Oppo recently unveiled its festive campaign to foster positivity and happiness among consumers. Damyant Singh Khanoria, Chief Marketing Officer, Oppo India talks about the new campaign, emerging trends in the smartphone industry, the importance of 5G and innovations that the brand has lined up in the context of the country’s digital transformation
Q] Your latest campaign for the festive season looks to bring back optimism after a challenging pandemic year. What kind of consumer response have you seen so far towards the campaign?
The pandemic has made us empathetic and thoughtful about who we are and what we hold dear. With #LightUpNewBeginings, Oppo encourages people to spread joy, cheer, positivity, and optimism this festive season. We worked with Wieden + Kennedy to craft this message of hope and positivity. The film is inspired by the work of young Indian spoken poet Megha Rao and has been translated into Hindi by poet Rakesh Tiwari. The film celebrates new beginnings and the tenacious spirit of people across the world during the ongoing pandemic. We’ve also worked with Shradha Kapoor, Shruti Hassan, Darshan Raval and micro-influencers from the world of fashion, photography, music, and art who shared their #LightUpNewBeginnings stories.
Q] Apart from the campaign, what new products have you introduced for the festive season?
We launched the Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G Diwali Edition, the Oppo F19s Special Edition, and the Oppo Enco Buds Blue during a first-of-its-kind quirky #AskOPPO YouTube live stream, which was hosted by comedian Rahul Subramanian.
Q] The brand has also collaborated with celebrities and a host of influencers for its digital campaign. How important is influencer marketing for the brand?
In this digital era, influencer marketing is essential to the success of any brand. It helps to reinforce the brand’s reputation, fosters credibility, and allows it to gain the trust of the audience. In the longer run, this is the perfect tool to grow an army of loyal brand advocates. Digital campaigns aid in amplifying brand awareness and building goodwill especially among the youth. The response to our latest #LightUpNewBegingings campaign has been rewarding.
Q] What are the upcoming trends that you see in the smartphone and tech industry?
To build the future that we collectively envision, we need 5G. 5G has the power to change the world like never before. It presents new opportunities with increased speed, low latency, improved reliability, and greater security. With the rollout of 5G, we can expect even better interactive entertainment content, internet-ready homes and appliances, myriad applications in education, and even safer autonomous vehicles.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Oppo is a global smart device brand, providing a wide range of smart devices spearheaded by the Find and Reno series. Beyond devices, the company provides its users with the ColorOS operating system and internet services like Oppo Cloud and OPPO+. The brand operates in more than 40 countries and regions, with six research institutes and five R&D centres worldwide, as well as an international design centre in London. The brand also launched its first overseas 5G innovation lab in Hyderabad.
FACTS
Media Agency: Mindshare
Creative Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Delhi
Social media agency: Grey Autumn Worldwide
Digital Agency: Grey Autumn Worldwide
PR Agency: Adfactors PR
PROFILE
Damyant Singh Khanoria is the Chief Marketing Officer at Oppo India. In his current role, he leads the marketing team and has been entrusted with strategising the marketing operations for the brand across India. Khanoria is an industry veteran with over 20 years of experience with a compelling marketing portfolio across leading consumer brands.
MARKETING TIP
Be curious. This is the way.
Q] What new innovations have you come up with keeping in mind the growing digital transformation across the country?
A successful campaign reaches out to the audience, connects with them emotionally, and touches their hearts. Nowadays, the success of any marketing campaign is defined by its mix of digital and offline strategies. As a brand, we have tried to ensure that we are visible across the board. Besides our #LightUpNewBeginnings campaign, we have amplified our message of hope and positivity across social platforms by giving users the chance to share their stories.
Q] How has the pandemic changed the marketing approach for businesses and for Oppo in particular?
In the past year, and especially during the last few months, a lot has changed. However, what the pandemic has done for our brand is that it has made our belief in our brand’s purpose and what we stand for, even stronger. We at Oppo are continuously looking for innovative ways to connect people with our brand, bringing in advanced technologies meaningfully, through our products and services. The pandemic has accelerated the pace at which we chose e-commerce as a channel for Oppo. If I look at the future, we are looking at e-commerce in a significantly different way. As far as the offline channel is concerned you have a sector that is smart and tenacious, and Oppo will continue to work with them to achieve our common goals.
