1

N o v e m b e r 1 0 , 2 0 1 3 t o
M a r c h 1 0 , 2 0 1 4
B u s i n e s s C e n t r a l T o w e r s ,
D u b a i I n t e r n e t C i t y
C o m p a n y m e n t o r - M r .
I s h a n S e n S a r m a a n d M r .
S h a r a y S h a m s
A c a d e m i c m e n t o r
S r i m a n t i k a N a t h r o y
S u b m i t t e d o n : M a r c h 6 ,
2 0 1 4
Neha Shinde MGB12CMM086
Report on the four-month internship at
Lenovo Middle East as a Marketing Intern







Internship Report
1. Introduction
The project entailed enhancement of visibility of Lenovo smartphones within the organized retail
space in the UAE and improvement of retail experience for consumers at the retail outlets. The
project ran over four months starting from November. The first phase of the project focused
mainly on planning and strategizing with the retailers the retail spaces that can be occupied by
Lenovo as well the content and material that goes on display. The focus of the second phase of
the project was the actual execution of the devised strategy.
This document includes the aim and objectives of the internship, its scope, analysis of the tasks I
accomplished, methodology in which the phases were approached, outcomes or conclusions and
recommendations for future improvements.
2. Objectives of the Internship
The main objectives of the project were:
To enhance brand presence, visibility and in-store experience for Lenovo smartphones
within organized retail in the UAE.
To study gaps in the entire execution process of branding (from negotiation with partners
to in-store execution) and provide recommendations to bridge the same.

3. Summary of the Internship
My work entailed mainly the communication with marketing managers and store managers of
consumer electronics retail giants like Emax, Carrefour, Sharaf DG and Jumbo for in-store
branding execution. I was involved in discussions with the retailers for enhancing visibility and
retail presence for Lenovo smartphones. I closely worked with Lenovos marketing team for
execution and hence, learnt about marketing operations within the region.
My job role included maintaining frequent communication with the distribution partner for
Lenovo smartphones within organized retail for enhancing visual merchandising. I managed the
deployment of POS materials and video looping on live devices within 160 outlets, through
interface with the merchandising manager and key account holders.
Tracker sheets to track branding deployments and visual merchandising material at the various
outlets across the UAE have been created. These include outlet-wise branding elements with
contract timelines and contact details of store managers. These have been converted to Google
spreadsheets for easy and multiple accesses among colleagues involved in the project. This will
help the company monitor future deployments and refurbishments of branding.

4. Gap Analysis
Firstly, analysis of raw sales data up till end of October, 2013 was done to prioritize outlets for
branding. Retail outlets of Carrefour, Sharaf DG, Jumbo and Emax contribute cumulatively
72.6% of total sales of Lenovo smartphones in terms of units and 71.7% in terms of value in the
UAE.
Retailer
Sales % in terms of
units
Sales % in terms of
value
Carrefour 29.2% 23.0%
Sharaf DG 16.6% 19.2%
Jumbo 14.2% 16.1%
Emax 12.6% 13.4%
Lulu 11.3% 10.6%
Plugins 5.8% 6.5%
Jacky's 2.6% 3.4%
Geant 2.0% 2.3%
DDF 1.8% 1.9%
E-City 1.8% 1.6%
Hyper-Panda 1.6% 1.4%
Tec Buy 0.5% 0.6%

Please find the detailed report on this below:
Report_Raw_sales_d
ata_Final.xlsx

The shortlisted retail outlets categorized as A, B and C with branding elements as per store
category are in the data sheet inserted below:
Retail Outlets - Top
80%.xlsx

As per observations at the various outlets of the retailers across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah,
Blackberry and Samsung seemed to have occupied a major area (almost 80-85%) of branding
space. This included security gates, display tables and pillars, wall branding and counter
branding. Lenovo, on the other hand had a relatively inactive brand presence at these outlets and
even within the allotted space. For example: POS material like the feature cards either had
misprinted details or were not displayed at all and live devices on display were inactive at some
outlets. This rendered great scope to make Lenovo a brand with a dominant brand presence and
visibility in the retail space while its smartphones were still young in the market and the product
portfolio being highly competitive.
Observational analysis also led to further updating of the stores and their categories. This is
because the initial list was purely on the basis of sales. Due to this, some very prominent outlets
in terms of access, popularity and footfall (such as outlets at Mirdif City Center and Dubai Mall)
fell in B or C categories. Also, outlets in the A category (like Carrefour outlets or Jumbo Deira
City Center) did not necessarily have the branding spaces that an A store should ideally have.
Hence, revision of this list was done.
5. Actions identified
The immediate plan of action was to cover retail outlets at major malls in Dubai. The first
agreement was done with Emax in the last week of December, 2013, while various Carrefour
outlet agreements were negotiated simultaneously. Deployments for Dubai outlets of Emax were
given priority and categorized as A outlets. Further agreements and branding execution were
done in the month of January and February with Jumbo, E-City and Sharaf DG.
For enhancing in-store experience, deployment of video loops on the live VibeX devices,
dummy and live units display and distribution of leaflets with holders was done with the help of
colleagues at Jumbo.
Two separate tracker sheets have been created for the same online for simultaneous multiple
accesses and updates.
6. Execution
- Timelines
Timelines.xlsx

- Tracker sheets
a. In-store branding tracker
Lenovo_branding_Co
nsolidated_list.xlsx


b. Visual merchandising tracker
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiePN8vZ-
2LhdHUwRVRNZm1Ta0ZSTlgwSGozX3p5eEE&usp=drive_web#gid=0

7. Learning
The main learning from this project was the expanse and dynamics of the organized retail space
in the UAE. Also, building a network with channel partners, distributors and colleagues at
Lenovo helped me hone my communication skills as well as dealing with challenging situations
patiently.
The main challenge I faced on this project was handling timely execution of branding
deployments, especially at Emax and Carrefour outlets. Managing mutually convenient and
agreed timelines among retailers and the third-party suppliers of the agency was not as smooth,
may be because this was the first time branding deployment at such a scale was happening for
Lenovo smartphones. Internally, the team was very supportive. The challenges were mainly
external. Following are a few recommendations that may help timely deployments in future:
Going forward, I recommend one agency deploy the entire branding at a particular outlet
because communication, managing permits and monitoring deployments become easier.
There needs to be a system of daily status update and accountability in place for the entire
team. For eg: The agency updating on status of deployments by afternoon creates lag in
communication and delays in deployments when the deployment has not happened on
time and new permits need to be rearranged.
Databases for branding in organized retail and visual merchandising are in place. This
should make it easier to track future refurbishments better. Moreover, we should maintain
a log of the measurements of branding elements as well.
Maintaining continuous communication with retail partners is key when it comes to
solving deployment issues.
For video looping deployment, we should have a centralized process through which the
loop is circulated among partners and is deployed across all outlets with live units within
2 days at the most.