Many small businesses — especially those owned by minorities including women, people of color, and people with disabilities — struggle to maintain their footing and compete with big-name brands that have access to unlimited resources when it comes to advertising. Lenovo has long been a big supporter of small business through its Evolve Small initiative, which aims to uplift small business through the transformative power of technology. At that point, AI was just becoming part of public consciousness, but few understood its amazing potential to be applied for good. With Lenovo Evolve Small, Lenovo's goal was to provide small businesses with an innovative solution and platform to drive awareness and acclaim within their communities in a way that each business could never have imagined, nor achieved, on their own.

What if instead of using big-name talent to be the face of an already well-known brand like Lenovo, any mom-and-pop shop across North America could hire them to be the face of their small business? Using AI, Lenovo did just that — flipping the script on the traditional celebrity endorsement and creating a new type of B2B campaign. And what if more than just their existing audiences saw the celebrity endorsements? Lenovo ensured that select small businesses were able to advertise on the big stage, creating DOOH, social, and radio ads in their hometowns. Through Lenovo Evolve Small, Lenovo gave small businesses across North America access to big-name talent, and put them on the big stage, helping them survive and thrive in one of the toughest economic times for so many.

North American small businesses are struggling, especially those owned by minority groups like women, people of color, and those with disabilities; 86% of black business owners believe their businesses are “judged more critically than non-Black businesses”, and 78% fail because they lack a marketing plan. This audience insight drove Lenovo’s strategy to find a partner who not only resonated with that community, but who could also authentically represent all small businesses and connect with the general public. Enter Queen Latifah: American actress, singer, and rapper —and a small business owner herself. Lenovo and Queen Latifah created a custom ad generator using AI to allow a digitally recreated Queen Latifah to celebrate thousands of businesses with custom shout-outs. Lenovo launched the campaign in six cities across North America that had the highest numbers of small businesses owned by their target audiences: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Raleigh, N.C., and Toronto.

To ensure that each small business owner truly got a bespoke shout-out, Lenovo leveraged AI to develop a simple custom video generator with Queen Latifah. All the business had to do was enter in its name and location, and out popped a seamless :15 video from Queen Latifah herself promoting the business. Through AI, Queen Latifah was able to be in thousands of places at once, lending her voice and likeness to boost the profiles of countless small businesses, providing transformational exposure. And Lenovo didn’t stop there. Not only did they provide the creative to small businesses, but they also provided the media space in the key six markets for six small businesses that were chosen by non-profit partner Goodie Nation. These businesses were promoted for three weeks across Digital OOH, radio, and paid social spots to boost their exposure in their communities.

Lenovo provided real impact to small business, with financial, technological, and mentorship support.

- Distributed $1.2M in grants, technology, and mentorship ($3.6M cumulatively since 2021)

- $21MM worth of videos created featuring Queen Latifah

- 3,240 small businesses reached through the initiative

- 18 businesses participated in the Goodie Nation grant program, receiving $15,000 each and a yearlong support and networking community

Lenovo’s six platinum prize winners also saw transformational exposure, with an average monthly increase of 500% in web traffic.

Lenovo reached its own brand awareness and engagement goals.

- Generated more than 270MM earned impressions for the campaign, with key placements in outlets like Fortune, BET, and People.

- Total reach of the campaign was 450MM+

- A cumulative +4 lift in unaided awareness, +3 in unaided consideration, and +1 in unaided preference

- +6 lift in perception as a brand that provides technology solutions