How Motorola is strategising to enhance content consumption on smartphones

Adgully’s AG Talk brings unfiltered insights and thoughts of CEOs, MDs and CMOs, who have been leading the marketing landscape, and in fact, also laying the ground rules to keep up with the transformative times.

In this week’s exclusive interaction with Adgully, Shivam Ranjan, Marketing Head, Motorola APAC, delves into Motorola’s debut in the True Wireless Stereo (TWS) category with two new products. He elaborates on the creative process and inspiration behind the “Sound of Perfection” campaign and “Song of India”, involving five music artists across India. Ranjan also speaks at length about Dentsu Creative India’s submission of their campaign, ‘Motorola Deep Connect’, for Cannes Lions 2024.

Who is the primary target audience for these new True Wireless Stereo (TWS) products, and what consumer needs are they specifically designed to meet?

We’re launching a new category in India with our True Wireless Stereo (TWS) products, aimed at enhancing content consumption on smartphones, which is on the rise. While our smartphones offer great displays and sound systems, they’re not always practical for audio playback in certain situations, like traveling or working in an office. This is where TWS headsets come in.

We’ve launched two products in this category: the Moto Buds Plus and the Moto Buds. Each caters to different consumer segments, similar to our smartphone portfolio. The Moto Buds Plus is our premium offering, priced at Rs 9,999 (Rs 7,999 with offers), and targets consumers seeking top-notch audio quality. We’ve partnered with Bose to ensure premium sound, design, and material quality. These buds feature dual dynamic drivers for enhanced bass and voice quality, active noise cancellation with four modes, and wireless charging. They also have water resistance (IPX4 and IP54).

The Moto Buds, priced at Rs 4,999 (Rs 3,999 with offers), are designed to be more accessible while still offering high audio quality. They feature a single large driver for additional bass, catering to the Indian preference for stronger bass. We’ve also collaborated with Pantone to provide a range of vibrant, youthful colours.

In summary, the Moto Buds Plus is for premium consumers who prioritize advanced sound quality and features, while the Moto Buds are for a broader audience looking for quality audio at a more accessible price point.

What is Motorola’s overall strategy for entering the highly competitive TWS segment, and how do you plan to capture significant market share?

Motorola leverages partnerships to differentiate our products. We specialize in technology and design, but collaborate with Pantone for colour and material finishes to appeal to Gen Z and Gen Alpha with our Moto Buds. For the Moto Buds Plus, we’ve partnered with Bose to deliver a premium audio experience with the “Sound by Bose” certification, a key differentiator in the premium segment.

Could you elaborate on the creative process and inspiration behind the “Sound of Perfection” campaign and “Song of India”?

The concept of “Sound of perfection” originates from the Moto Buds Plus, featuring “Sound by Bose”. Bose is renowned for perfecting audio quality, making the Moto Buds Plus unique in its segment for delivering an exceptional sound experience.

From our consumer insights, we found that music is a major passion point for both young and older consumers in India, including Gen Z and Millennials. While TWS earbuds are used for calls and meetings, the primary differentiator is their performance in music playback. This insight drove our campaign to establish the Moto Buds Plus as synonymous with the “Sound of perfection”.

To reinforce this, we partnered with five leading musicians in the country. Their expertise in complex musical compositions helps highlight the superior sound quality of our earbuds, ensuring they stand out in the crowded TWS market.

How did Motorola select the five artists for this project, and what was the collaborative process like? How does creating music in five different languages align with Motorola’s brand values and its connection with the diverse Indian market?

The idea was to showcase India’s musical diversity by collaborating with musicians from different regions to create a fusion track representing the “Sound of perfection”. We partnered with:

• Mame Khan (Rajasthani folk)
• Harsh Likhari (Punjabi rap)
• RK Adithya (Tamil industry)
• Shruti (Kannada industry)
• Shivangi (Marathi industry)

Each musician composed tracks inspired by the “Sound of perfection”, best experienced through the Moto Buds Plus. The final fusion track, “Haq Se”, was composed by Clinton Cerejo, blending the different styles into one cohesive piece.

We’ve promoted these tracks on our YouTube channel and through influencers. Additionally, we collaborated with Spotify to create an exclusive Motorola handle where the entire album is available. This initiative highlights how the Moto Buds Plus, with “Sound by Bose”, brings together diverse music to embody the sound of perfection.

Did Motorola partner with any creative agencies during the making of this campaign?

Our partner for this campaign was Barcode, a leading influencer agency we’ve collaborated with before. They brought the artists and composer Clinton together, facilitated the video shoots for various platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and flawlessly executed the campaign strategy.

Will this campaign primarily focus on digital platforms, or will it also have a presence on other platforms?

The campaign primarily focuses on digital platforms because today, especially with audio enthusiasts, content consumption happens mostly on phones. We target consumers on social media, YouTube, and Spotify, a leading audio platform. On Spotify, we not only listed the track but also ran advertising campaigns, ensuring both free and premium subscribers learned about the Moto Buds and Moto Buds Plus.

From a consumer perspective, what can consumers expect from Motorola in terms of future innovations and developments in the audio tech space?

While we can’t discuss our future product roadmap, we’re committed to creating products in the audio ecosystem that enhance the smartphone experience. Consumers rely heavily on phones for content consumption, and we aim to offer Motorola-branded TWS products that seamlessly integrate with smartphones, delivering a perfect experience. Additionally, our TWS products come with a user-friendly app for effortless pairing and enhanced experiences.

Dentsu Creative India has revealed its entry for Cannes Lions 2024 for Motorola Deep Connect, they are sending entries in 19 categories. Could you share more details on this, what was the idea behind this campaign?

The concept of ‘Motorola Deep Connect’ was developed with Dentsu Creative to address a specific issue within the coal mining community in India. Coal miners work long hours underground in hazardous conditions, where carrying phones is prohibited, and they communicate using walkie-talkies. This disconnect from their families leads to stress and anxiety. We aimed to create a way for coal miners to connect with their families externally, which is what Deep Connect is all about. It’s a technology within the Motorola ecosystem that allows miners to seamlessly connect with their families through our platform.

The whole idea behind this – and you’ll notice we haven’t advertised it – is because we’ve done it for a cause. We want it to be seen as something we’ve done for a cause, and we aim to scale it before we start promoting it.