Motorola recently rolled out its global-first launch in India called Edge 50 and 50 Pro. The brand has positioned the product on the proposition of ‘Intelligence meets art’ and roped in Kriti Sanon and Babil Khan for star power.

We caught up with Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing, APAC, Motorola, to know more about the launch in the context of IPL and the adoption of CTV. “Edge 50 Pro is actually redefining the way you think about a flagship. We are creating Edge 50 Pro as a new rational flagship for consumers because practically consumers do not need to go to the extremes for every specification.”

Today, smartphone brands give consumers the extreme in every feature and that's why the price points are also very high. However, Motorola has looked at what the consumer actually needs. Do they need that advanced level of chipset? They definitely need a better camera, display and fast charging, Ranjan shared.

Since it is a global first launch and other parts of the world will get their hands at this model much later, the brand has opted for massive marketing to amplify the reach. 

“India has been chosen as the first market to announce the product, which shows the kind of focus that we have on the Indian market and hence the marketing investments will reflect that. Also, we're investing a lot in big trends that are happening right now. For example, for IPL, we're investing in CTV since it is emerging as a big trend with consumers and millions of consumers are watching it simultaneously across households.”

The smartphone brand is also investing in the Lok Sabha elections run up via linear TV as well as digital. The Marketing Head further shared, they are also going through traditional digital channels, which are YouTube, social media, etc., because video is a very important form of content. 

More than 70 per cent of the brand’s investments go behind video, whether it is digital, linear or traditional channels. But some consumers want to buy the product at premium price points, and to reach out to them the brand is advertising behind walled gardens at certain places by investing in traditional channels like airport Out-Of-Home.

Motorola India has taken almost 200 digital out-of-home screens across Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore airports. He added, “To catch the audiences that may not see us on digital is to reach them out via cinema. So, we are capturing more than 200 cinema screens across India in platinum, gold class and will be showcasing our video ads there.”

In addition to that, Motorola also has done digital Out-of-home lift branding at premium societies across the board. “So, societies starting at a certain price range across India will have our ads as well”, he said. 

“We are on digital too apart from YouTube, Google and Meta. Motorola is also investing in properties that the premium consumers use.”

Ranjan gave the example of Uber Premium and MyGate. He highlighted, “When you book a ride, we are showing you an ad there so people who are booking cabs through Uber premium, they get to see our advertising. Additionally, MyGate is another application which is there for allowing access to societies and we are investing there to ensure that we are able to reach every premium consumer.”

Currently, the brand does not invest in radio or print heavily. Ranjan believes audio is slightly suboptimal because it doesn’t help people grasp what the features are exactly. Print, even though it creates a spike in awareness on a single day, it is not fit for smartphones, he said. 

“The consumer journey is anywhere between two to three weeks from awareness to purchase intent. You have to create frequency during that period and if you just create one-day spike and leave them, then it doesn't work. And if you have to create frequency on print, then it becomes exorbitant in terms of cost.”

Hence, while evaluating from an ROI perspective, Ranjan feels at this moment it's better to invest in properties that give video exposure and high frequency, even if they're at a cost like elections and IPL.  

Speaking of consumer insights that helped Motorola develop this product firstly, the Gen Z today is spending a lot of time in creating content and consuming content. Secondly, when people are creating content, they want accurate colours and the accurate pictures which are upload ready the moment they’re shot. Hence, the brand wanted to add in camera AI stabilisation, dynamic fusion and more. 

“Thirdly, consumers today are definitely looking for value addition to make their lives easy, which is why you see our camera features are there to help you seamlessly shoot pictures. Lastly, the phone is not just a practical requirement nowadays, it is also a status symbol. So until and unless you've got a phone that looks good and is able to complement your style, you won't own it,” Ranjan explained.

To amplify this reach, Sanon has continued her endorsement partnership with the brand but Khan has been a new addition to Edge 50 series advertisement.  

The executive shared, “Kriti has been a brand ambassador for us for almost a year and she stands for style, fashion, art. Hence, the art component in the film was represented by her. But, we had to represent AI since there was a need for us to personify AI to be able to simplify it for consumers. We found that in Babil because he has a youth appeal, and is a character that has a certain exuberance, certain freshness about himself.”

Last year, the brand saw 4x growth in the edge series numbers and doubling of the premium contribution of revenue year-over-year. This year Ranjan is optimistic and wants to continue that momentum for both the trends. 

He hopes to continue the growth of the Edge franchise and shared, “My expectation with the Edge 50 Pro is to disrupt the Indian market and create that excitement, that desire, that aspiration for the brand. It aims to also give premium and flagship experiences to more and more consumers without necessarily having to pay a massive premium for it, by optimising the features that matter most to them.”