"Micromax pips Samsung as India's leading mobile phone brand" -It's a headline you couldn't have missed if you were reading ans Indian newspaper or a website today.
In the second quarter of 2014; Micromax has moved up to 16.3% market share within the Indian cell phone manufacturer market.
Their success story is centered around providing mobile phones at lower costs than Samsung, LG, Nokia. They source their chipsets from a low cost supplier - Media Tek compared to a more expensive Qualcomm and outsource production to cheaper manufacturing units in China and Taiwan rather than manufacturing locally.
And they are no. 1 today; on the back of a "pricing driven" strategy.
It's not just the cheap Rs. 2000 - 5000/- rupee phones. They hold a 19.1% share in the smartphone segment; a respectable no. 2 to Samsung. What this tells you is that they make smart phones that are just as "smart" for 50% lesser than the average competitor.
We've been brought up on a notion that reducing price or selling cheap is never really a sustainable marketing strategy.
Guess no one told Micromax that.
Because they entered the market with this strategy. Even when they decided to invest in branding; their brief to agencies was clear. Make our "value" the central theme of our communication.
We tend to look at "creativity" just in communication, packaging - in the software of what surrounds a product or a brand.
Sometimes it can be hard wired right into the hardware - in the way it's made; in the way it's priced or even in the way it's distributed.
It helps if we acknowledge that in some rare cases; innovation and pricing can actually be linked.
If you don't believe me; just pick up the MICROMAX CANVAS 4; which sells at Rs. 14,988/-.
It works like an iPhone 5, looks like a Galaxy S4 and comes at 40% of the cost. With may be just a 10% compromise in what it offers.
Damn good deal, wouldn't you say?
And they make enough money to hire Hugh Jackman.
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