Opening Doorz

By Martin D’Souza | Opening Doorz Editorial | July 20, 2019

In the last 15 years, advertising has made a major change. Although print and television continue to remain a priority, most brands are moving onto social media to catch their target audience.

Within Social Media, there are various pockets where one can advertise and within that, Instagram has become a huge hit. The hook is simple: brands get a celebrity with a blue tick alongside their name with a huge fan base and get them to speak about their product.

The latest that has taken Instagram by storm is the #RedmiK20 series wherein a host of celebs are posing with the phone that will be available on #Flipkart on July 22 at 12 noon.

Neha Sharma who has a huge following on social media posted this yesterday: “You have seen me posting about @RedmiIndia phones before, but the #RedmiK20 series is OUT OF THIS WORLD! The AI Triple Camera set-up can capture everything amazingly—48MP pictures, wide-angle shots, and portraits. Love this shimmery Glacier Blue back panel too. Which colour do you like?”

Her post further stated: “Go get your #RedmiK20 OR #RedmiK20Pro from ‪mi.com, @MiHomeIn and @Flipkart ‪on 22nd July at 12 noon. Stay tuned to @RedmiIndia for more. #OutperformEveryDay #ad”

Clearly, ever since Xiaomi’s Redmi hit the Indian market, users have been keyed into their sales pitch online and have been following the launch time to book theirs: some have got lucky, others have had to wait. That strategy seems to have paid off for Xiaomi which have built their fan base with their smart advertising module. They have ensured their target audience is covered and their product sold out the moment the clock strikes the appointed hour.

Posing with the soon-to-be-launched Xiaomi RedmiK20Pro, along with Neha Sharma are Dia Mirza, Rakul Preet, Amrya Dastur, Mrunal Thakur, Norah Fatehi, Yami Gautam, Kriti Sanon, Pooja Hegde and Bhumi Pedneker. Mind you these are just a few of the Bollywood actresses. Xiaomi has also lined up a few cricketers.

With an ad campaign like this, who needs ‘paid media’? Celebs are paid to advertise (which is legit). Xiaomi has understood the game. They also know that they are not misleading the readers (read users) by paying the media with engineered content.

Is Apple losing the plot…
Youngsters who have been using Apple are moving to Android phones and the reason is quite ‘educative’. iPhones have the ‘price tag’ but no performance, according to a few youngsters spoken. Mind you, it is not just the price but also the performance that is the ‘bugging’ point apart from the pesky battery life.

There was a point in time when Nokia and Motorola were the kings in the market but they failed to read the shifting trend. Motorola got wiped off and Nokia is just limping back. Apple will have to work on its pricing and positioning if they want to ensure their stay at the top is merited. For the price they charge, they sure need to back it up with the basics in a Smartphone, at least that is what comes out when one speaks to a few iPhone users.

“To a random person, a phone that gives the best specifications along with a reasonable price is the best one! To me the key differentials are: Camera, Battery life, Storage/RAM, Customization and in-built applications,” says Oriana D’Souza who has just graduated from Amity University, Mumbai.

“The accessories that come with an iPhone are not durable; they are prone to breaking and are very expensive to replace. Last week, I purchased the OnePlus 6T which was released in November of last year which I bought at Rs 27,000/- Prior to that, I had the iPhone 6 released in 2014. I bought this in 2017 for Rs 25,000/- It had one of the worst cameras, battery life was 1800 mAh which failed to last an entire day. My sister’s Oppo which she bought for Rs 10,000/- was way better with a 4000 mAh battery,” Oriana further states adding, “The resale value of my perfectly functional iPhone was Rs 3000/- which was equal to what my sister exchanged her Oppo for despite a dent in her volume button!”

Another Grade X student from Mumbai says, “As a ‘millennial’, I found it easy to adapt to both the iPhone and any other Android phone. However, I prefer using an android phone. The keyboard of an iPhone is too small. Android keyboards, however, are practical and bigger.  As an individual, I find it annoying to use Instagram on an iPhone. You find it difficult to share a post on your story, as there is no story option when you click on the share button, which is present on Android phones. Android is designed, in a manner that any age group finds it easy to navigate.”

Although known for its innovation iPhone has failed to release any new features, while its rivals like Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus and Redmi have moved ahead releasing pop-up cameras and dash charging.

Features and performance are what the end-user is looking for, not just flashing the Apple logo. Also, no one wants to charge their phone four times a day!

Also Read: Alesia and Anjali Raut, the Cocoaberry girls!