Many if not most original equipment manufacturer (OEM) rely on loyalists to sell their products through word of mouth. These vanguards serve as flag bearers who are expected to know most, if not all of the details, of the parts of a smartphone.
Read: Samsung Galaxy S7 vs iPhone 6s
It is very evident how they do their marketing strategies. Ads. Ads. Ads. Everywhere. Tons of review units shipped to bloggers, Youtubers, etc. Making a lifestyle skewed towards pointing out that the smartphone is now a need and not a want like this ad from apple or this ad from Samsung. You get what I mean.
Read: Asus Zenfone Zoom vs Samsung Galaxy S6
Yes, it is and was a far fetched idea to open markets outside of Japan and Korea for this brand but they knew they couldn’t compete with the bigger brother and sister OEMs so ASUS cut their price to position flagships at half the price of larger brands but slightly more than budget. They surely got the ball rolling and got people talking about phone alternatives.
See also: Xiaomi Mi Max Full Review
What better way to push for word of mouth than your followers? Get them in on it. All of them. No other company has made a bigger following from the get go like Xiaomi. Yes, we see social media pushes from all the other brands but Xiaomi has pushed it further by letting its loyal followers in on announcements first even before media. It knows how to take care of its loyal following and it shows.
See also: OnePlus 3 vs Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe
How can you get a new name out in the market of loud and blinding ads and marketing? Challenge them all. In the most controversial way, you can. Upon OnePlus’ release, they had people smashing their phones on video to get the new OnePlus One (2014). They used an invite system to get people talking about how exclusive the phone is. VR release of the OnePlus 2, smallest drone. Name it and it seems OnePlus has done it all.
Which one is most effective?
You tell us. What brands and OEMs have been most influential for you? Let us know in the comments section.
Mabuhay, Manila.
