Extremely technical
The ZenBook: a family of ultrabooks that combine Asus’ powerful performance with less size, weight, and an extended battery life. The ZenBook launched in 2011 as a premium lifestyle laptop, achieving moderate success in a market mostly dominated by the MacBook. With names such as the ASUS ZenBook Deluxe, ASUS ZenBook UX550, and ASUS ZenBook UX490, among others, it appeared consumers had a hard time differentiating the models and what made each one special. Marketing also focused on functional strengths, product specs, and technical jargon. It was at this point that Asus asked the team to step in with activation strategy and to revitalise its “Hi! I Am a ZenBook” campaign for its newest range of premium lifestyle laptops.
Performance plus personality
Consumers seeking a light, sleek, yet powerful machine are sure to find one in the ZenBook. And for specific needs—from everyday storing and staying connected to more sophisticated design, photography, or multimedia functions—the ZenBook range has those, too. Consumers just needed to hear it in a language they understood.
Two notable target segments included the fashion set and the techies: capturing them would create a trickle-down effect to later adopters who watch one group for style and the other for savvy. Launching the new range around the big idea “There is a ZenBook for everyone”, the campaign refresh depicted device capabilities as a spectrum of distinct personas. Ranging from CEO, photographer, lifestyle blogger, product designer, to executive, this assortment of attitudes and personalities—and devices to match—drove the idea across with style and flair. Even the way the ZenBooks were posed—confidently against a hip, in one hand on the go, or jauntily like a clutch—showed lightness, sleekness, that these were not so much machines as fashion accessories.
Relatability made it easy for consumers to understand what made each model special and right for their needs. We took it a step further and made the strategic recommendation to accompany technical model names with easy-to-understand descriptors: “Creative”, “Glamour”, “Mobile”, “Vivid”, and “Classic”—all meaningful, all memorable.
Key visuals were kept clean and minimal, designed deliberately in black and white with blocks of muted colour—sleek, chic, and fashionable. In addition to a brochure and website, a playful, tongue-in-cheek “laptops rating humans” social media campaign brought the ZenBook to life online, engaging target audiences where they already are. As the marketing campaign caught the eye of the style set, this social media component spoke the language of techies who keep informed through product reviews and ratings.
A notebook for the next generation
With results that include elevated product appeal, heightened product awareness, and strong differentiation from other lifestyle laptop brands, the two-fold campaign captured a unique space and made it easier for consumers to make informed choices. We refreshed the campaign the following year and, this time, professionals from various entertainment, tech, and business sectors joined in as brand ambassadors. When a campaign is sustainable, built on and remixed for future product extensions, it becomes ownable—and this too is proof of its success. Today, the ZenBook remains a popular premium lifestyle laptop brand as ever, with a look and voice all its own.
