Lenovo resellers call for more brand awareness
Chinese PC manufacturer should increase its own profile before dropping IBM name
Lenovo’s UK VARs have claimed that generating brand awareness should be the PC vendor’s primary objective prior to ditching the IBM name.
In an iteration of its commitment to channel partners last week, Lenovo told CRN that it planned to separate itself from IBM.
Karen Williams, head of marketing at Lenovo, said: “As we move away from IBM we want to maintain our commitment to our channel partners. We will look to change things according to our partners’ needs.”
Rob Tomlin, sales director at Lenovo distributor Interface Solu-tions, said: “Lenovo plans to phase out the IBM brand from its PC range over the next 24 months, but the range provides high margins for partners and Lenovo has its own strong branding too, so it won’t be a problem for partners.”
But Shaune Parsons, managing director of Computer World Wales, disagreed. “The IBM brand is extremely strong and if Lenovo doesn’t do enough marketing and brand awareness before the change then partner sales could be affected,” he claimed.
Kevin Drew, managing director of Triangle, said: “Dropping the IBM brand won’t have too big a channel impact so long as Lenovo develops its branding fully enough.”
However, Lenovo has pledged to continue its alliance with IBM’s Business Partner programme.
Williams also said that Lenovo is looking to expand its UK reseller numbers. “Of 35,000 global resellers, upwards of 5,000 are UK partners and we are looking to expand,” she said.
Tomlin said that the recruitment of additional resellers was already underway.