Brands & Sports Marketing - In-conversation with Mr. Will Yang, Brand Director, Oppo India

1. Describe the story of OPPO, the journey of your brand in India.

OPPO's cultural core is Benfen. It has several level of meanings and it gives us the criterion that we should do the right thing. In OPPO, we believe the right thing we should do is to provide the best of best to our consumers and they are the very foundation for OPPO's strategy in India. We want to provide products that truly meet the customers demand especially the youth and give them the best service.

Our product strategy is based around three key pillars: Design, Photography and Battery solutions. In India, now we are focussing on photography especially selfie technology featured by delicately designed high quality phones for the youthful consumers. This is why we came out with the Selfie Expert F series - F1. F1 Plus, F1s and the very recently launched F3 Plus.

In India, we focus on a 360-degree approach to connect with our consumers across platforms through our marketing and branding strategy. Cricket and Bollywood being popular youth platforms are our focus areas. We started out with ICC and are continuing to strengthen our relationship with cricket with the partnership with BCCI.

2. We have seen OPPO has been consistently coming up with new campaigns, which highlight the cool new features of the product along with the engaging insights (the recent campaign stars actor Deepika Padukone, for its 'Selfie Expert' smartphone - the F3 Plus that specialises in taking group selfies). How would you describe your TG?

As a Camera Phone brand, OPPO has always been focus on Youth. Thus we have been leveraging the two most followed platforms by youth in India - Cricket and Bollywood. Hence, all our activities are focussed on the same. We are trying to strengthen our focus on youth through associations with popular celebrities like Deepika Padukone. Since the millennials are the ones who coined the word selfie, we offer products catering to the same. We want to better connect with them and revolutionize the selfie taking experience in India.

3. In your opinion, what do Brands stand to gain from sports sponsorships In India? Your take.

Sports is a big entity in India with fans across the nation. For youth oriented brands like us, associating with sports like cricket gives brands a plethora of opportunities to connect with consumers and create top of the mind recall. It is a brand building opportunity that helps one go beyond the usual feature/benefit led communication to more relationship driven communication.

4. In a country like India, Sports bring all of us together, especially when it is Cricket. What is the basic motivation behind (for OPPO) to target the Indian audience through cricket given the recent sponsorship of ICC Cricket Champions Trophy.

The idea is to connect with the youth and offer experiences that go beyond the product experience. We as a brand feel proud to have partnered with Indian Cricket with which we share the enthusiasm and spirit of pursuit of perfection. Since most of the people in India are inclined towards cricket, associating with cricket as a platform is a wonderful opportunity to connect with our audiences.

5. How do you think Cricket would serve as a great platform to maintain an edge over other players in the (smartphone) category.

Just like I said earlier, it's not just a marketing deal for us but an opportunity to highlight brand, its passion and connect with our target consumers.

6. Does the association with mega properties like ICC Champions Trophy and Star Sports facilitate pushing your product through distributors, i.e., the trade channels?

For sure, with these associations more and more consumers get to know us and would like to try our products. We believe with the best product that cater to consumers' real demand, the growth follows naturally.

7. What is the long-term vision of (OPPO) in India?

OPPO'S products have pushed boundaries in terms of technology ever since its inception and has been a pioneer in providing the latest technology to its customers, especially in mobile photography. As a company, our endeavor has always been to bring the best products and excellent camera experience to our young consumers, especially the selfie experience. The great camera experience and high built-quality has enabled our brand to stand out in global markets, and this will continue to be one of our core advantages in the coming future as well. We aim to be one of best premium mobile brands here in India.

8. What are your views on the other non-cricket properties, such as Pro-Kabaddi League, Hockey etc.? Do you see them thriving and would you like to bet on any other sport besides Cricket in Future?

While other non-cricketing properties like Kabaddi, Hockey etc. have no doubt done well for the broadcaster as well as sponsors, we remain committed to tapping the Cricket platform currently.