Brands
Oppo to go full steam ahead this festive season
MUMBAI: Chinese smart phone maker Oppo Mobiles is getting into overdrive mode this festive season.
The brand, which has tapped into the tendency of Indian youth (18-35 years) to take selfies and positioned itself as the selfie expert, commands a 24.2 per cent market share of the Rs 15,000 – Rs 30,000 segment category (as per Counterpoint Q2 2017 data). And, it is hoping to up that share further in Q3 2017.
It is introducing a new phone, dropping prices of an earlier version, launching a new TVC featuring Indian cricketers, and continuing its massive media investment in Colors marquee shows like Big Boss and Kaun Banega Crorepati in its latest season.
First the launch. In an Amazon online exclusive, Oppo is unveiling a Oppo F3 Diwali limited edition phone in festive red color with a sticker price of Rs 18,990 on 29 September. The phone will also be available on all Oppo offline stores across India and comes preloaded with festive themes and wallpapers.
Says Oppo India brand director Will Yang: “This customised red phone, a colour that signifies the auspicious festivities, aims to help our consumers click perfect moments with their families and make this a preferred Diwali gift.”
The brand has positioned the product as the best Diwali gift one can gift or buy. In order to lure more consumers into snapping up the new handset, Oppo will give away exclusive cricket bats signed by the Indian cricket team with each purchase of the F3. Oppo says it will also be announcing a price cut for its earlier model F3 Plus in the coming weeks.
Yang believes that the new offering very much resonates with Oppo’s target audience: young people who are always looking for a fashionable smartphone. Says he: “In order to connect with today’s digital savvy generation or millennials as we call them, we continue to invest heavily in non-fiction shows, web series and cricket which is a religion in India.”
The new TVC features Team India cricket players – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and R. Ashwin, along with a Bollywood Diva – Elli AvrRam. It shows the festivities that surround the festival and the importance of the perfect gift which helps you capture your memorable Diwali moments.
Oppo, says it, leverages all platforms to connect with its consumers and uses a 360-degree marketing campaign for all its products and service but television continues to command the highest advertising investment.
About 350 million people out of the country’s 1.2 billion population currently own a smartphone. To expand its presence to tier II and tier III cities, which are still relatively untapped regions in the country, Oppo is looking to tie up with local merchants to rebrand their stores as Oppo stores. Although the brand enjoys a healthy mix of sales from urban and rural areas, 55-60 per cent of its offtake comes from mini metros and rural.
The company at present has 25,000 point of sales in India and aims to open 550 plus after sales service centres by the end of 2017. “Our key focus is on offline sales and that is why we are constantly exploring more retailers to get on board,” Yang concluded.
Brands
HSBC names Gautam Anand to head global India private banking unit
The bank taps a 25-year veteran to run its franchise as the war for wealthy NRI clients heats up
MUMBAI: HSBC has handed Gautam Anand the keys to its global India private banking business, betting that a seasoned operator can squeeze more out of one of the world’s most lucrative pools of offshore wealth.
Anand, who joined HSBC Private Bank in December 2023 as global co-ordinator for Global India, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, steps up to lead the franchise outright. He will run the operation across India and its key international outposts in Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom, putting him squarely in the middle of the corridors through which Indian money flows abroad.
The appointment is a signal of intent. HSBC only launched its global private banking business in India in 2023, pitching hard at high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients as part of a broader assault on Asian wealth management. The bank now wants Anand to turn that beachhead into a fortress.
He comes well-armed. Before HSBC, Anand clocked time at UBS, Credit Suisse, ANZ and ABN Amro, a CV that reads like a roll-call of the banks that have long competed to manage the fortunes of India’s affluent diaspora.
With Indian wealth exploding at home and spreading fast across global financial centres, the race to capture it is only getting fiercer. HSBC is backing Anand to make sure it does not finish second.
