‘In 2026, Lenovo plans to integrate AI across three key marketing buckets’

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in creative industries, Lenovo is taking a culturally rooted approach to innovation. In a detailed conversation with Simran Sabherwal, Chandrika Jain, Marketing Director at Lenovo India, spoke about the brand’s campaign for Yoga Aura Edition, the evolving creator economy, AI in marketing, and Lenovo’s roadmap for 2026.

Lenovo Yoga (stylized as Lenovo YOGA or YOGΛ) is a premium, consumer-focused range of laptops, tablets and all-in-one PCs developed and marketed by Lenovo. Known for its signature 360-degree hinge design, the Yoga series is engineered to seamlessly shift between multiple form factors including laptop, tent, stand and tablet modes offering flexibility for productivity and entertainment. Positioned in the high-end segment of the 2-in-1 PC market, Lenovo Yoga competes with devices such as the HP Spectre x360 and the Acer Spin, combining sleek design, performance capabilities and innovative features tailored to modern users.

Preserving and reimagining culture without diluting its integrity

“Fundamentally, everything that drives what Lenovo does is in our belief that we are building technology to enable people and enable all people,” said Jain, speaking about the thought process behind the Yoga Aura Edition campaign. “We have envisioned AI as a creative collaborator, something that amplifies human intent and removes technical barriers so that the craft at the heart of it truly comes out.”

At the core of the campaign lies a simple yet powerful idea: preserving and reimagining culture without diluting its integrity. The films reinterpret traditional art forms such as Kavad storytelling, Patachitra scroll paintings, and intricate Kashmiri weaving by layering them with 3D, VFX, motion design and high-performance AI tools powered by the Lenovo Yoga portfolio. “Bringing heritage together with technology in a way to demonstrate culture can evolve in format without losing its essence,” she explained. “AI has literally helped bring these art forms to life by animating motifs, characters and stories that are centuries old and deeply rooted in our cultural memory.”

One striking example from the campaign is the story of the “Seventh Sun,” traditionally depicted in Patachitra art, a traditional art form from Odisha and Bengal. In the film, the creator Jishnu Chatterjee animated and verbalised the ancient narrative, transforming it into a format that resonates with younger audiences. “The essence of the story remained,” Jain noted, “but it became far more consumable. The creator sits at the centre, AI enables and scales the vision, and experimentation becomes possible.”

Enabling India’s Creator Economy

The timing of the campaign aligns with the explosive rise of India’s creator economy. With projections estimating the sector to touch $100–125 billion by 2030, Lenovo sees creators not merely as consumers but as collaborators and cultural drivers. “Our entire AI PC strategy is shaped by continuously engaging with this really large creator community,” Jain also added “Listening to how they work and how workflows are changing, we build products and platforms alongside them.”

Lenovo has deepened this engagement through initiatives such as Brave New Art and participation in youth-driven platforms like IFP and Lollapalooza India. Beyond screenings, the brand has hosted masterclasses, creator discussions and hands-on experience zones, encouraging two-way learning.

“The biggest takeaway was to not just allow people to learn from the brand; it’s giving us the opportunity to learn from creators” From a product standpoint, Lenovo’s AI-enabled PCs integrate writing, editing, animation, voice tools and AI generation on a single device, reducing friction and boosting performance. But for Jain, the real empowerment goes beyond hardware specifications. “The biggest enablement is confidence and creative freedom,” she emphasised on when creators feel empowered to try bold ideas without worrying about production costs or time

AI in Marketing: Moving with the metrics

While AI has rapidly entered mainstream marketing strategies, Jain cautiously talks about what she calls “AI slop” low-value, machine-generated output that lacks authenticity. “AI storytelling works very well, especially if it is human-led and culturally rooted,” she also stressed on meaningful content where AI enables creativity, rather than becoming the headline. The Yoga Aura Edition campaign delivered a strong performance across key brand and engagement metrics, driving a +6% uplift in aided brand awareness and establishing high visibility for a premium AI PC within a competitive OTT landscape. Beyond awareness, the campaign also translated into tangible consideration gains, with purchase intent increasing by +4%, suggesting that the storytelling effectively moved audiences further down the funnel. Additionally, the brand attribute of fueling creativity for next-generation digital artists recorded a +4% uplift, indicating that the creative messaging resonated well with the target audience.

Early indicators suggest the approach is working. The Made with Lenovo Yoga campaign has already garnered 50.6 million views with a 36% view-through rate shortly after launch.  and reached 18.16 million users across platforms, while delivering an impressive overall video view-through rate of 73%, peaking at 92% on JioHotstar.

“Engagement doesn’t happen unless audiences are genuinely connecting with the content,” she pointed out. Looking ahead to 2026, Lenovo plans to integrate AI across three key marketing buckets: advanced data analytics for faster insights, quick personalization for performance marketing, and deeper integration of AI into the creative process itself. “AI will become a natural part of the creative process, not just a headline and content must feel human, purposeful and expressive.”

 Zero Distance and the Gen Z Focus

As part of its broader 2026 marketing roadmap, Lenovo is embracing what Jain calls a “zero distance policy”  reducing the gap between the brand and communities like creators, gamers and students. “We want to meet them where they are, on their terms, and at the speed of culture,” she said, referencing activations across colleges, cultural festivals and digital platforms like Reddit.

Rather than focusing on transactional campaigns alone, Lenovo is investing in participative platforms and cultural moments that encourage dialogue and feedback. “We are blending macro campaigns built for scale and sales with micro campaigns that foster trust and long-term loyalty,” she explained. “Made with Lenovo Yoga is one such micro initiative.” While Gen Z remains the brand’s core audience focus, Lenovo acknowledges that much of its culturally authentic and AI-driven approach naturally extends to Gen Alpha as well, even if there isn’t a distinct strategy tailored to them yet.

A Multi-Device Ecosystem for Creators

Addressing the perception that creators “graduate” from mobile to laptops, Jain offered a different perspective. “There is no migration,” she clarified. “Creation happens across devices. The kind of creation on a phone is different from what happens on a laptop and there’s space for each.”

With its presence in both smartphones and PCs  including AI-powered devices under the Motorola brand, Lenovo aims to serve creators at every stage of their journey. Its laptops feature built-in AI tools such as AI Studio, Creator Zone, AI Now and Kira, designed to support diverse creative workflows. “Irrespective of the device a creator uses, we have the portfolio to support their needs,” she said.

The company signals strong momentum through campaign performance metrics and sustained engagement across youth platforms. “We would like to continue to connect with our audiences authentically,” Jain concluded.