iQOO ticks all the right boxes in pull-based marketing and celeb association

iQOO, crafted as a high-performance brand of the Vivo Group, is driven by a group of young and passionate technology enthusiasts. iQOO is on a quest to deliver peak performance smartphones through breakthrough innovation. This is a brand for the youth and shares their interest in mobile gaming and esports by building products that elevate gaming experience on smartphones. iQOO’s association with the Vivo Group helps it leverage the latter’s expertise in research, quality assurance and after-sales service. iQOO aims to become the top choice of consumers who are passionate about performance and technology.

In an interaction with Adgully, Nipun Marya, CEO, iQOO India, speaks about the marketing and campaign strategy for the smartphone brand, collaboration with Malayalam actor Dulquer Salman, strategically using pull-based marketing rather than push-based, and much more.

Please tell us more about the phased campaign that you are conducting in collaboration with Dulquer Salmaan for the launch of iQOO Neo 7 Pro. What was the inspiration behind taking Dulquer Salmaan as the brand ambassador for iQOO Neo 7 Pro?

At the initial phase of the campaign, titled ‘Sleepless Star’, Dulquer posted a video at night at 11 pm, so there is a lot of chatter going right now in the online circle, where he posted the video at that time, and took it down at 11:05. In the short video, he can be seen saying that he had experienced something for the first time and things have not been the same since, and that he reached a point where he could not just get it out of his mind. The video has received a number of reactions on social media and coverage by news media.

As it is seen, nothing about the product has been mentioned in the video, but it has given a hint about what is about to come. In the subsequent videos, he can be seen talking about how he could not sleep at night because of it.

Our whole campaign is targeted at a 23-24 year olds, the early jobbers. If we look at their psyche today and the way we understand it, all the marketing that we do has to be based on three pillars. The first is the pillar of Pull and not Push. The more we do push-based stuff to our TG, the more they will feel disengaged with the brand. The more we will try to push content to you, the more you will try to go away from it. But the more we can do some sort of interesting stuff, people will automatically want to know more about you and get interested in you. So, this is our Principle No. 1, whereas we want to do more Pull stuff than Push ones.

Principle No. 2 is being a young brand and being a brand which wants to try marketing in a different way and does not want to spread money across, we have realised that social media is our single most important platform in which we want to do well, and within social media also, it is Instagram, because most our TG spend almost an hour and a half on Instagram every day. They use Instagram for multiple reasons, such as for getting information, infotainment, etc.

Principle No. 3 concerns Instagram as well, Reels are really catching up and, therefore, this whole campaign is only based on Instagram Reels and Instagram Stories, Posts. I think it’s a very unique concept of a popular influencer or a Bollowood star first posting content and then taking it down. I don’t think this kind of concept has ever been done in the world before. In the second step, the actor has shared a short note, where also there was no mention about the product or the brand, but it creates curiosity and pull. Because the whole idea is to create Pull and interest towards Step 3.

In the next step, finally the product iQOO Neo 7 Pro is revealed with its unique features showing the actor not being able to get over it. This was published immediately after the launch of the product, where we get to know the reason behind his sleepless nights, what he is trying to do. Like a child who tries to resist his temptations, he is also trying various methods to resist his temptations of not using the phone, but the phone is so great that he cannot get over it. Then in the subsequent phases, it is shown that he becomes so enamoured with the product that he has now gone to the tech experts, and we have taken two tech experts in the country, one from North and one from South. In the North, we have taken Rajeev Makhni, who is a household name as well as an authority on the tech world. In South, we have taken the biggest creator, Prasad, and again we have created two pieces of content with them. Prasad’s content is in regional language.

Thus, there are four stages of this campaign – Step 1 is when he puts out the video, Step 2 is when he puts out the text post, Step 3 is when he posts a meditation post, and Step 4 is when the tech care also starts posting, where he also now thinks he is a tech expert and in his own way he is trying to tell that this is a great phone.

What role will social media play in the campaign, and how will you encourage user engagement and participation? Are there any additional marketing initiatives or partnerships planned to complement the campaign and maximise its reach?

For the launch, most of our marketing is on Digital. And, therefore, we will be across all platforms whether it is YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc. This campaign comprising four steps is totally an Insta Reels campaign.

What unique elements does the campaign bring to highlight the features and capabilities of the iQOO Neo 7 Pro?

From a messaging point of video, we could have made a very hard-hitting kind of commercial, and still communicated the features. By the way, we have done that as well. But it is for a different platform, different kind of communication. But here, the idea was surrounding Pull-based principle and not Push-based one. We believe that for a young brand to make its presence felt, and to establish itself in the Indian market, in the minds of its consumers, we cannot be following a Push approach. Therefore, the fundamental tenet on which we have created this whole campaign is Pull-based and not Push-based.

And when I have briefed the team also, I told them that I am okay if we fail, but I am not okay if you come back to me with a regular idea or a conventional or stereotypical one. That is what we will not like to do. I think the team has really cracked a very innovative concept, and the result is for all of us to see.

How do you plan to leverage Dulquer Salman’s popularity to increase brand awareness and engagement with iQOO Neo 7 Pro? In what ways will Dulquer Salman be actively involved in promoting the iQOO Neo 7 Pro during the campaign?

He posted a Reel for his upcoming movie recently, and within 24 hours it got 6 million views, which was the highest ever, indicating that Dulquer has a very big fan base. The beauty of the Indian film industry today is that earlier there used to be a North-South divide. But that divide has also blurred a lot now, where people like Dulquer and Vijay are becoming very popular in the North and people like to watch their content and their movies. In this campaign, it can be seen that while on the one side there is a big, massive reach that we are able to leverage, on the other side Dulquer’s unique talent is no less than anybody else’s.

Other than social media campaigns, are there plans for any other marketing initiatives and partnerships to complement the campaign and maximise the reach?

Overall, it will be a full digital video campaign, which will be covering both static and digital. In other words, it will be a full 360-degree campaign across paid media, organic media, earned media. That will be the focus, but as I shared with you earlier, the most important point is how to get our social strategy right. Therefore, we are focusing on social first. When Dulquer first posted the video, within 5 minutes, the video got 350k views.

How has the response been from the market for iQOO smartphones so far? Are there any specific regions or markets where iQOO has seen significant success?

For this particular video, the results will take a little time to compile and see, because we don’t know the geography split right now, but overall for iQOO in general, we are getting business from across the country. Anybody who could be sitting in any corner of the country, who understands technology, believes that he/she can make the right choice with their discretion, is very certainly considering iQOO as a viable option for his or her purchase. Because iQOO is giving very high end technology specifications, people who understand technology and research about it are deeply involved in the decision making process. They are the ones who are considering iQOO, and they are spread across the country. But specifically what we have seen is that we are getting very good traction and good interest in the South.