Charlotte West

VP Global Corporate Communications
Lenovo
UK

 

Charlotte West joined technology giant Lenovo 13 years ago in her first in-house role after years in agency, and hasn’t looked back since; her latest elevation in April saw her named as vice president of global corporate communications, with a remit including all external communications, internal communications, ESG comms, executive communications, corporate social media, crisis communications and reputation management.

Before joining Lenovo in 2016 as EMEA director of PR and social media, West spent 16 years at technology specialist agency Harvard in London, latterly as a board director, including leading its biggest client at the time, Fujitsu Services. 

In her current role, West is also a board director of the Lenovo Foundation, the firm’s global philanthropic arm that is focused on empowering under-represented communities with access to technology and STEM education, and is a member of Lenovo’s ESG committee and its global crisis management team. She is committed to empowering under-represented communities through involvement with community and grass roots sport and PR industry initiatives that drive social diversity and mobility. 

Lenovo’s former Asia Pacific comms lead Genevieve Hilton said of West: “Lenovo's communications function would not be able to operate at the world-class level that it does without Charlotte. She has the extraordinary ability to create and deliver communications strategies that are meaningful to the corporate direction, while ensuring that the teams she works with around the globe perform at their peak of their abilities – and feel valued for doing so.”
Can you share a moment in your career when you saw PR's direct impact on business performance?
Product launches are still a key element of the technology industry's annual cycle and remain core to driving sales for key selling periods.

What are the communications industry's biggest challenges and opportunities in the year ahead?
AI is both the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity. The industry needs to get to grips with what it means for our function and craft (beyond the hype), what efficiencies it can really bring, and how we need to manage the risks that go with that.

What have you most admired about the communications industry over the past year, and what has disappointed you?
I’ve most admired how we have seized the leadership opportunity of the past few years and are counselling and advising leadership on key issues for the entire business – more strategically, with more impact, and on more critical issues. 

I’m disappointed that much of the industry is still measuring its impact through basic short-term campaign metrics and ‘numbers of things’. I see this most overtly when judging PR industry award entries. We need to be focusing on our impact on long-term reputation shift – ensuring the businesses we work for continue to have a licence to operate in this complex and polarizing world.

What work from your team are you most proud of over the past year?
I'm most proud of our work around our quarterly earnings, being able to tell a financial performance story in a compelling way, land our key messages, and drive up our share price is not easy! This kind of work is core for many big corporate comms teams and it's easy to be formulaic, but we are always looking at evolving a fully integrated earned, owned, shared focus.

How have you switched off from work and maintained wellness over the past year?
I watch a lot of cricket. I consider it enforced relaxation to sit for what can sometimes be up to eight hours. It can be a chance to catch up with family and friends, or I catch up on life admin or read a book during the slower parts of the game. There is no way if I was at home that i would sit and be in the moment or do nothing for that long.

Which book/movie/TV show/podcast/playlist/other cultural source has helped you get through the past year or provided inspiration?
I’m a big fan of the global affairs podcast ‘Disorder’ – it covers everything from war and cybersecurity to neopopulism and foreign policy. It is hosted by a great duo in Jason Pack (NATO Foundation Senior Analyst), and Alexandra Hall Hall (a former British Ambassador). I've just read ‘When the Dust Settles’, an incredible perspective from a disaster and emergency response expert (Lucy Easthope) on all of the incredible work that goes into managing real human crises. It puts a comms crisis into perspective.

If I wasn't working in marketing/communications, I would be...
Reading the huge backlog of books I have on my reading list, while running a campsite on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand.