Montage of inspiring messages

Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus' maiden ad campaign in India seeks to inspire the viewer with its 'never settle' tagline while reaffirming its digital-first focus

A one-and-a-half-minute film featuring a montage of stories makes for Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus' maiden advertising campaign in India. The message of the ad is "never settle", as it focuses on the hard work and drills of youths, be it a cyclist or a boxer, where they push themselves to surpass their physical limits. A male voice-over asks, "Are you going to settle for the best or put your best to the test?", and urges the audience to not settle for being good but take another shot at being great.

The campaign, conceptualised by Orchard Advertising, is confined to the digital channel, in keeping with the digital-first brand positioning of OnePlus and an unconventional business model that is focused on engaging its "community" of fans and smartphone enthusiasts.

Karan Sarin, head of marketing, India, OnePlus, says that smartphone ads tend to be driven by features and prices. "We didn't want to do this. It's our first campaign and we wanted to talk about what we stand for as a brand. Our tagline is 'never settle'.

How did the "never settle" idea come about? When OnePlus started out, it noted that people weren't happy with the options available in Android phones, and were always aspiring for iPhones. "We felt we will build our own phone to plug that gap. That is where 'never settle' guiding philosophy comes from." The objective of this campaign was not to promote the company's product range, Sarin points out.

Vinod Eshwer, executive creative director of Orchard Advertising, also talks about the "simple yet bold idea" of OnePlus to make a better phone. He says, "With this campaign we want to strike an emotional chord with our audience and inspire them to push themselves to try once more, to give things another try and then another one. Because that's what it takes to make a difference between mediocrity and glory, between good and great. And that was the brief given to the agency."

"The film is made up of many small stories and moments that convey the spirit of not settling for what exists. The film is held together by an inspiring narrative that is the anthem of OnePlus," he adds.

OnePlus entered the Indian market two years ago, at a time of increased access to the internet spurred by the rapid penetration of smartphones. Sarin believes the earlier dependence of brands on mass media and celebrity ambassadors has come down, as "the power is shifting away from the brand to the consumer."

OnePlus has been selective in its product range, whereas a majority of Indian consumers buy smartphones priced well below its core bracket of around Rs 20,000. The company does not reveal its sales numbers, and also plays down this aspect. According to recent reports, Apple occupies the number one position in the above Rs 20,000 price segment in the top 30 cities in India during the December quarter. With a focus on building a digital-first brand, OnePlus has nevertheless gained a dedicated following, and cut out likely spending on ads and marketing by coming up with innovative strategies earlier such as sales by invite that logged millions of quick registrations online.

Sarin stresses, "The rise of social media is changing the entire landscape. You don't need a big budget to launch. If you have a good product, information can become viral because the ecosystem for it exists already."

While he concedes a possible downside in case of bad products, he feels word of mouth online can be the best marketing strategy. "We don't do mass media advertisement. We don't do offline sales. Our product will remain our biggest brand ambassador," he claims, while not ruling out television campaigns as part of OnePlus' marketing mix in future.