Our focus now is to tell people what Vivo stands for: Nipun Marya

Nipun Marya
Nipun Marya

Vivo has fortified its product portfolio ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 with the launch of Vivo V9, its latest flagship smartphone with dual rear camera. Vivo has also roped in Aamir Khan as its new brand ambassador and has rolled out its latest campaign featuring the actor. 

Commenting on the launch, Kent Cheng, CEO, Vivo India, said, “With the class-leading design and camera capabilities of Vivo V9, we have once again delivered a product that is high on innovation and quality. We are confident that our latest flagship will set new benchmarks in the smartphone industry and further solidify our leadership position in the market.” 

Vivo, which entered India in 2014, became the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for 2016 and 2017, and recently bagged the title sponsorship for the next five years. It is also the title sponsor of Pro Kabaddi for five years since 2017. Conquering the global stage, Vivo became the official sponsor of 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. 

With a strong focus on ‘Camera and Music’, Vivo has established itself as one of the top smartphone brands in India. 

Speaking to Adgully on the sidelines of the launch event in Mumbai, Nipun Marya, Head of Marketing Strategy, Vivo India, said, “From a marketing perspective, we have to constantly keep on changing and reinventing ourselves. We have some amazing plans lined up for IPL this year.” 

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In the conversation, Marya also shared the smartphone brand’s marketing strategy for India, the latest campaign with Aamir Khan and more. Excerpts from the interview: 

How are you strategising for the Indian market?
India is a very important market for us. We really want to make a good and strong brand in India. We try to go in-depth and understand our consumers’ needs very well and that’s how we plan to go ahead in this market. 

What was the idea behind getting Aamir Khan on board as the new face of the brand?
There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think from a brand journey perspective, nobody knew us when we first launched our product in India. Nobody had heard about Vivo. So, it was more about building awareness about the brand. Now, almost everybody in India knows us very well. So, the next thing that they want to see is – “What is Vivo?” 

Secondly, Vivo stands for innovation, technology, reliability, and trustworthiness. These are some of the values that Vivo stands for. Our association with Aamir Khan is a good move, because he perfectly lives by these values of always doing some good roles, being creative and innovative. So, we believe the larger group will also get to know about what Vivo stands for. 

With Aamir as the new face of Vivo, what will be the brand’s strategy?
The company’s strategy has many aspects and is not limited to just a brand ambassador. For us, our consumers are very important, therefore, the kind of products that we design, the features that we come up with on the hardware and software side, our distribution and marketing strategies are guided by what the consumers expect from us. 

Of course, the brand ambassador is an important of our marketing strategy. But just because we have a new face for the brand, it doesn’t mean that our strategy will differ. Company-wise we will not change for anybody, but yes, we have always thought of entertaining our consumers and we will continue to do this – whether it’s Aamir and Ranvir Singh. 

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How does Vivo strategise for the smaller markets?
Whether it’s Tier 2, 3 or 4 markets or the metros, we would like to be present wherever our consumers are. If we feel that our consumers are in Tier 2 or 3 markets, we will certainly make all possible arrangements there. It’s not like that we have to make any special arrangements for any market, because we believe in today’s era where we do not differentiate between a Tier 2 customer and a metro consumer. Due to democratisation of knowledge, people are very well aware about the brand. 

Could you tell us about your marketing spends?
As a brand I can’t divulge any numbers, but yes, our goal is to be a long term brand in India and to tell people what Vivo stands for. We will continue to do that because for us India is important and we have to create a strong brand here. 

Post the Union Budget 2018, we have seen an increase in custom duties for Chinese phones. What is your take on that?
It’s a government policy and we as a company will abide by that and will follow it.

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