boAt Lifestyle- A Brand That Helps Plug Into Nirvana

 Well, if you are someone who loves music and has earphones plugged in most of the time, then you’ve probably heard about this brand. Well-established in India now, boAt is only four years old and was incorporated in 2016 by Aman Gupta. Since then, it has captivated millennials across the spectrum with its attractive pricing, cool-looking boAt earphones and other products, and grass-root understanding of what young consumers want.

If we look back at the audio industry in India, it has changed a lot in the last five years. The earphones used to be a complementary product with a new mobile phone, but slowly, phone companies started avoiding this free item to save some cost, and therefore, the market grew at a faster pace.

Personalization also provided the market, a good boost with people wanting to have multiple pairs of earphones for different usage. Things that made boAt different from brands like Bose Corporation, Sony Corporation, and Bang & Olufsen are its pricing strategy and also the goal of creating products aspirational as well as affordable for the customers.

While it is a tough place to be in the competitive Indian pricing market, boAt has been able to keep an Average Selling Price (ASP) of Rs. 700 till last year, which now has gone up to Rs.1100, this year. Not only this, but they have also made sure they provide the best experience by developing a considerably affordable earphone with premium features like noise cancellation, which was previously part of elements in the premium segment only.

The strategy that has helped the boAt grow

The sole aim to start the corporation in 2016 was to bring affordable, durable, and, more importantly, ‘fashionable’ audio products and accessories to millennials. By capturing a market share of 27.3 percent in such a short span, boAt has done something that was not widely seen in the segment. From the revenue of 27 crores in the year 2016, it has come a long way by earning almost more than 100 crores revenue in 2018.

It has a multi-channel approach in terms of distribution partnerships with tie-ups with leading e-commerce channels like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, Myntra, and other retail channels.

Also, significant investment in marketing has helped boAt gain market share in this category. Every day the brand sells 8,000 to 10,000 units, which turns out to be 5 products every minute.

boAt’s marketing strategy

1. Bringing a shift in consumer’s mindset

boAt does not sell its products like consumer electronics. It sells its products as a lifestyle accessory and aspires to portray its products as a part of everyday fashion. Consumers buy style today, and the brand is all set to provide them as per their taste. The co-founders and CEO of the company consider this as the third most crucial characteristic alongside sound quality and durability.

Portraying its products as the daily life consumer product, boAt has made successful growth in its 4-year career.

2. Signing up Celebrity Brand Ambassadors

The boAt has carefully divided millennials into followers of subcultures — cricket, Bollywood, and music — and roped in influencers from these spaces to engage with them. In the music category, it has Neha Kakkar and Guru Randhawa, from Bollywood, Kartik Aryan. From the cricket community, it has names such as Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Jasprit Bumrah under its banner and has recently roped in Shreyas Ayer as its brand ambassador. Around 90% of the marketing budget goes to digital space, but the organization still prefers to tap the print media at times.

3. Introducing innovation around the products

boAt believes that innovation is the only way to get customers. So, the company keeps on bringing newer products in the market, which satisfy the consumer’s needs with more efficient technology.

The expansion of the customer base is one of the primary goals of the organization. It has performed fantastically in the urban areas. Though it has not been able to ruralize its reach, it is planning to expand its internationally in a few years.

boAt Heads- boAt’s community

Customers are king, and no product has ever failed, which cares for customers’ needs. Hence, taking constructive feedback from 2 million boAt heads (boAt’s community comprising loyal consumers) and improving the existing products and incorporating the new products have helped them win customer loyalty over time. The community has increased from a base of 0.8 million in 2018 to 2 million by 2020.

How do they make it affordable?

The manufacturing is extensively based out of China to balance the cost and product efficiency.  The best way to describe its operations is, boAt headphones are designed in India but assembled in China.

Now, here comes the most significant challenge amidst the current pandemic that will change the situation for the company. Nobody, conclusively, knows about the extent of uncertainty and the company needs to decide whether they will go with the strategy of Make In India like other smartphone makers or would they be following any different approach?

Where is the market-leading to?

As per the recent data by IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, the domestic ‘Earwear’ market grew 443.6% during 2019, making it one of the fastest-growing consumer electronics categories in the country. India’s mobile phone accessories market may exceed the market revenue of $3.5 billion by 2026, as estimated by the Future Market Insights report. boAt reckons a significant driver of demand shortly will be the massive growth in online video consumption, attracting a diverse set of customers.

After earning Rs 300 crore in revenue in FY19, the plan is to take this to Rs 500 crore by FY21 but in the current situation, this is going to be an uphill task, and statements from co-founders are already indicating a shift in the ambitious plans to 2021. Threats from companies like Samsung will always be there, but can boAt sail through the turbulent situation? Only time can tell. Till then, Plug into Nirvana.