It’s been a big year for Lenovo.
The Carolina Hurricanes just captured the Stanley Cup, giving one of the NHL’s most passionate fanbases a championship to celebrate. The New York Knicks also brought home an NBA championship, adding even more excitement to Lenovo’s partnership with Madison Square Garden.
At the same time, Lenovo has become one of the most visible brands associated with the FIFA World Cup, putting the company in front of one of the largest audiences in sports. Even in my own family, Lenovo’s recent campaign featuring David Beckham has generated excitement.
My nephews suddenly became much more interested in where their uncle works.
Watching all of this unfold has made me realize something I never expected when I joined Lenovo several years ago: I’ve become a hockey fan because of the company I work for.
That probably sounds strange coming from someone who grew up in Upstate New York. Hockey was certainly around, but I never paid much attention to it. I didn’t have a favorite NHL team, I didn’t follow standings, and I couldn’t have named many players.
Yet somewhere between moving to North Carolina, joining Lenovo, attending Hurricanes games, participating in partnership-related events, and watching the transition from PNC Arena to Lenovo Center, I found myself becoming invested in a team I never expected to care about.
I became a Caniac.
And the more I’ve thought about it, though, the more I’ve realized that this story isn’t really about hockey.
As marketers, we often talk about partnerships in terms of awareness, impressions, consideration, and revenue. Those metrics matter, and they should. Sponsorships are significant investments, and businesses need to understand their impact. But I think there’s another type of value that is much harder to measure.
Partnerships create experiences, and sometimes they create a sense of connection that employees carry with them long after a campaign launches.
My experience with the Hurricanes is a good example. Through Lenovo’s partnership, I had opportunities to attend games, participate in events, and engage with a fan community that is deeply connected to the region where I now live. As a transplant in the Triangle, those experiences helped me feel connected to my adopted home in ways that had very little to do with marketing and everything to do with community.
That feeling became especially tangible when Lenovo Center was unveiled.
Most employees never have the opportunity to see their company’s name attached to a major sports and entertainment venue. Standing there and seeing the excitement surrounding that announcement, I felt proud. Not because I had anything to do with negotiating the deal or creating the strategy behind it, but because I was part of the organization that made it happen. For a moment, the company I worked for wasn’t an abstract corporate entity. It was something visible, tangible, and connected to a place that meant a great deal to thousands of people.
I’ve noticed similar ripple effects outside of hockey as well.
Over the past year, multiple friends have reached out after spotting Lenovo sponsorships during sporting events. The conversations almost always start the same way. Someone sees the Lenovo name somewhere they weren’t expecting it, becomes curious, and sends me a message asking what it’s like to work there.
The most recent text arrived shortly after the World Cup began.
What started as a conversation about sports quickly became a conversation about careers, culture, and opportunities. That’s fascinating because it highlights something sponsorships can accomplish beyond customer awareness. They can spark genuine curiosity about the people behind the brand.
And I don’t think this feeling is limited to sports. I’ve experienced something similar through my work in AI.
Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to help develop AI-related content, contribute to AI education initiatives, and watch Lenovo position itself at the forefront of one of the most significant technological shifts of our time. AI genuinely fascinates me. It’s a topic I spend time learning about even when I’m not working. Being able to contribute, even in a small way, to how businesses understand and adopt this technology has been incredibly rewarding.
When I think about why the Hurricanes partnership resonated with me, I realize it’s the same reason AI work resonates with me.
Both make me feel connected to something larger than my individual role. One connects me to a community. The other connects me to a technology transformation that is actively reshaping how people work, create, and solve problems. And in both cases, the feeling is remarkably similar. It’s pride.
Not the kind of pride that comes from a logo or a slogan, but the kind that comes from participation. The feeling that you’re contributing to something meaningful, whether that’s helping build awareness around a sports partnership, supporting AI education, or simply being part of an organization involved in moments that people genuinely care about.
So yes, working for Lenovo is why the Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup means so much to me right now.
I’ll admit that’s probably the definition of a bandwagon fan.
But considering how I got here, I think I’ve earned the ride.