Is OnePlus Revamping Its Brand Strategy - Bringing in A Celebrity Endorsement Paves The Path To Success - The Economic Times

3/3/2018 Is OnePlus revamping its brand strategy?
ePlus revamping its brand strategy? Bringing in a celebrity endorsement paves the path to success - The Economic Times
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Is OnePlus revamping its brand strategy?

Bringing in a celebrity endorsement paves Top Trending Terms
the path to success Samsung Galaxy S9 BMW 6 Series Sridevi Funeral
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By Amit Bapna, ET Bureau | Updated: Mar 29, 2017, 02.04 PM IST
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SPOTLIGHT
Aircel goes Bankrupt
Tycoon's $7bn wipeout turns

his India dream into nightmare
T. Ananda Krishnan's $7 billion bet on
mobile carrier Aircel Ltd. may go down as
one of the biggest-ever flops by a foreign
investor in India.
Aircel makes desperate calls to Jio, Airtel
to keep its network on
Aircel first to file for bankruptcy under
OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei and Amitabh Bachchan.
RBI’s new norms
In an era when most mobile brands are obsessed with pitching themselves as selfie-
specialist devices, (at least 3 brands - Gionee, Vivo and Oppo have made campaigns
around their selfie-capabilities) one phone brand is treading a different path.
Most Read Most Shared Most Commented
Hold the admiration though; the brand in question, OnePlus, is going down formulaic path
Sridevi cremated with state honours at Vile Parle
No 1 for brands across categories -getting a celebrity for a mass-media blitz. crematorium in Mumbai
Sridevi death: Cops question Boney Kapoor, hotel

We have nothing against marketers deploying the X-factor of celebs but when a brand staff, family; check call logs
becomes famous for its differentiated, unconventional marketing and then seemingly falls
The end of an era: Sridevi cremated with state
prey to convention, questions are bound to be asked.
honours in Mumbai
She was my love, my friend, mother to our girls, my

Historically OnePlus is known to have done some kick-ass clutter breaking stuff to
partner: Boney Kapoor shares touching message
announce its entry. for Sridevi
Mi LED Smart TV 4 review: The most honest

Whether launching a phone from a virtual space station deploying VR (virtual reality), or television set yet
doling out access to the phones via invites that could be got only from existing customers,
More »
to nearly convincing people to smash their phones during the launch phase or the
controversial 'Ladies First' campaign, the global launches have been news-makers and
often polarising.
Not to be Missed
In India, the brand created a lot of chatter around its fan-based offerings and the recently
Court issues non-bailable warrants
launched first-ever OnePlus experience centre in Bengaluru - all giving the brand a distinct
against Choksi, Modi
and niche personality.
So why go the traditional route now - splurging marketing dollars on one of the most US unlikely to back off on H1-B
spouse rule: Tech group
expensive (and many would add ubiquitous) celebrities? And of course the additional
media-spends to give the campaign a life? Is it a reality of the Indian market that brands
Adidas has become the first sportswear brand in By Diwali w
1 Bringing
across spectrum, to endorsement
in a celebrity attain sizepaves
and scale,
the 2 How
have to go mass?
Indian According
smartphones to out
are losing Girish 3
Menon,
to China
India to cross the Rs 1,000-cr revenue mark
4 Micromax's
path to success Holi: SpiceJet offers dance number,
director & head media & entertainment KPMG India "Such is the scale and diversity in
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/brand-equity/is-oneplus-revamping-its-brand-strategy-bringing-in-a-celebrity-endorsement-paves-the-path-to-success/articleshow/57872205.cms 1/25
3/3/2018 Is OnePlus revamping its brand strategy? Bringing in a celebrity endorsement paves the path to success - The Economic Times
director & head, media & entertainment, KPMG India, Such is the scale and diversity in Vistara spl menu
India that brands - even digital natives like Uber or OnePlus - have to think integrated and
cross-platform to be most effective."
Why startups should be a CMO's new
Its niche credentials have ensured that while OnePlus does not feature in the Top 10 best friend
smartphone brands in India (with its limited product portfolio as well as limited channel
presence), the brand competes well in the premium segment (US$300+) and ranks as the
3rd largest smartphone brand after Apple and Samsung, as per IDC figures. CBI lens on Infosys staff, I-T officials
and fake CA for fraud
In a campaign created by BBDO India, OnePlus has got superstar Amitabh Bachchan to
reinforce its flagship product OnePlus 3T's claim of being the highest rated smartphone
For some startups, playing Indian card
listed on Amazon. makes no sense
This is basis the cumulative rating for the product as on 1st March 2017, validated by
research agency Nielsen, shares Vikas Agarwal, general manager - OnePlus India. FB ends six-country test that split
News Feed in two
While Agarwal accedes that this is the first time in OnePlus' history that a brand-campaign
of this size with an A-class celebrity has been done. He also clarifies that Bachchan's role
Gold regains sheen on firm global
is not that of a traditional brand ambassador.
cues, jewellers' buying
"He's one of the biggest celebs on digital channels and a big OnePlus fan himself and
there is a natural connect for the digital-first brand." Shares Carl Pei, co-founder of Long Weekend Plans for 2018: Eight
OnePlus in an exclusive chat with Brand Equity, "We are still a digital focussed brand, Holiday Inspirations to make this the
essentially built around word of mouth." That is something we want to highlight even with best year ever
this campaign, he adds.

The good Donald, bad Donald and the
ugly tariff
Both OnePlus along with the other Chinese-origin brand Xiaomi started life as challenger
brands. It would be interesting to see, how a mass-campaign like this impacts OnePlus'
go-to-market strategy.
Chandrayaan-2 launch delayed, likely
takeoff in October
Views Jaipal Singh, market analyst-client devices, IDC (International Data Corporation),
while mass-campaigns like this may give the brand wider reach with new audiences which
are not very tech savvy, going mainstream has a higher cost and the brand needs to be Trump won't exclude allies from tariffs:
careful about not letting its strong positioning be impacted. WH official
Adds Girish Trivedi, co-founder of Monk Consulting, a Gurgaon based research and
advisory firm, "A great product is a starting point, which OnePlus can boast about, but they Paytm offers non-KYC users option to
use gift vouchers
need to decide whether they want to serve the niche or broad base: if they expand then
more devices with multiple price-points is a must."
ArcelorMittal forms a JV with Nippon

Offline distribution or traditional distribution will surely help but again it's a cost vs gains for Essar Steel
dilemma, he adds. So far, the brand has been selling through Amazon and has recently
launched its own ecommerce platform.
Trump roars, China yawns, US shoots
Celeb or no celeb, as long as the brand continues to build on its stated positioning of being itself in foot
'fan-obsessed' to the point of tweaking its offerings basis fan (aka customer) suggestions,
it could emerge as formidable competition to leaders like Apple and Samsung. Failing that,
India a top market for IBM in 2017
we are guessing, there'll always be room for one more 'selfie expert.'
Too early to tell if banks will resume IT

spend: Cognizant
Planned Indian military base stirs

Seychelles controversy
Aviation sector on a high as UDAN

spreads wings
The perils of lending to corporates

AdidasFlipkart’s parent
has become the invests Rs 4,472cr
first sportswear brandinin By Diwali w
1 Bringing in a celebrity endorsement paves the 2 How Indian smartphones are losing out to China 3 wholesale arm
India to cross the Rs 1,000-cr revenue mark 4 Micromax's
path to success
Institutional investors pack $3.4 bn in

Indian warehousing
Carl Pei wants to make the best smartphone, not the biggest.(Image: Agencies)
What is the single biggest challenge of being in the Indian market? Are robots making their mark in
operation theatres?
India is a vast and diverse demography where the needs of the customers are dynamic
and unique and what is good for one segment need not necessarily satisfy others.
Western Union sees opportunity in
outbound remittances
We need to keep reinventing ourselves to stay relevant. After the successful launch of
OnePlus 3, we launched the OnePlus 3T with features such as the Dash Charge to give
the users a day's power in half an hour to cater to their fast-paced lifestyles. Bank of Baroda to contest charges
levied by S. Africa
Our community is very important to us, and we constantly engage with them to listen to
their feedback and see how best we can cater to their dynamic requirements.
Trump defiant after global criticism of
steel tariffs
Even our latest offering, the OnePlus 3T MidnightBlack, is a product of the feedback we
have received from our community.
Kerala CM rules out alliance with

OnePlus' maiden brand campaign launched recently in India with a celebrity, seems Congress
to mark a sharp shift from its stated challenger-brand philosophy?
For us, the goal of the campaign was help spreading word that OnePlus 3T is the best India trip controversy follows Trudeau
rated smartphone in India and the concept of the campaign was about a fun and easy to back to Canada
understand way of communicating that.
The current campaign is a scaled-up version of word-of-mouth marketing. Govt readies social security scheme
for 50 cr workers
We plan to become the third biggest brand in the premium segment - and we want to
spread the word about this positive feedback among the large smartphone user base in
EU targets $3.5bn of US imports for
India. trade retaliation
How much cut-through has the brand managed by getting Amitabh Bachchan as its
face in a tough market? Consulting firms go on a hiring spree
at B-schools
We brought in Amitabh Bachchan as our first OnePlus Star as he perfectly embodies the
mantra of 'Never Settle.'
Report shows return of trillion-dollar
US budget deficits
No one else provides the same level of personality that Mr.Bachchan has.
As a OnePlus Star, he will continue to play a key role in strengthening community connect T Thomas, former chairman of HUL
and improving brand familiarity beyond our core audience. passes away
Any anecdotal memories of working with the biggest star of Indian entertainment
industry? Two shot dead at US university,
suspect at large
He helped us improve the campaign creative, finding ways to make it more engaging for
viewers.
Honda stops selling new CR-Vs in
China
We have also been extremely impressed with his passion and knowledge of technology.
Does OnePlus continue to hold the ambition of 'not wanting to be the biggest Attackers kill 7 in assault on Burkina
electronics maker in the world'? Faso capital
Our goal is to be the best premium smartphone, not the biggest.

BoB may have got itself into some
serious trouble in SA
We believe that if you create the best products and offer the highest level of service, it's
hard not to be successful in the long run.
Airbus wants Brexit clarity as it faces

Currently, our focus is on delivering the best possible premium smartphones and we are higher spending
not planning to diversify into any other category in the near future.
How does the OnePlus Experience Store align with the brand's plans? Why did you How Malaysian mogul's $7-bn Aircel
choose India
Is OnePlus to launch
revamping it?strategy?
its brand dream turned sour
1 Bringing in a celebrity endorsement paves the 2 How Indian smartphones are losing out to China 3 India to cross the Rs 1,000-cr revenue mark 4 Micromax's
path to success
f
India is strategically very important because of the sizeable existing user base and
Customers may dump e-wallets as
untapped market potential, especially in the premium segment.
KYC norms kick in
The OnePlus Experience Store in Bengaluru is a first platform of its kind in India where we
can engage face-to-face with our community. Frauds involving bank staff: South has
49% cases
Besides giving consumers a chance to experience the product hands-on, we also plan to
host several activities for our community members to collaborate, share and learn together.
We have recently started sales of OnePlus smartphones on our own channels (OnePlus
Experience Store in Bangalore and OnePlusStore.in for pan-India delivery).
These additional sales channels complement our exclusive sales presence on Amazon by
offering a more personalised purchase experience and easier availability of genuine
accessories and fan merchandise.
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How Indian smartphones are losing out to

China Top Trending Terms
By Rajiv Singh, Ravi Balakrishnan, ET Bureau | May 31, 2017, 05.20 AM IST
Samsung Galaxy S9 BMW 6 Series Sridevi Funeral
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Is OnePlus revamping its brand strategy? crematorium in first
Mumbai
Adidas has become the sportswear brand in By Diwali w
1 Bringing in a celebrity endorsement paves the 2 How Indian smartphones are losing out to China 3 India to cross the Rs 1,000-cr revenue mark
4 Micromax's
path to success
S de deat Cops quest o o ey apoo , ote
staff, family; check call logs

honours in Mumbai

for Sridevi

television set yet
More »
MUMBAI & DELHI: It's perhaps the most unscientific way of determining a shift in phone
fortunes. But after over a decade of hearing this happen, I believe I've found the first sign
of coming mobile dominance (or decline): the ringtones you hear on public transport, the
first class compartments of Mumbai locals, for instance. Long before data confirmed the
ebb in its fortunes, Micromax's distinct sitar soaked caller tune was ceding ground to the
ebullient chiming of a tune Xiaomi simply calls Mi. Just as Nokia's ringtone gave way to
Samsung over half a decade ago, and Samsung shifted to accommodate Micromax over
the last couple of years.
It's no secret that Chinese smartphone handset makers, as a collective grouping, have a
dominant share of the Indian market - the Korean Samsung still maintains its lead.
According to an IDC report, the Chinese vendors have grown by a staggering 142.6%
which translates into a 51.4% share of smartphone shipments in India. The share of
homegrown vendors has fallen to 13.5% in the first quarter of 2017 from 40.5% in Q1
2016. News reports quoting CyberMedia Research believe the dominance could extend in
the quarter through June.
It seems like only yesterday that Micromax topped the leaderboard after years of snapping
at the heels of Samsung - it was actually in 2014-2015 - before settling down as a strong
No 2. Intex frequently made it to the Top 5. So, what happened?
After making history, the Indian brands didn't learn from it

The decline brings with it a heady whiff of déjà vu. Indian smartphone makers fell to ruses
from the same playbook they'd used to dislodge the likes of BlackBerry and Nokia; brands
that were big, complacent and unable to see the future or react in time. In Nokia's case it
was dual-SIM phones. With BlackBerry, it was smartphones. With the Indian players, it
was their relatively sluggish adoption of 4G. An industry insider who wishes to remain
anonymous says, "The single biggest shift last year was Reliance Jio. The market moved
faster than anticipated. Some players read the market wrong and their folio was
overwhelmingly skewed towards 3G." As a result, Indian brands went quiet, realising it was
pointless spending to promote a feature set that was lacking. A void that the Chinese
manufacturers were only too happy to fill.
Indian phone makers exhibited 'unenlightened selfie interest': ignoring the sheer power
that staking a claim to the 'selfie', conferred on a brand. India currently leads the world in
selfie-related deaths, if some media reports are to be believed. Even disregarding that dire
statistic, the rise of Instagram, Snapchat and burgeoning popularity of apps like musical.ly,
shows a heavy skew towards the use of front-facing cameras. It was ripe for the taking, but
the people doing the taking were the Chinese brands. As Gionee, Vivo and Oppo (the last
two are owned by the same firm, BBK, which also counts OnePlus as a wholly owned
subsidiary) squabbled for the mantle of selfie expert, the Indian brands were entirely out of
the frame.
The Indian brands were out of touch with how much the customer was willing to pay
These brands began as traders and price warriors. And while that mindset helped them get
this far, it's been hobbling their growth ever since, believe the experts. Their initial offer
was often a spec sheet similar to a leading brand but priced below the Rs 10,000 mark.
What the Chinese brands did was explode the Rs 10,000 plus market, allowing them the
leeway to go in for a more premium feature set. As marketing consultant Jagdeep Kapoor
of
1 Samsika
Bringing in puts it, "The
a celebrity Indianpaves
endorsement players
the should haveIndian
2 How made their brand
smartphones count
are losing to China of 3 Adidas has become the first sportswear brand in
out instead 4 By Diwali w
India to cross the Rs 1,000-cr revenue mark Micromax's
path to success
making it discount! The Chinese moved up the ladder from product to brand as the Indians
a g t d scou t e C ese o ed up t e adde o p oduct to b a d as t e d a s
moved down from brand to commodity. They didn't realise the smartphone is something
consumers don't just use, but show off."
They lost track of who and what consumers found cool

Over the last few years, the Chinese smartphone makers have commandeered every
Indian celebrity that matters. Deepika Padukone is endorsing Oppo, Ranveer Singh is
peddling Vivo, Alia Bhatt and Virat Kohli are mouthpieces for Gionee and even the Big B
has been harnessed to flog OnePlus.
But perhaps the biggest coup was by Vivo, joined at the hip to India's most viewed sporting
league. Says Vivek Zhang, CMO, Vivo, "Our association with IPL starting 2016 proved to
be a major milestone." Encouraged, Vivo has tied up with the Pro Kabbadi league for five
years. Says Zhang, "Going forward, we are focusing significantly on our strategic
associations across genres to reach our customer base."
Contrast that to Micromax which, pursuing global ambitions, went in for Hugh Jackman, a
star that the hinterlands didn't recognise or care much about. And then last year, it did an
ad in English with a starcast whiter than a Ku Klux Klan rally. And yet another with a 'desier
than thou' vibe starring comedian Kapil Sharma ranting against English. It left consumers
confused about who or what the brand really stood for. Intex relied on the dubious star
appeal of Farhan Akhtar and bet big on the Gujarat Lions who finished second last in the
IPL. Celebrities of course can't rescue a brand, but if the communication strategy involves
a billboard and TV blitzkrieg, it helps having the most popular faces on your side.
The desi brands squandered their opportunity to lead

All the experts conclude Indian brands could have used the time they'd pulled ahead a lot
better. Says Nilesh Gupta, managing partner, Vijay Sales, a Mumbai-based durables retail
chain, "Had they setup R&D and manufacturing, the game would have been different. If
your source starts to sell directly, they will outsmart you." Xiaomi succeeded, relying on an
online first model and extraordinary levels of brand loyalty - fans promoting phones and
other products to friends, colleagues and fellow netizens, according to Manu Jain, MD for
Xiaomi India. If Indian brands were thinking on these lines, there's precious little to show
for it.
Next is What?
The old Samsung tagline is probably giving CMOs at the desi phone brands sleepless
nights. As the industry insider puts it, "A good analogy is a lion charging a herd of buffalos.
Your strategy individually is to be only faster than the slowest buffalo. For each player,
there are other more vulnerable brands you can steal share from." He recommends not
taking the Chinese head on but finding a space or a price range where a brand can be a
Top 3 player. The other choice is to hold out until the Chinese blitzkrieg subsides. Market
sources claim the cost of acquisition is up from `500 to close to Rs 7,000 or Rs 8,000.
Maybe if one or more of these do a LeEco and spend themselves out of the market, they'll
leave behind a more level playing field.
In a previous interview Keshav Bansal, director, Intex was optimistic that a return was
imminent: "It's 100% possible for Indians to come back. Our trump cards are credibility,
trust and knowledge of local market." The last, perhaps most difficult option, is to fight
these brands by finding the next big opportunity in the mobile space. Something that these
players will hopefully be too big or complacent to acknowledge. And then to do unto them,
what they did unto the Indian handset makers.
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Adidas has become the first sportswear

brand in India to cross the Rs 1,000-cr Top Trending Terms
revenue mark Samsung Galaxy S9 BMW 6 Series Sridevi Funeral
By Rajiv Singh, ET Bureau | May 31, 2017, 05.19 AM IST
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crematorium in Mumbai


honours in Mumbai

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television set yet
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Dave Thomas.
Dave Thomas, an Australian by birth and German by karma, has barely managed to pick a
few Hindi words from his five-year-old daughter over the last two and a half years in India.
Titli (butterfly) happens to be one of them. As things turn out, the managing director of
Adidas India doesn't need to learn more as he has floated like a butterfly (titli) and stung
like a bee since he took over the India operations of the German sportswear brand in
October 2014.
Thomas, 46, has made Adidas the first sportswear brand in India to cross the Rs 1,000-
crore revenue mark. The company, which posted Rs 61.9-crore profit for March ended
fiscal last year and has seen its profit tumble from Rs 116 crore in 2014 fiscal, is likely to
see profitsinjump
1 Bringing at least
a celebrity twice when
endorsement it publishes
paves the 2 HowitsIndian
audited numbers
smartphones in a month
are losing or so. 3
out to China
Adidas has become the first sportswear brand in
4
By Diwali w
path to success
The Adidas veteran has spent over two decades with the German company and had been
to India a couple of times before taking up the official assignment. But what makes him
stand out from his predecessors is not just pushing the revenue of Adidas but pulling out
its sub-brand Originals from the confines of obscurity and making it a blockbuster success.
From a paltry under 3% contribution to revenue in 2014, Originals now makes for over
10% of the company's top line.
"I see it (Originals'contribution to Adidas) going up towards 20% by 2020," says Thomas,
who is enamoured by the spicy food, diverse culture and massive business opportunity
that India presents. Originals, he contends, is the fastest growing category in Adidas'
armoury. "It's growing at an amazing rate," he says, adding that the price range of
Originals footwear starts from Rs 7,000 and goes up to Rs 26,000. Apparel doesn't come
cheap either: from Rs 1,500 to Rs 20,000. "Originals was not moving much and suddenly
it's doubling and doubling and doubling," he says. It's about hitting the right nerve or the
right chord and things are really possible here, he adds.
Things, however, were impossible to begin with when Thomas joined in 2014. There were
no takers for Originals.
"In the beginning, we could not even get a store on the ground floor of any mall," recalls
Thomas. Malls didn't understand the brand as they perceived it to be another sports brand,
and space on the first floor was what was on the table.
Dave Thomas did his best to make reluctant retailers understand that though Originals has
its heritage in sport, it's a lifestyle brand. "Stan Smith was a tennis player, Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar was a basketball player, but Originals is much more than a sports brand," was the
oft-repeated line that fell on the deaf ears.
If convincing outsiders was a tough task, then the biggest challenge was yet to come:
getting Indian employees to back Originals. "When I came here,
I had a team saying Originals will not be successful," he recounts. Nobody wants to wear
white shoes in India was the common reason dished out.
"India is a dirty, dusty market. White doesn't stand a chance," was another lame excuse.
Thomas, however, was not convinced and decided to go with his gut.
"Thank God. It paid off," he says, sounding vindicated. A couple of years back in Japan,
Thomas had paid the price of not following his instinct. Compression wear, his Japanese
team told him, won't work in the country. Thomas went by his local team's inputs, and after
two years, the Japanese market was flooded with compression wear. "It became the trend,
other brands took it and we missed out," he rues. But in India he has found salvation. "Now
I look at the sea of white shoes here," he grins.
There's another myth that Thomas busted: you can't sell a shoe at a premium without
loading it with technology in India. 'People won't pay for a Stan Smith' was another cliché.
Thomas yet again proved naysayers wrong. Stan Smith, a global blockbuster sneaker for
Adidas, is the second-largest selling Originals' brand in India.India happens to be the
country fuelling the Stan Smith rage globally as the Chennai factory supplies over
40%-45% of the world's supply. "It's a great story. Narendra Modi's Make in India is
something we buy into," he says.
Originals' resurgence doesn't surprise marketing experts. The Adidas premiumisation

story, they reckon, goes hand in hand with the India brand premiumisation story. The brand
has stepped on the gas, and so have Indian consumers in terms of meeting lifestyle
aspirations, says brand strategist Harish Bijoor.
In the beginning, Indians entered the branded shoe market rather tentatively. The early
pickings were brands such as Adidas, Reebok and Lotto. However, they were brand picks
and not product picks. The Indian at large flaunted the brand on his feet for a start, without
bothering too much about product. "Today, as the consumer has taken large strides in
income and aspiration, she is looking for both product and premium," avers Bijoor, adding
that the challenge for the brand can come from not any rival but the mother brand itself.
When mother brand Adidas starts looking jaded, it's wise to distance it from the fashion
statement and intent of the Originals, he reckons.
4 Micromax's
path to success
Thomas, for his part, is aware of the need to be on one's toes. "We have to reinvent, we
, p , ,
have to innovate and not just rely on a back catalogue," he says. But for the time being, his
biggest challenge is learning more Hindi from his daughter. How about Bahubali?
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Micromax's Rahul Sharma Top Trending Terms
By Rajiv Singh, ET Bureau | Updated: May 31, 2017, 12.17 PM IST

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honours in Mumbai

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Rahul Sharma, cofounder of India's second largest handset maker, is not unnerved with
the over-the-top aggression of Chinese rivals who have been 'burning' money on a
marketing and advertising blitzkrieg. In an exclusive interview with Rajiv Singh, the
Micromax chief contends the brand will be back with a bang by Diwali.
Excerpts:
path to success
You have been conspicuously absent from TV over last six months or so
You have been conspicuously absent from TV over last six months or so…
We have spent some thousands of crores on the DNA of brand Micromax. Everyone in
India knows what Micromax is. We are not a sprinter. We are marathon runners. When
rivals were burning money in luring consumers and on an advertising blitzkrieg, we
consciously took a step back to understand what is going on in the market rather than
simply follow the herd to gain momentum. We had the choice to burn money and end up
burning the organization. We saw this happening with other companies like LeEco.
Now Chinese players are ruling the roost…

I think we have seen enough of it and it's not Chinese versus Indian. Now we have a lot of
phones which we are launching in the market with a differentiation and innovation. We will
never abandon our plank of innovation.
Mobile handset is the most hotly contested industry across the world. Names will keep
changing, competition will remain, but the top two players will stay Samsung and Micromax
as long as we don't reach the top. The numbers will speak for themselves. We have
started gaining momentum and by Diwali we will be back with a bang. Wait for Diwali
dhamaka, Indian Bahubali will strike back.
Was it a right move to have Hugh Jackman as endorser?

Absolutely. Hugh Jackman is an integral part of Micromax and our relationship is still open.
Based on our portfolio and market demand, we plan our marketing and we are really smart
at that. Going forward as well, we won't just hire a brand ambassador and paint the town
with their photos. It is much more than that, it's about building connect, it is about what
makes the brand stand out. So, if the need be we will continue to have brand
ambassadors, one or many.
Now you have Anil Kapoor to endorse ACs…

We signed Anil Kapoor because AC is more of a home product. AC is a family thing and as
a family man, Anil Kapoor is just awesome.
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Is OnePlus
cannot revamping
miss having a term…its Ifbrand strategy?
you have a loan MFs are stung by the LTC… Arcelor’s India entry Adidas has become the first sportswear brand in By Diwali w
path to success
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Future Group's Devendra Chawla on why

eating healthy is likely to remain on the 'to Top Trending Terms
do' list Samsung Galaxy S9 BMW 6 Series Sridevi Funeral
ET Bureau | May 31, 2017, 05.17 AM IST
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In the last five years, many brands launched numerous product options in baked
chips/snacks, low calorie biscuits, beverages, ice creams, etc. Most of these healthier
foods have been "junked" by consumers. Sweets for diabetics sounds like an oxymoron
and is one. Low or no sugar sweets have not been able to carve out a share till date,
though some innovations have happened recently. In the meantime, hundreds of crores of
marketing monies have gone down the drain. Ever wonder why?
In India, healthy food is 'home cooked.' The rest is indulgence. Like vices triggering stimuli.
As consumers we make a choice. It is that moment of impulse, where satiation of a craving
overtakes all rationale and emotions.
Most of us can distinguish virtues from vices. The brain knows the 'right answers'. But that
only lasts till the heart gets involved. We understand that exercise is good. That our diets
should be largely built around fiber rich foods, lots of fruits and veggies, lean meat, fish,
water, whole fruit juices, beans, pulses, whole grains, etc. This rational approach is much
in evidence when we are asked to respond - viva-a-voce or on paper.
Traditional consumer research is fraught with questionnaires which by definition pander to

the rational brain. But when it comes to making a decision, the heart plays a major role. It
is not logical, always. According to latest neuroscience experiments, at the point of
decision making, emotions are very important. Even with what we believe are logical
decisions, the very point of choice is arguably based on emotion and hence, is heart led.
Any well designed cognitive consumer research would lead up to identifying the traits as
mentioned here.
Let us assume there is a choice facing a consumer. Let us also assume this consumer is
rational and emotionally balanced with an adequate database of memories, enough
processing time and intelligence to arrive at a decision. Let one of the choices be a slice of
cheesecake and another, a bowl of sprouts salad. In a rational frame of mind, without
giving any processing time, the consumer, in all probability will automatically choose the
healthier option. Now give her processing time to dig back in her memories. The
Is OnePlus revamping
cheesecake will evoke its brand
fuzzystrategy?
happy emotions and associations. The rational mind will
1 Bringing in a celebrity endorsement paves the 2 How Indian smartphones are losing out to China 3 Adidas has become the first sportswear brand in
4 By Diwali w
Micromax's
evaluate
path to and deduct the negatives and pose logically derived effect analysis and results.
success
In the ensuing tussle of logic and emotion, the mind ultimately falls behind the heart which
manipulates, albeit with a handshake and by seeking middle ground. Vice becomes slightly
more virtuous. The cheese cake is accepted but with a caveat of walking an extra mile
(rationale) on the treadmill the next morning. Or reaching out for that 3rd shot of a rare
Scotch, telling the mind that the next month is when abstinence starts (rationale again).
Slowly the brain aligns with the heart, with rational answers that suit the choice the heart is
pushing you towards. Eventually both are aligned and conflict subsides. Only the heart can
break, ever heard of brain breaks? So the heart pushes harder to not break. There is a
moment of conflict on a given impulse, but eventually there is always a compromise, an act
of balancing out yin and yang. And once again, the heart trumps over the mind. Give a
second to the mind and you will get rational answers, keep the food in front of the
consumer, give her some seconds and different answers emerge.
How does one make healthy food more appealing? What needs to be communicated to
evoke strong emotions in consumers? So that they realise the long term benefits tide over
immediate impulsive needs and wants, and health foods become a part of the regime with
communication serving as reminder?
The imagery associated with fast food commercials evoke excitement, longing and lust:
speeding cars and bikes, bungee jumping, soaring high or diving deep, jumping out of a
plane, doing parkour; activities that generate awe. In brief, the images appeal to the heart,
blood pumps in and there is a sense of L'Amour de la vie.
On the other hand the health food commercials are sober, slow, convey rational benefits
and uphold reasoning. If they play out when you are in the mood to be entertained, the
mind may absorb but the heart yawns. How about health food communication where
someone leaps off a cliff tethered to a bungee chord? Even the disclaimer could be
changed to all actions are real and performed by real people (thanks to staying healthy ) ,
no VFX used. Maybe the ads should scream - "this is the right choice people and this is
the real deal." Any takers?"
Baba Shiv is the Sanwa Bank, Limited, Professor of Marketing at Stanford Graduate
School of Business, Stanford University. Devendra Chawla is CEO of Future
Consumer Ltd.
Views expressed are personal
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'Th Ki K d hi Pi i l ' th
'The Kim Kardashian Principle' author on

hate being a 'status symbol' and why Top Trending Terms
shameless sells Samsung Galaxy S9 BMW 6 Series Sridevi Funeral
By Delshad Irani, ET Bureau | May 31, 2017, 05.16 AM IST
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MUMBAI: In conversation with Oxford and ex-Ogilvy man Jeetendr Sehdev on his book
'The Kim Kardashian Principle: Why Shameless Sells (and How to Do It Right)', we find
why brands, both people and products, should take a bash at being polarising, and how to
conect with digital natives, among other things.
When Sehdev was a Mad Man

I was at Harvard and I remember Martin (Sorrell) coming to campus and wooing us with
the creative world of advertising and marketing communications. We had a great chat
about the industry and I was immediately hooked. Besides, I had already worked in
banking and consulting so what else was there to do?
The good, bad and ugly ad times

The best times were building some of the most iconic brands in the world like American
Express, Mars and Dove. The worst times included having to deal with the ignorance of an
industry that lacks diversity. The ugly… hmmm… I distinctly remember making someone
cry. I still feel bad about it but all's fair in love and war, especially amongst a group of
passionate people!
From adland to La La Land

I felt my learning curve had plateaued and I wanted a larger platform to influence change
and an opportunity to speak my mind. I also wanted to run my own show. I'd always been
fascinated with Hollywood and celebrities so I started creating the area of celebrity
branding. The world media became increasingly interested in my opinion on everything
from Britney Spears to Burberry, so working in the media was a natural progression.
Turning Kim Kardashian and her rear into a marketing principle
Kim's a pioneer, a cultural phenomenon, a force to be reckoned with and a new world
leader. Every CEO should be paying close attention to how she's cultivating a millennial
following and transforming the world. On a personal note, I believe in freedom of
expression and equal rights for all. I was intrigued by her antics, felt liberated by her
cultural leadership, and wanted others to feel free to live their lives too - without judgment.
Stodgy brands stuggling to connect with digital natives could use a dose of of KKP
Don't traffic in shame or continue to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Playing it
safe is risky
1 Bringing in abusiness today. Show
celebrity endorsement pavesus
thewhat 2
youHow
really think
Indian and feel.
smartphones are Break through
losing out to China by 3 Adidas has become the first sportswear brand in 4
By Diwali w
path to success
expressing yourself and your honest point of view.
p gy y p
Applying the KKP to your own life

I'm not blonde, I'm not 23 and I'm the world authority on celebrity. I hope this shows that
I'm living and breathing the KKP, and blazing my own trail in Hollywood!
On haters and headlines like this one on Jezebel: 'The Kim Kardashian Principle Is a
Depraved Bible for the Trump Age.'
Hasn't Gawker media filed for bankruptcy yet? Hate today is a status symbol and a
legitimate form of engagement. It means you've struck a nerve and got people to think,
and that's exactly what I'm interested in doing - provoking thought. My book is an
expression of who I am and what I'm seeing, thinking and feeling. I'm not condoning a
particular way of life or endorsing a particular political party; I'm just presenting my
perspective on what sorts of images, products and ideas are breaking through and
encouraging the reader to make up their own mind.
Branding lessons from leaders Trump and Trudeau, Modi and Macron
Ideas today need to be you-centric, not audience-centric. Some of our strongest leaders
are polarising. Consumers are too savvy to fall for contrived party lines from spin doctors.
Be open and transparent about what you believe and empower your audiences to decide
whether they agree. Our new world leaders are more fearless and unashamed than
before. Fortune favors the bold, today more than ever before.
The next chapter

I can't wait to share what's next with my fans. I would like to take a vacation given I haven't
had one in eleven years. So maybe Bora Bora. Any takers?
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Read more on Kim Kardashian Jeetendr Sehdev Shruti Haasan Gawker Brands
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NEXT STORY

Snapdeal
1 failed miserably
2 at building a
Bringing in a celebrity endorsement paves the
path to success
How Indian smartphones are losing out to China 3 Adidas has become the first sportswear brand in
India to cross the Rs 1,000-cr revenue mark 4 By Diwali w
Micromax's
di ti t b d id tit
distinct brand identity Top Trending Terms

By Rahul Sachitanand, ET Online | May 31, 2017, 05.15 AM IST

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Snapdeal’s Dil Ki Deal featuring Aamir Khan.
If you're closely associated with Brand Snapdeal over the past couple of years, odds are
you spent most of your time fire-fighting. From the glow of the once-admired brand ($6.5
billion in valuation at its peak and a serious contender to lead India's exploding
ecommerce market), the venture has seen its stock slip and slide. And along the way, its
brand, embellished by a Rs 200 crore Unbox Zindagi campaign, fall by the way side. Its
former brand ambassador, Aamir Khan was axed in the face of intense blowback for his
comments on growing intolerance in India, and worse, it became collateral damage for
rampaging trolls, who downvoted its application for comments made by Evan Spiegel, the
CEO of Snapchat, an instant messaging app, headquartered a long way away, in Los
Angeles. In between, the company faced complaints that it sold prescription drugs online,
was mercilessly trolled for delivering soap bars instead of cell phones and was attacked for
abruptly sacking hundreds of employees when its business fumbled. As Karthik
Srinivasan, national lead at Social@Ogilvy put it, via a recent update on Facebook,
"Snapdeal will be remembered as the app most often uninstalled by Indians for assorted,
sometimes misdirected and
pointless reasons."

1 Bringing
Unbox in a celebrity
Zindagi endorsement
commercial paves the
by Snapdeal. 2 HowBCCL)
(Image: Indian smartphones are losing out to China 3 India to cross the Rs 1,000-cr revenue mark
4 Micromax's
path to success
It wasn't always so. The company, founded as a daily deals site by two friends Kunal Bahl
and Rohit Bansal, later pivoted to ecommerce and snagged a list of marquee investors to
back its ambitious plans.
While the unfettered growth story held until 2014, the last couple of years have seen the
brand take a battering, with consumers shifting to larger rivals, clients taking to the
internet, alleging non-payment of long-pending dues and new investors shying away from
making any fresh commitments. It is little surprise then that Snapdeal is close to being sold
for a billion dollars - or even less - to one time arch-rival-turned-saviour Flipkart. "Snapdeal
was a part of the 'Rising Tide' phenomenon we saw in e-commerce," says Ambi
Parameswaran, a brand strategist and Founder of Brand-Building.com, a brand advisory. "
(But) it had no unique customer value proposition to offer, since all e-commerce brands
were offering deals in a snap." In this context, the costly Unbox Zindagi campaign did not
signify anything new. Particularly damaging at a time when the competition was running
distinctive ads - Amazon pushing assortment with Aur Dikhao, and Flipkart explaining
features via its revived 'kids as grownups' campaign. The costly (in money and reputation)
Aamir Khan ads too did little to aid its brand building. If Flipkart built its delivery backbone -
cofounders Sachin and Binny Bansal famously even made their own deliveries when the
venture was little more than a book business - global giant Amazon was streets ahead in
terms of technology. Snapdeal made a belated entry into the logistics space, backing
GoJavas, but it may have missed the proverbial bus.
To try to make up for lost time, Snapdeal's high-voltage re-branding campaign may have
been a last-ditch attempt to stay afloat. "It was evident that Snapdeal was heavily investing
in branding and media in order to gain market traction," says Carl Savio, founder of
Bluebot Digital, a digital marketing agency, who has worked with firms such as Practo,
Bankbazaar and Bluestone. "Their last campaign seemed like an all-out attempt at shifting
the needle… Advertising can only create desire and awareness - it cannot make-up for a
bad product or influence market dynamics." Part of the challenge, for Snapdeal, is being
noticed (or, was being noticed) in a cut-throat and rapidly commoditising market. "You tend
to fight a never-winning brand battle in a commodity space," says marketing consultant,
Harish Bijoor. "There are just too many doing the same thing, vying for the same set of
eyeballs and wallets … the consumer surfs through them all and buys from the lowest
price - great for the consumer, terrible for the brand. There is no brand here. Just plain old
commodity." With a fire sale around the corner, Bahl and Bansal may have learnt some
tough brand lessons along the way.
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Is OnePlus revamping its brand strategy? NEXT STORY Adidas has become the first sportswear brand in By Diwali w
path to success
How two wires and cables manufacturers are

trying to become household names Top Trending Terms
By Delshad Irani, ET Online | May 31, 2017, 05.14 AM IST

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Rawal is a Member of Parliament and from the ruling party.
Last week, actor Paresh Rawal tweeted this: "Instead of tying stone pelter on the army
jeep tie Arundhati Roy!" This, by any standard, wasn't just a cheap shot, but rather
insidious given the fact that Rawal is a Member of Parliament and from the ruling party.
And, you know, a seemingly evolved homo sapien.
Typically, in situations where well-known individuals expose the world to new heights of
idiocy or simply express an unpopular view, the brands these celebrities endorse often
become collateral damage. One of the most prominent cases was that of Aamir Khan and
Snapdeal. The brand was essentially pressured into dropping Khan as an ambassador
after the Dangal maker's statement was deemed "anti-national". Though that wasn't the
official reason. It was just business, the company said. In the long run, it all worked out just
fine, for Khan at least. He was recently spotted wrestling in China.
Can you feel as strongly about wires as about what you eat? (Image: BCCL)
4 By Diwali w
Rawal, while not
path to success as hot as Khan on the ad circuit, has a fair number of brands in his kitty. India to cross the Rs 1,000-cr revenue mark Micromax's
Th li t i l d i d bl f t P l b F t t l f P l b it
The list includes wires and cables manufacturer Polycab. Fortunately for Polycab, it seems
nobody has bothered to demand an apology or all-out boycott after @SirPareshRawal's
tweet. Some did suggest the wires could double up as rope, though. But the reaction was
muted, because, well, wires. Who cares, right?
That, for a while, has been the lot of brands in low-involvement categories. Few manage to
break through with truly memorable advertising. Think Fevicol, Asian Paints or Havells,
which never fails to make flipping a switch at least a bit entertaining. In 2015, Ambuja
Cement gave us a commercial that was considered among the funniest that year starring
The Great Khali c.
Now, wire makers want their spot in the light after providing us safe ways to light our
homes. When RR Kabel needed to establish its global credentials it launched the
#AkalmandThing campaign. Says director Kirti Kabra, "We were focusing on B2B as well
as the consumer market. Now we've put more emphasis on the latter as the market has
matured and become more organised."
Kirti Kabra, Director, RR Kabel. (Image: BCCL)
Over at Sony Pictures Network, vice-president and business head, Neeraj Vyas tells us
cables manufacturers are one of the biggest category advertisers in the Indian Premier
League. A shift that's happened over the past couple of years.
Polycab released 11 commercials during the 10th edition of the IPL. The strategy provided
some differentiation in a category that's generally about bijli bachao, bachat pao. Only the
creative device differs. Havells, for instance, often uses humour. Polycab's recent
campaign, on the other hand, just has Rawal advising people anxious about their whopper
bills to switch to Polycab.
Says Sangeetha N, president (W) and national creative director of ad agency RK Swamy
BBDO, "We created 11 original TVCs, each in a different language - Hindi, Punjabi,
Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. For
the first time in the country, these language versions ran on national TV during the IPL."
Polycab needed a national platform and the IPL was a natural choice. The brand, to
borrow from internet slang, "broke the IPL" through the use of 11 languages. "Every
language in India is large - Malayalam is spoken by over 30 million people, which is more
than the population of many European countries. The scheduling of the languages was
also strategic - each language received exposure whenever the teams from that region
played," she tells us, "The cut-through was dramatic." It's a strategy that was name
checked by Pepsi's Vipul Prakash in a recent interaction with Brand Equity, while talking
about his plans to go national with the local patois seen on the new Pepsi cans.
For Ishardware brands,itsestablishing

OnePlus revamping brand strategy? an emotional connect is tough. How do you feel as
4 By Diwali w
Micromax's
strongly about
path to successwires as you do about what you eat, drink or wear? For both, Polycab and
RR Kabel the answer lies in simple truths. The strength of connection arises from the core
proposition. For Kabra's RR Kable, its safety; "Quality is the strength of a brand. It's easy
to create a connection. We just have to be honest about the product." But Indians want
safety and bachat. Says Sangeetha N, "India is frugal. And so Polycab's connection to a
core desire to save is strong. Suddenly, wires are not so low-interest anymore."
And who knows! Maybe the next time @SirPareshRawal makes a potentially nasty tweet,
somebody, somewhere may demand Polycab be held responsible.If they agree with him,
they just may rewire the entire home. Achievement unlocked.
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For mobile wallet players, it's survival of the

fittest, not the fastest Top Trending Terms
By Rajiv Singh, ET Bureau | May 24, 2017, 05.20 AM IST

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WhileBringing Adidas has become the first sportswear brand in By Diwali w
1 so far allinthe players endorsement
a celebrity have kept themselves
paves thebusy shaping
2 How strategies to load their wallet
Indian smartphones with VC
are losing out funding,
to Chinawhat3will
4 Micromax's
help path
themtosurvive
successand grow.
DELHI: Pictures might tell a story, but numbers instil life into it. Take, for instance, mobile
wallet startup MobiKwik. Since last November, it's been adding 10,000 merchants every
day.
"We have doubled in last seven months," says Upasana Taku, cofounder of the Gurgaon-
based firm, which claims to have 55 million users and over 1.5 million merchants. We have
a field force of thousand people, each acquiring 10 merchants every day, claims Taku.
It's not only MobiKwik; the entire wallet market has exploded from Rs 33.05 billion last
November to `73.12 billion in March this year. The wallet volume, however, has grown at a
faster clip: from 99.57 million last October to 307.45 million in March according to Reserve
Bank of India data. The result, consequently, has been nothing short of spectacular for
wallet players who have been aggressively adding users, and consumers who have been
making the most of cashbacks and freebies.
"It's a great Indian wallet tamasha," says Ashita Aggarwal, head of marketing at SP Jain
Institute of Management and Research. "Might of wallet and fight for wallet have just
begun," she adds. But as the scramble to catch users gathers pace, only the deep-
pocketed will survive. And the first big one to bow out is Snapdeal-owned Freecharge,
which has reportedly been on the block and might get snapped by rival Paytm.
But for one every exit, there are many others either queuing up or who've just entered.
Take, for instance, Swedish communication biggie Truecaller which tied up with ICICI Bank
in March this year to launch a UPI-based mobile payment service from its app. Truecaller
Pay will allow users to instantly create a UPI ID, send money to any UPI ID or mobile
number registered with the BHIM app. It will also enable users to recharge their mobile
numbers from within the Truecaller app, the bank said in a release. Then there is global
payments major PayPal which has applied for mobile wallet license in India. Amazon
recently received a prepaid payment instrument license, and WhatsApp too might take the
plunge.
Bhavik Vasa, chief growth officer of ItzCash, contends the market opportunity is huge as
85% of the population is still dealing with cash.
"We have witnessed more than 6.5 lakh transactions a day," claims Vasa, adding that the
digital payments company has so far raised about $51 million from investors such as
Matrix Partners, Intel Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. ItzCash, he asserts, is the
only player in the industry to have turned profitable, driving a CAGR of nearly 40% for the
fiscal 2016-17.
"Wallet wars should be seen in the context of a big shift in India ie privatisation of cash,"
says marketing expert Jessie Paul. While consumers would like to use a single wallet
across transactions, the merchants would like to use the cheapest mechanism. Cash, she
reckons, is the most popular and ubiquitous option, and other payment options are used
either for convenience, credit or because there is a discount associated.
"If the primary function of a wallet is payment then there is no opportunity for differentiation
and consolidation is a must," contends marketing expert Jessie Paul. A case in point is
when online payments service provider PayU bought Mumbai based rival Citrus Pay for
$130 million (Rs 865 crore) last September.
"Smaller players will find it difficult to survive against the power of capital dumping," says
Jitendra Gupta, managing director of digital payments provider PayU India, which claims to
have seen almost 2X jump post demonetisation. While for consumer business, capital
plays an important role, customer behaviour is heavily influenced by incentives.
"However, in the long run, product and customer experience will win," he avers, adding
that the fate of even a well-funded e-commerce players can't be taken for granted, hinting
at Snapdeal's impending buyout by Flipkart. "Wallets will face tough competition from UPI,"
he predicts. It will more or less become an engagement platform at low cost. "The platform
has potential to transform in to a full service financial services player," he adds.
ThisIsis what revamping

OnePlus Paytm isitstrying. Starting as a mobile wallet player, it has morphed into a
brand strategy?
4 Micromax's
payments bank. The company last week roped in Japanese internet and telecom
path to success
conglomerate SoftBank, which pumped in $1.4 billion at a valuation of $7 billion.
Marketing experts reckon that while Paytm has managed to pip its ecommerce and fintech
peers in valuation and visibility, and has also pocketed strategic investors like Alibaba and
SoftBank, what is yet to be seen how it pares its losses and turns profitable as Indian
ecommerce players continue to bleed heavily on the back of aggressive advertising,
marketing and promotional expenses.
Paytm reportedly saw its net losses climb four-fold to Rs 1,549 crore for the year ended
March 31, 2016, according to documents filed with the Registrar of Companies. Paytm
declined to comment on the story.
While so far all the players have kept themselves busy shaping strategies to load their
wallet with VC funding, what will help them survive and grow would be an equal emphasis
on loading their wallets with profits.
"Till that happens, it's well begun, but half done," says Aggarwal of SP Jain Institute of
Management and Research.
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What happened when women in rural India

wanted to use payment apps Top Trending Terms
By Delshad Irani, ET Bureau | May 24, 2017, 05.19 AM IST

Comments



honours in Mumbai

Is OnePlus revamping its brand strategy? partner: Boney Kapoor sharesbrand
touching
Adidas has become the first sportswear in message
1 Bringing in a celebrity endorsement paves the 2 How Indian smartphones are losing out to China 3 India to for
cross the Rs 1,000-cr revenue mark
Sridevi
4 By Diwali w
Micromax's
path to success

television set yet
More »
Breaking entry barriers, changing behaviours and making the use of e-wallets seem like child's play or at least not so
threatening are the other major hurdles.
MUMBAI: If one is even a tiny bit of a Luddite, the mere thought of using online
mechanisms to carry out day-to-day transactions ought to be terrifying. Losing humanity to
Facebook and its kind was bad enough. Now, Paytm! MobiKwik! Some new combination of
familiar words, that's no doubt in the works even as you read this! A terrifying prospect
especially in a world of sluggish connections and viruses that make the one devouring
mankind in World War Z look like a harmless heat rash, easily cured with thanda Dermi
Cool talc.
Fortunately for some, we're already quite used to yielding to this tidal wave of
technological marvels meant to make our lives simpler, happier and more efficient,
particularly in 2017 AD (After Demonetisation). However, can you imagine what it must feel
like for a person who recently held a smartphone for the very first time, an individual who
has just about grasped Google Search?
A few months ago Brand Equity spoke with women in rural India who are part of Google
and Tata Trust's 'Internet Saathi' program, a long-term initiative to promote digital literacy in
the hinterland. It covers 300,000 villages, by employing women and training them to use
the internet. In turn, Google's unlikeliest power-users teach others the Internet ropes. The
women we spoke with were, by then, comfortable handling a smartphone and had
mastered basics like Search and selfies. They shared with their desire to learn how to use
payment apps; "mujhe Paytm sikhna hai", they told us. As it turned out this task was far
more daunting.
When we caught up with them again, we made some interesting discoveries. For starters,
once cash is back, Paytm is kind of out.
Parvati Khushwa, who lives in a city called Dholpur in Rajasthan (population - 126,142),
has not used any of the payments apps yet as there's no shortage of cash now. However,
people in her village often ask about mobile banking apps. That's why she's still keen to
learn, so she can teach those interested. Just like Khushwa was before cash flow
improved.
A millennial by age, Laxmi Rani of Patahensal in West Bengal has downloaded Paytm and
SBI's Buddy but the apps are dormant. She is afraid she may do something wrong, losing
money in the process. With cash on the other hand, naturally, one feels more in control
and secure. Also, she's very confused as different people keep recommending different
apps. If it's any consolation, she hasn't offloaded the apps she's downloaded thus far. Rani
wants to learn and hopes to put the apps to good use, one day.
For their part, banks and the independent ewallet players are trying to these apps less
intimidating. With wallets like SBI's Buddy, banks' pedigrees and extensive footprints help
by providing a sense of accessibility, familiarity and security. Meanwhile ewallet players
have introduced multilingual interface, some accommodating up to 11 languages including
Gujarati, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
Speaking the same language is a business imperative if e-wallets want to make any kind
of impact outside big cities. Breaking entry barriers, changing behaviours and making the
use of e-wallets seem like child's play or at least not so threatening are the other major
hurdles. One way to ease people in to this shift is through collaboration and tie-ups with
programs like Internet Saathi, which has achieved a reasonable degree of success.
MobiKwik did just that earlier this year. Meanwhile, after a recent fund raise of Rs 9000
crore from Japanese conglomerate Softbank, Paytm's parent One97 plans to invest Rs
10,000 crore over the next 3-5 years in bringing 500 million customers on board. A
significant number will come from towns like Dholpur and Patahensal.
Which
path brings us to the big question; once women like Laxmi, no longer petrified of Pay-
to success
whatchamacallit, come on board, can the cash-rich ewallet-wallahs retain these new users
when their offline wallets are again full of laxmi?
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Why you must install an anti-virus and not

trust e-wallets with safety Top Trending Terms
By Rajiv Singh, Ravi Balakrishnan, ET Bureau | May 24, 2017, 05.18 AM IST

Comments



honours in Mumbai

for Sridevi

television set yet
More »
No wonder, even wallet companies have become reactive if not pro-active.
DELHI & MUMBAI: Sonam Chauhan follows a strict thumb rule when it comes to mobile
wallets: never park more money. The reason: Last August, her account was hacked and
Rs 9,000 'vanished' in a few seconds. Despite her repeated attempts to get the amount
refunded from her wallet company - which outrageously blamed her - the 27 year old
fashion designer was left high and dry.
4 Micromax's
Moral
pathof
to the story, reckons Chauhan, is that one must install anti-virus and not trust e-
success
wallets with safety. "Even mobile wallets can be pick-pocketed," she grins.
Ironically, the losses for consumers like Chauhan have resulted in a windfall for anti-virus
software firms. Take, for instance, Russia-based Kaspersky Lab which has seen a spike in
its anti-virus kit download as Indians get hooked to digital payments. After demonetisation,
says managing director of Kaspersky Lab in South Asia, Altaf Halde, there has been an
increase in the download of our internet security for Android from the Play Store as well as
retail outlets. The rising tide is lifting all ships: news reports quoting Amazon's India
operations claimed mobile antivirus clocked a growth of 100% through 2016.
Last December, global chipset maker Qualcomm reportedly said that wallets and mobile
banking applications in India are not using hardware level security which can make online
transactions more secure. "Users password can be stolen. Users use fingerprint which
might be captured...in India that is the case for most of all digital wallets and mobile
banking apps," Qualcomm senior director Sy Choudhury reportedly said.
Industry body Assocham too sounded a word of caution last year. "India will likely face a
65% hike in mobile payment frauds in 2017," declared a joint Assocham and EY study last
December. Mobile frauds are areas of great concern for companies as 40%-45% of
financial transactions are done via mobile devices and this is expected grow to 60%-65%,
it added.
Halde of Kaspersky has pressed on the marketing pedal since last November. "To clean
India you don't need a broom or a mop. You just need anti-virus," says Halde, pointing to
the 'Clean India digitally' campaign that his company has been running to educate people
about the need to protect their devices, including smartphones.
From doling out activation cards at events and exhibitions, to providing free internet
security kits for Android software along with purchases of desktop and laptops solutions, to
six-month free mobile security to those registering on the Kaspersky site and even
connecting with school students through newsletters promoting safe internet habits while
using laptops and mobile devices, Halde has been expanding his catchment area.
Also throwing its hat in the ring is homegrown anti-virus company Quick Heal, which
immediately after demonetisation, ran a TV campaign titled Free-wala Antivirus Mehenga
Padta Hai and which is now associated with IPL team Rising Pune Supergiants.
Quick Heal claims to have seen a huge spike post Wannacry. Says its MD and CTO,
Sanjay Katkar, "We have over 7 million customers and half our users have our solutions on
multiple devices. The ransomware outbreak has highlighted the point that no one is 100%
secure."
Ironically the biggest challenge, reckons Halde, in the fight against malicious software is
people themselves. "The weakest link is the human factor," he says, adding that people
download and install apps without checking credentials. We give away entire right,
authorisation, permissions to the apps to have control of our contacts, voice, data and
camera. "We blindly open links on our smartphone which may be malicious," he rues.It's
such behaviour that Quick Heal is trying to caution against through its social media
channels and its advertising. Katkar says, "We teach consumers about the benefits offered
by paid antivirus solutions like safe banking, privacy protection, anti-ransomware, anti-
phishing, enhanced firewall and web security."
No wonder, even wallet companies have become reactive if not pro-active. Last March,
Paytm rolled out wallet insurance cover in case of theft, loss of device or unauthorized
access of wallet. All Paytm users with balance in their wallets - up to Rs 20,000 - would be
automatically covered under this scheme at no extra cost and lost money would be
refunded to their wallets, the Alibaba-backed wallet company said in its blog.
It's too early to say which online payment habit will be the most sticky. But given the
ingenuity of virtual thieves, the bug zappers of the virtual world are counting on there
always being a need for their services.
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