RALEIGH, N.C. (BUSINESS WIRE), July 25, 2012 – The PNC Arena in Raleigh was converted into a full NFL–themed zone today for employees of Morrisville-based Lenovo. The company hosted a kickoff event, officially announcing a multi-year relationship naming Lenovo the Official Laptop, Desktop and Workstation Sponsor of the NFL in the United States.
“The NFL has been a valued Lenovo customer since 2007, and now we’ll work with the league to integrate our products even more into their operations,” said David Schmoock, senior vice president and president, Lenovo North America. “Today’s announcement coincides with Lenovo’s tremendous growth in the U.S. market the past year, and we’re very excited to team with the NFL to deliver innovation that helps the league do even more with Lenovo technology.”
According to International Data Center (IDC), for the most recently completed quarter Lenovo jumped two spots to number 4 in the U.S. Schmoock noted that the agreement represents Lenovo’s commitment to growing its share and brand presence in the U.S. market.
“Lenovo is excited to align with one of the most powerful brands in the United States,” said Schmoock. “We launched a global brand campaign in 2011 – ‘For Those Who Do’ – and have seen consumer consideration rates increase threefold the past year. The NFL gives us a tremendous new forum to introduce consumers to our products and brand.”
Primary sponsorship benefits for Lenovo include official rights as a full sponsor of the NFL for the next three years, allowing the company use of NFL-owned trademarks in marketing and advertising activities.
The sponsorship will provide many consumer, employee and partner-related opportunities. Some of the planned activities include advertising, promotions in retail outlets, customer events, and case studies showing how the NFL is using Lenovo equipment to meet its technological needs, increase productivity and deliver on its business goals.
“We are excited to welcome Lenovo to the NFL family,” said Keith Turner, NFL’s senior vice president, Sponsorship & Media Sales. “We are committed to delivering the best game for our fans, and Lenovo will help us in that endeavor.”
The first sponsorship activities are set to launch at the 2012 NFL Kickoff event in early September. Lenovo will also engage in sponsor programs with select teams and players and have a presence at the Super Bowl Media Center and NFL Experience during Super Bowl week.
About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR:LNVGY) is a $US30 billion personal technology company – and the second largest PC company in the world, serving customers in more than 160 countries. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly-efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers and workstations. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information, see www.lenovo.com.