Opinion: Micromax In - The branding story of the 'Mobile of Hindustan'

Samrat Dasgupta dissects Micromax's social media strategy to launch and promote Micromax In with elements that speak to the quintessential Indian consumer.

Micromax announced its return in the Indian cell phone market in style. CEO and Co-founder Rahul Sharma took the social media route to introduce us to the new range of Smartphones ‘In’.

The new smartphone range was announced on the lines of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Vocal for Local - two most commonly used terms for Indian products in the pandemic.

There are both basic and premium variants with the price tag being extremely competitive. With 53 million units sold in the September quarter, the Indian Smartphone market is thriving and bubbling with opportunities. 

What they also have intricately designed is a careful brand story to complement their products. Let’s deep dive into certain aspects that Micromax has attempted in their communication strategy to create a great brand story.

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Sharma Ji ka Beta

Rahul Sharma smartly speaks to the camera and introduces us to the new range of Micromax smartphones. Few weeks before he grandly announced the re-launch of his company. He is seen wearing a simple shirt and trousers and speaking Hindi with occasional English phrases. The appearance and lingo you would expect from the boy next door who made it big but still brings presents for his parents and cousins post his business trip. The ideal “Sharma ji ka Beta” type who has made our childhood and teenage years a pain. Rahul Sharma has already hit a sixer on the first ball. 

A good serving of Nationalism

Micromax has come up with the slogan “We are In for India”/ “India ke liye” for this new range set of smartphones. They are also focusing on the “Made in India” factor and instilling a healthy dose of Nationalism in their brand identity and every communication. With the smartphone market hitting record sales during the month of October in India and Chinese brands occupying the pie dominantly, this strategy is surely a calculated and smart move. Coupled the Indo-China tensions at the border with ‘owning an Indian phone is better than a Chinese phone’ psyche is sure to dominate a huge percentage of the market. 

The e-commerce strategy too has been so intricately positioned as they associated with ‘Flipkart’ as their retail partner (along with sales via their own Website).

The Bansal friends have surely weaved one of the greatest success stories in the Indian Middle-Class milieu. I believe Amazon has been omitted with a very clear logic of keeping the brand Identity as Indian as possible.

Whatever Bittu Says, we believe

Rahul Sharma has given an exclusive interview to Gaurav Chaudhury aka ‘Technical Guruji’ on his YouTube channel which has a 20 Million Subscriber base. This has been planned keeping the Indian psychology in mind. In every locality there is a ‘Bittu’ who is the know-it-all when it comes to tech. For youngster, they are ‘Bittu Bhaiya’, for the grown-up ‘Bittu’ and for the elders ‘Bittu Beta’. For any tech-related question they seek his help, and Bittu is always sweet enough to oblige. Micromax taps this opportunity beautifully where an Indian YouTube Superstar in his niche talks all good about the new range of phones. And when he recommends, India believes.

Did you say ‘Disruption’?

The competitive prices given the features that Micromax In is offering is sure to grab a few eyeballs. With time and good reviews, these smartphones are destined to disrupt the market big time. Chinese phones will have to level up their game to fight the competition. 

What Micromax is likely to develop secondary markets similar to what Jio did when it was first launched in 2016. The mobile market will penetrate into deeper pockets of India (mainly Tier III cities and rural areas) where connectivity is still an issue. But with good technology in hands, the telecom industry will surely use every opportunity to scale. A good phone with a stable connection will become the norm across whole of India and a well-connected nation is always a better nation. 

With such a well-planned brand story created around these smartphones, are we all looking towards a Neo Digital revolution? 

This article has been authored by Samrat Dasgupta, an advertising professional.