Intex Aqua i5 banks on features, price, benefits, to snare smart phone share

Intex entered the smart phone category with the launch of its Aqua series in October 2012. The first week of June 2013 saw the launch of flagship model Aqua i5. Besides signing on Farhan Akhtar as brand ambassador, Intex has lined up aggressive marketing plans.

The first campaign for Aqua went on air during the ICC Champions Trophy.

Campaign India spoke with Keshav Bansal, director- marketing (Mobile), Intex Technologies, to learn more about the campaign and the brand’s plans for the smart phone market.

What was the brief given to the agency for this campaign?

We had this product in mind, which was loaded with all features and specs at an unbelievable price. We wanted to target the youth (18 to 30 years) and we had given some USPs about the phone: 12 megapixel rear camera, five-inch screen, quad core processor and slim design. With this brief and TG in mind, I asked for a clutter-breaking ad. For the same reason they suggested this ‘adventurous’ idea.

What is the MRP of Intex Aqua i5?

The current market operating price of the phone is Rs 11,990. We launched (in the first week of June) at Rs 11,690 but because of the rising price of the dollar, we had to make the change.

What does Intex’s smart phone portfolio consist of currently? Which is the flagship product?

We have two series under our smart phone category. Aqua makes up the premium range. The other (Cloud) is for the mass, which is low budget. Aqua i5 is the flagship product for us. We have around 10 smart phone models across Aqua and Cloud range.

You spoke about the USPs (12 MP camera, five inch screen etc). Is there a feeling that there are too many similar products in the market currently?

When we launched the product, we were the only domestic brand with our offerings. The price is also extremely attractive. The 12 megapixel, quad core processor and design were the major talking points. Other smaller benefits like a free flip cover, screen guard were also offered. Features, price and small benefits would be three good reasons for us to be successful.

Is Intex looking at competing with Indian brands? Or, with this portfolio, can it challenge the bigger players?

I would say all the players in the market are competition to us and I wouldn’t want to specifically name few brands.

Can you shed some information on your media plan?

This campaign is over Rs 20 crore. Rs 15 crore was devoted to TV medium, three crores to print, around the same for outdoor and Rs 50,00,000 for digital. The TV campaign went on air during the ICC Champions Trophy and received a good response. We then targeted GEC, entertainment and news channels. It was important to keep in mind that our TG was youth. We were also present in the tri-series in West Indies. The TV campaign will culminate on 22 July.

For print media, we went pan-India and were present in all top publications. This was a three to four-week campaign, which ends this weekend.

The outdoor hoarding campaign is on its way and will run till the first week of August.

The digital campaign will be spread across two months. We achieved a CTR of 1.89 per cent, against an industry standard of 0.33 per cent. That was a huge leap and we’re doing an extensive campaign on social media, where we are focused on Facebook and Twitter. Our Facebook ‘likes’ increased from 80,000 to 1,40,000 with this campaign. The digital campaign will run until the second week of August.

For BTL, we focused on all our smart phone offerings and used in-shop branding. We had special standees in the shape of Farhan’s cut-out to focus on smart phone’s features.

What is the current market share Intex holds? What’s the target at the end of this campaign?

Current market share in the smart phone category is approximately five to seven per cent and overall category is about six to seven per cent.

Last month, we crossed the Rs 100 crore in sales revenue. We are targeting Rs 120 crores this month.

Any marketing tie-ups in the near future?

Yes, we have tied up with a few films, which are confidential. The one I can reveal is the movie coming on Mary Kom from the Sanjay Leela Bhansali banner. It’s scheduled to release sometime in March or April 2014. We’re looking at other associations too in this category.