Allocating investments on premium screens across India for Motorola Edge50 Pro launch: Shivam Ranjan
As Motorola introduces its first AI-powered smartphone, BestMediaInfo conducts an exclusive interaction with Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing, APAC, Motorola. He sheds light on what awaits premium consumers and how the brand is layering out its marketing components
Following last year's launch of the Edge 40 family, Motorola has debuted the first product from the Edge 50 family, the Edge50 Pro.
Highlighting the significance of the launch, Shivram Ranjan, Head of Marketing for APAC at Motorola, suggested a considerable investment in marketing aimed at capturing the attention of premium audiences.
He said, "Our campaign will run across various platforms, from out-of-home properties in airports to premium cinemas nationwide, along with TV, digital, and print."
When Ranjan spoke to BestMediaInfo regarding the brand’s premium play, he discussed his plans to target brand investment towards consumers seeking lifestyle and quality enhancements.
Expanding on this, he stated, "We're allocating investments on premium screens throughout India and extending to digital platforms like YouTube and social media. Additionally, consumers booking Uber premium services will encounter our ads, as well as those using MyGate and residing in societies with flats above a certain price point."
He also noted, "CTV is crucial for targeting premium consumers, and in this campaign, we're heavily utilising CTV advertising."
In addition to focusing on specific properties, he affirmed, "We're targeting trending platforms such as the IPL. We're investing in the IPL as well as in general election campaigns. In fact, for IPL also, we are targeting the CTV audience.”
Taking BestMediaInfo.com through the marketing funnel, starting with awareness, consideration, and then purchase intent, Ranjan stated, "We initiated the teaser phase of the campaign primarily focused on digital media to achieve mass reach. Subsequently, we began teasing the features and then delved into detailing to raise awareness through influencers, digital media properties, and e-commerce platforms."
Expanding on this, he mentioned, "It typically takes a consumer about three weeks to transition from awareness to consideration to purchase intent. Our overarching goal for the entire structure of the marketing campaign is to ensure that consumers are in the purchase intent state on the date of the sale."
Regarding the next phase of the campaign, Ranjan elaborated, "This is when we deploy all our high-impact media channels, including out-of-home, cinemas, print, and TV. We intensify our efforts to engage consumers at the bottom of the funnel. Subsequently, we enter the sustenance phase, primarily focusing on maintaining impact on specific properties over a four- to six-week period while also implementing performance marketing strategies through digital media."
Motorola’s TVC starring brand ambassador Kriti Sanon along with Babil Khan
Motorola launched a TVC starring brand ambassador Kriti Sanon along with Babil Khan. This television commercial (TVC) aimed to bring alive the 'Intelligence Meets Art', featuring actress Sanon as her true self and actor Khan as the personified Moto AI.
Ranjan conveyed that the core concept of the campaign revolved around the fusion of intelligence and art. During discussions with the agency Dentsu Creative, the objective was to infuse intelligence and art through humanisation.
"We decided to humanise the campaign to ensure that consumers could easily grasp the functions of AI," he explained. "Kriti represented the artistic aspect, while we introduced Babil to personify AI, symbolising Moto AI," he elaborated.
Differentiation is the key to attracting the consumer’s attention
Speaking about marketing challenges, Ranjan mentioned, "I believe the biggest challenge lies in navigating India's crowded market, particularly within the smartphone category. With over 20 smartphone brands vying for consumer mindshare, differentiation is key. We must break through the clutter with localised communications to drive higher consumer engagement, and that's precisely what we've been focusing on. We've strategically collaborated with celebrities to captivate attention whenever and wherever necessary."
In this campaign, Motorola has collaborated with a range of influencers, including lifestyle influencers—about 16 individuals—to demonstrate the array of AI features. "We've been rolling out one influencer video each day for the past 15 days. Additionally, we've developed an Instagram filter that allows consumers to experiment with our generative AI feature, giving them a firsthand experience of our styles," Ranjan emphasised.
The marketing strategy plays a massive role in maintaining the brand's competitive edge, Ranjan emphasised.
"We believe in a highly ROI-centric approach to marketing. Every marketing initiative is geared toward driving business growth. Our success metrics are anchored in search analytics. We have seen a strong correlation between Google search volume and market share growth. An uptick in searches for our brand or products indicates higher consumer interest across various stages of the purchasing funnel, which ultimately translates into strong market share," he explained.
E-commerce and retail strategies at Motorola
Motorola has consistently emphasised the significance of e-commerce marketing for the brand. Addressing this, Ranjan stated, "Both retail outlets and e-commerce channels hold importance for us; however, traditionally, our dominance has been more dominant in the online sphere, with e-commerce serving as our primary channel."
He further stressed that as the brand aims to achieve its objective, which is to become the third most prominent brand in India by the end of the next financial year, a balanced presence across both channels is important.
"If we consider the split between online and offline in the category, it's approximately 50% each, with online slightly edging out at 55% and offline at 45%. Therefore, it's essential for us to establish a presence in both realms," he explained.
"We are actively investing in expanding consumer touchpoints. In the online sphere, we have a strong presence on e-commerce platforms. Additionally, we have launched our own Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) channel, enabling us to sell directly to customers. In the offline domain, we are significantly expanding our retail footprint through GT stores, as well as through partnerships with modern trade outlets like Reliance Digital. Furthermore, we are leveraging the online-to-offline (O2O) channel, which is facilitated by key players in the industry. This comprehensive approach allows us to enhance our reach both online and offline," he concluded.
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