What should be the marketing strategy for gadget brands?

As the country has progressed over the years, access and interest in gadgets have also gone up significantly. There’s been a sharp penetration of gadgets throughout urban and rural India, making brands in this space seek out ways to elevate their products in front of their customers through different strategies. At Pitch BrandTalk 2023 conference held on Wednesday, a panel discussion was held on the topic, ‘How gadget brands can build brand preference among digital savvy shoppers.’

The panel was chaired by Sameer Mitha, Associate Director -Marketing and Business Development 91mobiles, and consisted of Anuj Sidharth, Deputy Director- Marketing and Corporate Communication, MediaTek, Mayuri Saikia, Director of Marketing (Consumer) Dell Technologies India, Shivam Ranjan, Marketing Head – Asia Pacific, Motorola Mobility and Shivani Chopra, Marketing Head, Consumer PC and Peripherals, HP India.

The discussion revolved around the need for brands to be relevant and adapt solution-focused marketing and emphasizing brand storytelling for marketing.

For a company like Motorola, Shivam Ranjan said, it was important to build its strategies around the changing times. “And that’s exactly what the company did over the years which has helped it to stay relevant with customers across years,” he said.

For a not-so-visible product like chip, it is a different ballgame altogether but a similar approach. When it comes to marketing chip, Anuj Sidharth of MediaTek says, “We have seen that in markets like India, consumers are caring about what is inside the device, what kind of speed is there, what kind of memory is there or what kind of GPU is there. So, it is becoming really, really important for the brands like MediaTek to bring the right kind of content for the end-consumer so that he or she can make the right decision when they are doing any kind of buying in any of these categories.”

Speaking about changing dynamics in marketing, Shivani Chopra of HP India, says, “When you talk about marketing, your own brands and assets become important because in instances like content marketing, you can use your own assets a lot more effectively. We truly know that even when the consumer starts with the research and evaluation phase, they are not in the mood for a display banner that says we are running 10% off please go buy. One of the things, the industry ecosystem needs to understand is that consumers are either looking for a solution to their problem, or benefit for their use, and what they expect from technology companies is expert advice. It’s a great way to use your own assets, that is your website or your store, to establish that connect with your consumers.”

Mayuri Saikia spoke about brands driving customer choices. “I think as a brand or as marketers, it’s our responsibility to make sure that the right content for the right product is there for the right customer so that they make the right choices. They should be happy no matter what they buy. There are multiple brands, different products or similar kinds of products in similar kinds of price bands. But we should help them find what suits them.”