“To tempt farmers in China into high-tech territory, Lenovo executives explain, they have tried to make their machine easy to use, cheap, and robust. But its key feature, they say, is its software, dubbed “Road to Riches,” that helps peasants search for agricultural information that will boost business.” Peter Ford, Christian Science Monitor

ThinkPad? Think Lenovo.

Also think China. And software called Road to Riches. What a name!

Todd Crowell writes, “Lenovo has been working steadily to become China’s first global brand. Two years ago, it changed its name from Legend to Lenovo (an invented word from Latin novo, meaning new) specifically because Legend was too common and already trademarked in the West.

In acquiring the IBM computer division, Lenovo gained the ThinkPad laptop and the ThinkCenter desktop, two of the best-known brands in the computer industry. Lenovo’s strategy is to link its name with the better-known products, until they become synonymous in the customer’s mind.

“There will be no doubt that ThinkPad is made by Lenovo, just like iPod is made by Apple,” says Deepka Advani, Lenovo’s senior vice president and director of marketing. The products will be produced under the IBM logo for five years. As the Lenovo brand becomes better known, the company will eventually drop the IBM logo and sell them as Lenovo brand ThinkPads and ThinkCenters.