The PC category is known for creating bland product-centric ads featuring specs and features. But the world’s biggest PC makers are shifting focus to branded content to differentiate themselves in a commoditized category. As we developed a global launch campaign for Lenovo Yoga, a premium PC in the entirely new Convertibles category, we knew the branded entertainment space would be crowded, but an important channel for our Millennial audience.

Asus created short films featuring celebrities Keifer Sutherland and Megan Fox to launch their Ultrabook product, while Dell released several videos aimed at humanizing the PC. Intel pumped a ton of money into global branded content to support their enormous marketing push – the creation of the Ultrabook category. Even more, brands outside our category (RedBull, Old Spice) have been using branded content with huge success to reach our key consumer – Millennials. The space was crowded, so we needed to stand out.

But our market was the whole world – countries as diverse as China, Germany and the USA – so an added challenge was to connect with a global millennial audience without relying on a voiceover or dialogue to deliver our new product and new category message.

What’s a common language that all Millennials, regardless of geography or cultural background, could understand? Hollywood. From Berlin to Beijing to Boston, we knew Millennials would be drawn to Hollywood content. Inspired by the success of recent films in the Batman and Bourne franchises, we developed a story to showcase the Yoga as an essential device to navigate a dark world. We looked for a director who could capture our action-packed story and make it as appealing as a feature film. The end product, a film centered on the Yoga that looked like a slice out of blockbuster action movie.

We launched a hugely successful premium PC in a new category of PCs with the same price range as Apple. While there were at least 8 PC brands that also came out with products in this new convertible class, it was the Yoga that really made consumers and influencers take notice of this new line of products. The ads sparked interest and helped create demand.

· One of the biggest electronics retailers in the world, Best Buy, was unable to keep the product on shelves because the work created so much demand.

· It was the best-selling Windows 8 Product with 49% share in $900+ Premium PC Market

· One of the most talked about products in social media with 33% Share of Voice

· In a category where third party reviews are essential to its success, the Yoga became the most searched for product on CNET.com, the authority of tech sites, 350k searches in Q4 US, ~5x of Apple searches.

With so much positive momentum garnered with just the launch spots, we expect over time the campaign will help shift the way consumers interact with PCs and tablets.