Advani: Lenovo is a global company. What is the perception they have when consumers buy a Sony or Toyota or BMW? They are not thinking it is a Japanese or German or English company. It is a just great TV or a great car. They have transcended national borders and become global brands everybody loves. Right now Lenovo is a Chinese company. But more and more it will be perceived by the world as a global and international company. More and more companies will come to the world stage where they will be known because of the value they deliver to the customers, not because of the location of the company.

There is a term Global Integrated Enterprise. As The World is Flat put it, the national boundary will not be critical because the Internet is creating a global virtual community for us. In Lenovo, we get the best ideas from any part of the world and bring them to the rest of the world. We have credible R&D and design capability.

Yong Tang: According to the agreement signed between Lenovo and IBM, the logo of IBM will stay on ThinkPad computers for up to five years.

Advani: Right now there is only one logo on the product, that is IBM. Our market research tells us that before people know Lenovo and start feeling comfortable with Lenovo, having the IBM logo on the product gives them a sense of security and a sense of confidence.

Yong Tang: When will the Lenovo logo appear on your product?

Advani: The Lenovo logo will appear toward the end of this year in addition to IBM logo. Since then there will be two logos on our products, IBM and Lenovo.

Yong Tang: Which logo will be bigger in size?

Advani: The ThinkPad logo will be bigger. Lenovo logo will be smaller. Why? Because ThinkPad is a strong brand. I want the equity to go from IBM ThinkPad to ThinkPad. ThinkPad stands for the premier business tool and it is a strong brand. What we want to do is to want people ten years from now to continue to desire ThinkPad. Great brands could be destroyed if you move away from its core essence. Companies usually take a brand and stretch it too much. Therefore the Lenovo logo will be smaller and the ThinkPad logo will be bigger. That is only for laptop computers. On desktop computers, the Lenovo logo will be bigger. Because we want to build a master brand like Toyota.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)