NEW DELHI: Smartphone brands have stepped up their advertising spends, which are expected to touch ₹1,200 crore this fiscal, as demand has started picking up with easing of lockdown curbs and rising e-commerce deliveries of non-essentials.
The advertising blitzkrieg is led by Chinese smartphone brands such as Vivo, Oppo, OnePlus, Xiaomi and Realme, which have begun promoting new launches and offers through above-the-line (ATL) and digital-led marketing activities.
Media buyers estimate the smartphone category, which spent ₹1,500– ₹1,700 crore in advertising last year, will continue to pump money into ads as smartphones emerged as an essential product during the nationwide lockdown.
Industry experts believe that the lockdown has created pent-up demand and made consumers realise that technology is important, especially when they are working from home, and thus, they will continue to invest in tech products.
"If live cricket resumes and IPL (Indian Premier League) is held in October-November then the spends could be as much as last year. Otherwise, there could be a drop of 15%-20% but nonetheless this category will remain active for the rest of 2020," said Navin Khemka, chief executive officer (CEO), MediaCom South Asia.
Vivo India, which relies heavily on cricket as title sponsor of popular T20 Indian Premier League (IPL), recently launched a new ad campaign with actor Aamir Khan. The campaign promotes new smartphone model V19 of its camera-focused V-series.
The company has witnessed a fairly positive response from customers since the lockdown has been lifted, said Nipun Marya, director - brand strategy, Vivo India.
“The demand is picking up and if the coronavirus outbreak remains controllable then business should move in the positive direction," he added.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi India has also been heavily promoting its products through online and social platforms. The company also launched Redmi Creators Academy, an online series on smartphone skillsets and how to better them to engage with users.
"During the lockdown, over a few weekends we sold in about 50% of our offline stores in Kerala and saw 2X of the usual demand, which was validation of mobile phones being an essential commodity during such conditions," said a Xiaomi spokesperson.
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