OnePlus banks on ‘word of mouth’ strategy in India for its success

OnePlus started its operations in India in 2014. In less than four years of its existence in the country, the brand has overtaken many big players in the including Apple and Samsung. The company claims that this is possible with the word of mouth strategy in India. As of February 2018, the company has managed to grab 48% market share in the country's premium smartphone segment claims International Data Corporation IDC.

In an interview with Quartz, OnePlus' global marketing head, Kyle Kaing, states that people might assume that they do a lot of marketing but most of their resources are focused on the product. Though OnePlus has roped in Amitabh Bachchan, the one of the highest paid actors as its brand ambassador, the company has created a great fanbase for as its biggest growth driver.

As per Counterpoint Research associate director Tarun Pathak, the feedback on the OnePlus products have been really good and the company has built a brand equity in the past few years by focusing a particular price point.

Not only in India, the company has also used the same community building strategy even in other markets. In Italy and Germany, OnePlus pop-up events to engage consumers. The global launch event of OnePlus 6 in London on May 16 was attended by 1,500 community members. Even in India, the company is following a similar strategy.

The company focuses on community building by banking up on social media channels, which is a more cost effective strategy than usual marketing. This community building practice has helped OnePlus attract new buyers as well as retain the existing users to upgrade to a product from the company. For instance, Pathak notes that if a user has a OnePlus 5, there is a higher possibility for the user to upgrade to a OnePlus 6.

OnePlus entered the country at a time when only the premium market segment was dominated by Samsung, Apple and LG, he adds. The OnePlus flagships are priced competitively than those of the rivals. Notably, the OnePlus 6 priced at Rs. 34,999 is around 65% cheaper than the iPhone X priced around Rs. 1 lakh.

In the Indian market that has over 50% smartphone sales happening online, OnePlus has a long-running partnership with Amazon. However, the company is gradually expanding its offline presence. They opened the first experience store in Bangalore in 2017 and set-up pop-up stores on May 21 for the latest flagship in eight cities.

Oneplus 6 First Impressions

The report concludes Kiang stating that the company will continue making good products and will continue to grow. And, as long as they do that, they need not worry about the competition.