In this installment of Frictionless Marketing, Paul Dyer interviews Torod Neptune about his ambitious marketing and communications vision for Lenovo. Utilizing Torod’s cogent methodology, listeners will learn how the Chief Communications Officer for Lenovo maintains a consistently effective cross-cultural branding effort. Torod also discusses the challenges of staying relevant as a company, the language and cultural hurdles when developing an international ‘master brand story,’ and the importance for marketing and communications teams to be adequately data-informed.

When describing the nuances of communicating a clear-cut brand vision internally, as well as externally, Torod articulates the importance of having a well-defined narrative or story to tell--one which provides relevance, meaning, and context to customers and stakeholders alike. He says there are a few core principles that are at the center of Lenovo’s master brand story. The first is diversity. This means that culturally and philosophically, Lenovo has absorbed a myriad of Eastern and Western influences and mentalities over the years, which drive and inspire all major business and marketing decisions. The second is the insight and innovation that goes into the products that Lenovo creates. And lastly, he gets into the importance of conveying Lenovo’s financial story, its origins and history, and the global citizenship work that Lenovo has done to bring different cultures together in a global, collaborative scope.

Other important facets of this conversation include the need to broaden one’s aperture. Because Torod worked with Verizon, one of the nation’s leading communications behemoths, he was heavily involved on a national level, but only when he started working with Lenovo did he have to shift his perspective to one that was more global. Another key topic is just how important diversity is for a global titan like Lenovo, especially from a creative, financial, and technological standpoint. Additionally, the importance of disruptors is explained at length, and the value of taking calculated risks is held up as a viable strategy for sustainable branding success.