 "Vivo checks out the pitch")
Chinese mobile handset maker, Vivo, launched two new models on Tuesday priced between Rs 17,000 and Rs 25,000. The company, which has set aside Rs 200 crore for branding and marketing expenses for calendar year 2016, is looking at cricket and Bollywood to ride the popularity charts. It has earmarked half its marketing budget for the Indian Premier League (IPL) while the rest is being funnelled into the endorsement deal it has struck with Bollywood's newest star brand, Ranveer Singh and other on-the-ground events.
The company, which says that it currently has 3.1 per cent share of the Indian market, is hoping to achieve two objectives with this big brand push. One, it wants to cut itself a larger slice of the 3.5 million-strong smartphone market in India. And two, it is keen to establish its premium credentials and disassociate the Vivo brand from mass market Chinese phones that have flooded the country in recent years.
In India, however, music will play second fiddle to the country's blockbuster passions: cricket and cinema. Vivo indicated as much last year. It paid a premium to replace beverage giant Pepsi for the 2016 and 2017 seasons of the IPL by paying Rs 100 crore a year. Pepsi was paying Rs 80 crore a year.
Vivo was willing to overlook the controversies and scandals surrounding IPL which prompted Pepsi to back out. India is the fastest growing mobile handset market in the world and cricket is the the best way to gain visibility among the masses, especially through a platform like the IPL, which reached almost 200 million people on television in 2015. The brand is open to tying up with other sports, but it will depend on what stage of brand development and positioning it is on at the time of consideration.
When Vivo launched in India back in 2014, it used the on-ground approach to build up a buzz around its brand. It had tied up with Viacom18 to launch the brand. Consumers could interact with the brand at the various Viacom18 events and Vivo also got visibility through the network's brands across genres like youth (MTV), music (Vh1) and comedy (Comedy Central and Colors).
For greater reach and visibility, however the brand has realised that it needs a bigger platform, even though it has come at a huge premium. Feng says that the brand sees value in the IPL tournament and intends to make the most of the two years it has as title sponsors.
As part of its plans around the league, Vivo undertook the first ever IPL trophy tour and will have promotional campaigns at the IPL match venues and sales terminals. In addition to this, it will also launch a robust television, print and OOH campaign to increase the noise around the brand.
While IPL is expected to bring it eyeballs across age groups, the choice of Singh as a brand endorser is aimed at grabbing the attention of the young mobile user. It follows the same youth targeting strategy that had prompted Vivo's early tie-up with Viacom18.
Feng explains that the actor presented the perfect brand fit as he is a youth icon. The actor has come on board for a year and will be part of a 360 degree campaign around the two new models. He did not provide a target in terms of market shares for the brand, but said, "We want to be in India for a long time. We don't want to think in the short term and then fizzle out. We recently opened an assembly plant in the country which now produces around 2-3 lakh units a month. Currently, we have 250 centres (points of sale) in India and want to take this to 300 by the end of the calendar year, with half being exclusive Vivo outlets," he explains.
By spending heavily on the brand, the company seems to be reaffirming its faith in the India story. The real test, however, lies ahead - when it sets about trying to convert IPL fans into brand loyalists.
| PLAYING FOR THE BIG LEAGUE Vivo has stepped up its game in the country, investing heavily in marketing and promotional expenditure |
2016:
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The company, which says that it currently has 3.1 per cent share of the Indian market, is hoping to achieve two objectives with this big brand push. One, it wants to cut itself a larger slice of the 3.5 million-strong smartphone market in India. And two, it is keen to establish its premium credentials and disassociate the Vivo brand from mass market Chinese phones that have flooded the country in recent years.
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Vivo snapped up the sponsorship of the annual twenty-20 jamboree, the IPL, last year and has now signed on actor Ranveer Singh to promote and popularise its latest models V3 and V3Max. Alex Feng, CEO, Vivo India says, "When we launched in China five years ago, we positioned ourselves as a young brand and made music one of the differentiators. When the market made the shift from feature phones to smartphones, we realised that smartphones were replacing the mp3 and mp4 players. We decided to capitalise on that and focused on upgrading the software and hardware to give good music experience to our customers."
In India, however, music will play second fiddle to the country's blockbuster passions: cricket and cinema. Vivo indicated as much last year. It paid a premium to replace beverage giant Pepsi for the 2016 and 2017 seasons of the IPL by paying Rs 100 crore a year. Pepsi was paying Rs 80 crore a year.
Vivo was willing to overlook the controversies and scandals surrounding IPL which prompted Pepsi to back out. India is the fastest growing mobile handset market in the world and cricket is the the best way to gain visibility among the masses, especially through a platform like the IPL, which reached almost 200 million people on television in 2015. The brand is open to tying up with other sports, but it will depend on what stage of brand development and positioning it is on at the time of consideration.
When Vivo launched in India back in 2014, it used the on-ground approach to build up a buzz around its brand. It had tied up with Viacom18 to launch the brand. Consumers could interact with the brand at the various Viacom18 events and Vivo also got visibility through the network's brands across genres like youth (MTV), music (Vh1) and comedy (Comedy Central and Colors).
For greater reach and visibility, however the brand has realised that it needs a bigger platform, even though it has come at a huge premium. Feng says that the brand sees value in the IPL tournament and intends to make the most of the two years it has as title sponsors.
As part of its plans around the league, Vivo undertook the first ever IPL trophy tour and will have promotional campaigns at the IPL match venues and sales terminals. In addition to this, it will also launch a robust television, print and OOH campaign to increase the noise around the brand.
While IPL is expected to bring it eyeballs across age groups, the choice of Singh as a brand endorser is aimed at grabbing the attention of the young mobile user. It follows the same youth targeting strategy that had prompted Vivo's early tie-up with Viacom18.
Feng explains that the actor presented the perfect brand fit as he is a youth icon. The actor has come on board for a year and will be part of a 360 degree campaign around the two new models. He did not provide a target in terms of market shares for the brand, but said, "We want to be in India for a long time. We don't want to think in the short term and then fizzle out. We recently opened an assembly plant in the country which now produces around 2-3 lakh units a month. Currently, we have 250 centres (points of sale) in India and want to take this to 300 by the end of the calendar year, with half being exclusive Vivo outlets," he explains.
By spending heavily on the brand, the company seems to be reaffirming its faith in the India story. The real test, however, lies ahead - when it sets about trying to convert IPL fans into brand loyalists.