INQ Mobile: INQ's deal

INQ Mobile, the subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, has readied its first advertising campaign in India. INQ entered the Indian market in March 2010 with its social networking phones, INQ Chat 3G and INQ Mini 3G. The television campaign which broke on June 4 revolves around a photo shoot — as three models get ready, we see them actively using their phones to be on social networking sites.

INQ Mobile Co-founder and Director (marketing) Jeff Taylor says the strategy behind the campaign is to showcase the phone’s benefits and not just focus on its features as a communication device. Thus the brief given to advertising agency Euro RSCG was to bring out the benefits to young people with stress on how they can stay in touch 24/7. INQ Mobile had earlier introduced its handsets with Aircel, and used its brand ambassador, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, to create awareness. Now it is on its own.

The agency has tried to bring out the fashion quotient in the advertisement. “We’re all about being cool and fashionable and our target audience is people who are young, fresh and excited about life,” says Taylor. Euro RSCG Chief Creative Officer Satbir Singh adds, “No one till date has looked at mobile phones along the vectors of fashion and social revolution. The INQ Mobile campaign aims to establish a brand which is born in today’s world of social revolution.” In the market place, there are several phones across various price points that come loaded with social networking functions — the latest craze amongst youngsters in the country. Its differentiator in the cluttered space, hopes INQ Mobile, will be its association with fashion. Over 110 million phones are sold in India every year, which makes it one of the largest markets in the world. Smartphone penetration, however, is low: around 2 per cent. But market experts expect it to rise sharply once third-generation (3G) mobile services get started later in the year.

The sharp positioning of the phones — on the youth — also gets reflected in their price. The INQ Chat 3G and INQ Mini 3G are priced at Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively. The prices are suited for people aged between 16 and 24, the company’s core demographic. INQ Mobile clearly has an eye on the country’s low-cost handset market and plans to introduce more affordable phones shortly.

Taylor claims that in six weeks, INQ Mobile has done extremely well, although he doesn’t divulge how many phones have been sold. “Over the next few months, we’re going to be very aggressive and will come out with new products as well as marketing campaigns,” he adds. The new TVC is going to be on air for approximately eight weeks which will be accompanied by a full 360-degree campaign.