Will Vivo’s photography gamble for the new V17Pro pay off?

Vivo has embarked on an exploratory journey with its latest photography campaign – #ClearAsReal. The global innovative smartphone brand has collaborated with digital publisher National Geographic Traveller India to launch a campaign ahead of the launch of its upcoming flagship device – the V17Pro. The campaign will be deployed across multiple sites in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai on OOH, DOOH, and social media starting September 5, 2019. The images captured were shot on the new Vivo V17Pro to capture the real and unexplored emotions in these cities. 

National Geographic Traveller India roped in India’s leading and award winning photographers – Nirvair Rai, Ashima Narain and Neha Ralli – who specialise in the art of capturing portrait photography. An eclectic collection of 40 images that capture the vibrant cultural legacy of Ladakh, the century-old Raika community of Rajasthan and their unshakable bond with camels besides the cultural diaspora of Varanasi will be on showcase across multiple locations. 

The campaign also entails visual storytelling in the form of a video filmed in the picturesque Ladakh, which will be launched on September 19. It will run for a period of one month, supported by contextual advertising and experiential engagement across OOH, DOOH and social media. The campaign will be open to consumers in its second leg, where they can capture emotions and share their best shots. Three best pictures will be selected and winners will be awarded the Vivo V17Pro. Also, best pictures clicked shall be used on various multimedia. 

Commenting on the strategic ideation, Nipun Marya, Director - Brand Strategy, Vivo India, said “At Vivo, we believe in being experiential and connecting with our customers’ passion point through innovation and creativity that intrigues them. Our marketing strategy is based on identifying what drives our consumers and then providing an experience that unites us with them. Portrait photography is a constant challenge and requires the photographer’s creativity to achieve beautiful portraits. Our campaign – #ClearAsReal – is a barrier breaker for our consumers and we encourage our consumers to explore their photography skills with best-in-class camera.” 

He further added, “National Geographic Traveller India were obvious partners to conceptualise and execute a campaign like this. Their creativity in themes for selection of cities and the representation of photographers does justice to the whole idea of #ClearAsReal. We are quite excited about the campaign and hopeful that our customers will enjoy it.” 

Raj Mani Patel, DGM, National Geographic Traveller India, added here, “At National Geographic Traveller India, we are proud to be the harbinger of this exciting revolution in photography, merging the past and the present like never before. The collaboration with Vivo India promises to herald a new era in creating inspiring content that would resonate deeply with everyone.” 

Adgully spoke to Nipun Marya to know more about Vivo India’s plans around the new Vivo V17Pro, marketing strategies, creating differentiation, the thought behind the #ClearAsReal campaign and much more. 

How will the V17Pro help grow Vivo’s portfolio and business in India?
We are launching our new product, V17Pro, in the end of September and we have just started our campaign. As with all Vivo phones, the V17Pro stands for its cameras. With our continuous efforts across various platforms over the last one to one and a half years, we have built that kind of equity supported by our products. This time, the phone that we are launching is even more special in terms of smartphone photography. As with all our phones, several innovations will be seen in this phone as well – not just terms in hardware and software, but also in terms of the results that you see and the crispness and clarity that the pictures have. Therefore, the campaign thought is Clear as Real, which means the picture is so clear, it looks like real. That’s the whole premise of our campaign. 

When we say ‘Clear as real’, we look around ourselves and observe the kind of pictures that we click very often. The pictures that we click the most are of our loved ones, family, food, pets. So, why don’t we show people without telling them what the camera is really capable of in terms of clicking a wide variety of pictures. As a campaign thought, we thought why not focus on portraits? The campaign idea that we picked up – ‘Clear as real’ – is our product promise and communication line. We bring emotions, because the pictures look so real that the emotions look real. 

Since the product is not yet launched, we have appointed three photographers who are currently working with National Geographic Traveller India. We have a deep association with Nat Geo for over a year now. We gave the phones to these people and asked them to test the phone and its capabilities. Each of them went to Rajasthan, to Ladakh and to Varanasi. They clicked beautiful pictures of people and other things. These pictures will be seen on outdoor, digital, and social media. Though the phone is yet to hit the markets, in a way we have showcased what the product is really capable of giving. 

Could you tell us more about the campaigns?
The outdoor campaign has already been installed in Delhi and Mumbai. The digital OOH phase will start very soon. Our social media messaging on Instagram has also started. The TVC will be launched around September 19-20. 

The campaign will coincide with the launch of the phone. The ‘Clear as Real’ theme will be carried forward there as well. They are not exactly showcasing the pictures clicked, but are more about showing emotions, more character and more scale. This is what the first TVC will be about. 

How large is Vivo’s portfolio in India?
We offer phones in the price range from Rs 8,000 going up to Rs 40,000. We already have a fairly wide portfolio. If you look at this particular product, this is a part of our larger festival strategy, which includes launching around 6 new products for the festive season. We have announced a new series known as U-Series and S-Series. 

Launching so many phones in close proximity, will it not cannibalise Vivo’s market share?
Not at all, and the reason for this is that we have very carefully tried to understand the consumer segments available. All these segments are in a way addressing very different consumers and their specific needs. For example, a person who does not believe in online buying at all – and there a lot of them still in the mobile phone business – wants a phone in the Rs 15k-20k price range in the offline space, so it becomes easy for them to get such a phone. For someone who is comfortable buying stuff online and wants to buy a phone in the Rs 10k-20k price range, there is the V-Series for them. The V-Series has always been our flagship in the Rs 20k-30k price range. 

Thus, the price segments are very different, and so are the consumer needs. We believe in serving our consumers in an even better way. We’ve had a lot of them coming back to us and saying, “I’m an online buyer, why don’t you have a product for me?” So, we have listened to our customers and offer an even wider portfolio now. 

What is your marketing strategy for these new launches?
First and foremost, we look at the channel or medium of choice of the consumers. For example, if the consumer is online, what will matter to him most is what kind of digital advertising he is exposed to. 

The second aspect is the message that is being given. The message is tailored to what we know our priorities are and where our phone delivers. The V-Series stands for a fully loaded phone and what the online buyer cares most about it include a good processor, camera, battery, fast charging, and so overall a very solid package. The V-Series customer cares more about performance of the phone. It is our flagship product. Aamir Khan is the brand ambassador. 

The S-Series is different; it is more skewed towards offline buyers, who are more on mass media. So, therefore, we are the title sponsors of Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL). We have come up with a commercial for S1 on TV, which is endorsed by Sara Ali Khan. Style is what we wanted to demonstrate and Sara Ali Khan did that in the best possible way. 

Thus, our messaging and marketing is based on different consumer segments, different products, different features and as per consumers’ needs. 

What are your digital plans?
Digital is a very important platform and is our prime focus and top priority. It is very important to understand what role mass media can play, which includes a lot of awareness building and what role digital can play in that mix. We believe that the best strategy is to use the medium to its most optimum capability. Therefore, we have very aggressive plans on digital and mass media. 

Given the massive clutter in the smartphone market, how is Vivo creating differentiation for its products?
There are certain things that Vivo stands for in the minds of our consumers, as per the feedback that we have received. Firstly, Vivo is a brand for youngsters. India is a young country and we are very lucky that people have over-indexed us on our affinity with the youth. This is one big plus point for us. 

Secondly, the camera is becoming really important. People believe that if you want good camera performance, then Vivo is the default choice – if not the No. 1 choice, then definitely among the top 2-3 brands. 

Both of them are in line with our overall brand philosophy of giving extraordinary experiences to young people. This is our brand philosophy and mission and our brand endeavour. This is how we differentiate ourselves from the competitors – the camera, the overall phone usage and the entire experience – those are the most important parameters that we believe in. If you look at our ‘Clear as Real’ campaign, we are highlighting the fact that with the new V17Pro, you will be able to click such good pictures which are so clear that you can almost relive those moments in time later.