, Central and Causeway Bay showing off the key selling points including the tablet pen, full USB connectivity and the Corning Gorilla Glass in a choreographed “ThinkPad Moves” routine. To further drive pre-launch buzz, the team sent a review unit to one of the most respected business bloggers in town, “wanszezit”, who recorded an “unboxed” video about the product.

Three weeks of seeding work was followed by the launch event. The core strategy of the event was “experience”. A total of 14 tablets were placed on two work benches for the media to test, take photos, videos, and try out the preloaded apps. A total of 46 journalists attended the press conference, who appreciated the extended play time they had with the tablet – an aspect often lacking at other tech events.