Motorola disrupts smartphone market with ‘HATKE’ and campaigns

Motorola has taken the sub-10K smartphone market in India by storm in 2023 with back-to-back launches of two products in the affordable segment. The moto e13 has allowed Motorola to make a splash in the highly price sensitive sub 8K segment with a big bang launch of the moto e13, a phone with best in class performance and 5000 mAH battery. To promote this, the brand came up with a through-the-line campaign on a catchy communication platform “Atke Nahi Hatke”. It was conceived and executed by 21N78E Creative Labs, the communications agency for Motorola.

Shedding light on the campaign Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing, India & APAC for Motorola said: “The launch of moto e13, was strategically crucial, as we looked to grow our portfolio in this segment. Extensive research for this demographic across the southern belt, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra revealed a clear pain point as phones in this segment tended to slow performance or lag. While other brands were focusing their products and communication around entertainment, no one was addressing the biggest pain point of performance. With our differentiated product, designed to address the consumer pain point and a ‘hatke’ consumer proposition - Atke Nahi Hatke, it has caught the imagination of consumers, trade and media. The campaign has been run in 8 different languages on TV and digital platforms and has delivered significant impact for the brand”.

Sudhir Nair, Founder & CEO, 21N78E Creative Labs, added “It’s not very often that one gets an opportunity to talk about Motorola to this demographic. Hence it was a brief rife with possibilities. We wanted to ensure that our narrative was equally differentiated and did justice to the hatke performance of the phone. As an agency we have always believed that when product features are an organic fit to the narrative, the work will get noticed. Hence our communication intent was to get people to consider it as a clear and present enabler in their quest for a better life. And that’s what we did. The high VTRs, the lift on favorability and the traffic to the ecomm platform were clear indicators that the communication has resonated with consumers across languages and geos and that’s truly heartening.”

Going ‘hatke’ again with moto g13

On the heels of the moto e13  launch, the brand has also unveiled - moto g13 from its most popular ‘g’ series franchise, a phone with premium looks and a class-leading experience, that too at a sub Rs 10K price. The rationale for a design centric phone at this price point again stemmed from consumer insight that consumers were indeed interested in owning a device that delivered on design as well as experience at an affordable price point, a need which was not being catered to by the existing market. Interestingly it carries forward the Atke Nahi Hatke platform with “Lagey Jhatke Aisa Hatke” - in what seems to be a clear nod to the sleek and stylish design of the phone.

 Summing up both the campaigns Navin Kansal, CCO, 21N78E Creative Labs, said “A hatke phone like the moto e13, in a relatively hatke category with a processor that does not lag and a battery that carries the user through the day - made “Atke Nahi Hatke”, a compelling proposition. The narrative of showcasing a transformative journey of redemption for a struggling medical equipment sales representative has struck a chord. For the launch of moto g13, the brief to us was to build on the hatke equity since the demographic was relatively similar,  hence, “Lagey Jhatke, Aisa Hatke”. The form factor of the phone lent itself to a more flamboyant narrative that would appeal to the sensibilities of Gen Z. The fun bit was the peppy music track, that infused a new- age hatke twist to a classic sound”.