International primary research from 5,000 city dwellers within Brazil, Germany, Japan, UK and USA exposed the need for society to rethink how we live together in cities. Post-pandemic there was a ‘Kindness Gap’, with 97% believing kindness/empathy is important for communities, but only 37% feeling their current city is a kind place to live or work. Lenovo wanted to ensure all city dwellers drove the conversation to imagine a better future, not just centred on the tech itself, but on real stories emboldened by smarter tech.

We focused on 10 markets (UK, USA, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, and India) - to find inspiring city campaigns driving positive change for all through technology. These inspired and celebrated innovation world-wide, as we wanted to crowdsource a global vision of the Kind City of the future.

The Kind City Project created a choose-your-own podcast. This allowed people to listen to stories of kindness from around the world. It featured 60 different voices and 100,000 potential unique routes, allowing listeners to create their own journeys. From a kindness currency in Japan to multigenerational living in the US, it was up to the listener.

The Kind City Project enlisted diverse voices for their podcast guides including philanthropist Tan France, TIME Kid of the Year Gitanjali Rao, Brazilian rapper Emicida, German futurologist Oona Horx-Strathern, Japanese author and entrepreneur Ibun Hirahara and self-dubbed human cyborg Dr. Peter Scott Morgan. They took a different section of the podcast, owning a territory that was special to them or was their area of expertise.

When finished, you could download your bespoke journey and share it with the world.

22% unprompted awareness globally (among those surveyed in 10 key markets).

Those aware of the campaign rated Lenovo 9.8 points higher (brand reputation) than those unaware.

800 pieces of global coverage with an average total reach of 1 billion.

72,000 website sessions, with audiences able to listen to the rich, accessible, and multilingual ‘choose-your-own-journey’ podcast.

1.8 million total paid media impressions generated from partnership with Spotify and Wall Street Journal.

51 million social media impressions.

The campaign increased Lenovo’s global and in-market citizenship reputation scores. We drove greater empathy and showed the role technology can play in creating kinder places to thrive.

By far the biggest cost was Lenovo’s support and donations to local NGOs and Ashoka; all were using technology to close the kindness gap in cities.