Key Takeaways
- Boat is a consumer electronics startup based in Delhi which was started in 2016.
- Boat’s advertising and marketing method proves how even a younger organization can create a huge brand, in a quick span.
- Boat lifestyle gives its merchandise in a manner that doesn’t need too much branding, they make their packaging in such a way that they’re providing something to be treasured, and that makes the clients happy optimally.
- Innovation is a system that by no means ends, and Boat is constantly evolving and converting its merchandise.
- Boat is now a community of over 800,000 customers selling over 6000 products a day.
About the Founders
Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta launched the consumer electronics firm in 2015. Redwood Interactive, which sells computer gaming peripherals under the Red Gear brand, is owned by Sameer Mehta. Aman Gupta, the CMO, worked at JBL for two years and was attracted by technology and gadgets. He also worked in the family business for three years (200710). Before joining the company, he completed royal charter accounting and worked at Citibank from 2003 to 2006. In 2010, he received an MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB), leading to an internship at the accounting firm KPMG. He worked there for a short period of six months, which was enough to influence him. Fascinated by electronics and gadgets, he applied for JBL. The company signed him for two years. Gupta managed the offline sales of startups through stores such as Croma and Reliance Digital. Not long after, he was also involved in product management. His job was to identify suitable products for the Indian market. The knowledge he gained during his time at JBL has benefited him in product development at boat lifestyle.
Boat lifestyle became India’s consumer electronics market top in under five years. Boat is the brand that customers look for when they need earbuds or headsets today. Customers also love the brand so much that in just the fourth year of its existence, it grew to a community of 800,000 customers, which is still growing. According to the most recent figures, it is the market’s newest consumer electronics player, selling over 6000 units every day. Every minute, this deliberates to four units.
Why Headphones?
The company has established itself as a lifestyle brand for fashionable home appliances. boAt Lifestyle was founded solely to provide millennials with affordable, durable, and most important “fashionable” audio products and accessories. They started as a manufacturer and distributor of cables and expanded their catalog to all smart wearables. Today, they sell a wide range of fashionable consumer electronic products, from travel chargers and premium cables to headphones, earphones, and speakers. The company continues to grow and expands its services to millions of “boAtheads” (the term the company uses for all consumers and brand ambassadors). Only four years have passed since the trip started, but more than 800,000 customers have been satisfied and the change in this industry can be noticed.
“We’re like Zara in electronics, not as expensive as luxury brands, not as cheap as Chinese products”
– Sameer Mehta, co-founder, boat
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Start with the basics
- Presentation as a lifestyle brand
Boat lifestyle has established itself as a lifestyle brand despite being a consumer electronics brand.
“We have tried to change the way consumers think. We do not just sell our products like electronic devices. We sell them as lifestyle accessories. Aman Gupta, CEO, and co-founder of Boat was exhibited at Lakme Fashion Week 2019 in Mumbai. Boat products were the only accessory here. The model wore it while walking the ramp for one of the designers.
- Online Marketing
The company adheres to the online mode to sell its products. Brands are moving away from classic media such as television and printed matter. They ran campaigns primarily on Facebook and other social networks. One of the founders cites why millennials are mostly online. Pankaj Mirchandani, the Managing Partner of Rhythm Corner Alaknanda (RCA), an Indian electronics marketer and distributor, said: An online community of boAtheads that currently has about 80,000 members. The company also uses celebrity reviews as a marketing strategy.
“Our products are excellent and, coupled with good marketing, are the secret to success”,
- Ever-Increasing Catalog
After the introduction of rugged Apple charging cables and chargers, their second product was an audio range that included headphones. The company used significant consumer insights to determine that Indians love bass. Their first headphones were called Bass Heads. The organized headphone market is estimated at 30-40 billion and is growing at 20-30% annually. In 2018 boAt launched the speaker, and in 2019 it launched the soundbar and home audio system. The sound bar is priced at 9,000 and sells 30-40 units per day. Sales in 2019 are expected to be 200-300 million.
- Precise targeting
The company offers stylish and affordable products that attract young people. Brand ambassadors are all young faces. Many of the much-talked-about boats can be attributed to India’s most popular passion (and obsession) Bollywood and cricket brand ambassadors. The company also develops products for young people. For example, sports headphones and Bluetooth speakers capture the imagination of Indian millennials, who are increasingly focused on fitness. Consumers choose accessories for training, trails, hiking, and basic lifestyle.– Aman Gupta, CEO, and co-founder, boAt
- Consumer-first approach and improvisation
The company has its terminology for the user community. Anyone who owns a boAt product will be anointed as boAthead and become part of the clan. This gives the user a sense of belonging. The company believes in carefully observing the needs of its users and developing products accordingly. The first product was an elastic Apple charging cable and charger. This product was developed after the founder saw the urgency.
Sanjeev Mehta states: People were happy to stick them on. Therefore, we launched a powerful braided cable with a lifespan of 10,000 bends. Some of the key points of the last three years are that people are increasingly demanding sports and fall-prevention headphones, and that boAt’s products are getting boring. That’s why the startup launched fall protection headphones and introduced interesting colors to their products.
Celebrity Endorsement
It will take several years for a brand to be endorsed by celebrities and personalities. But if the brand is successful, it’s only a matter of years. The boat has a long list of brand ambassadors. From cricketers such as Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandeya, and KL Rahul to actors such as Jacqueline Fernandez, Kiara Advani, and Karl Tik Earl, the brand is touted. If your brand is related to music, you need an ambassador for the music industry. Neha Kakkar and Diljeet Dosanjh, who are also Boat’s brand ambassadors, are two of the biggest stars in the music industry.
Boat is a new brand in the market, but it has established itself in the same way that many other electronics brands have. A brand that is endorsed by a well-known figure, on the other hand, appears to be genuine and gets client trust. And it’s because of this that Boat’s has such a large consumer base.
- New ideas
Boat demonstrates how to reinvent a product category in a variety of ways. BoAt’s are constantly bringing new products to market and are always in the spotlight of our customers. The Boat offers different types of headphones and headsets, including wireless, Bluetooth, and air dope. The product range includes all innovative varieties. - Customer Connection
The boat knows how to get in touch with the customer. Providing good products at affordable prices is not enough to sell a brand. Boats also build relationships with customers. Boat has named a community of loyal customers as boAT heads.
Customers are the soul of any marketing strategy, and Boat’s marketing strategies place the highest priority on customers. We also receive constructive criticism from boAT head community to develop new products and modify existing ones. Boat builds its customer loyalty, and that`s how it has increased its customer base from 0.8 million in2018 to 2 million by 2020. - Event Promotion
Boat also uses an event marketing strategy to promote its brand at different events. Event marketing is a wonderful method to get your business in front of a wide audience, and Boat makes sure to attend all of the major events to promote its brand.
- IPL x Boat
IPL six teams collaborate on a boat. The Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, and Mumbai Indians are the six IPL clubs that boAt has announced its official partnership with this season. Limited-edition earbuds, headphones, and speakers inspired by the team’s emblem and design concepts were also released by BoAt, bringing the stadium closer to fans.
- Boat x Sunburn
Boat sponsors the Sunburn Music Festival. If the product is about music, how can a brand miss a music event? Tanning is Asia’s largest music festival, and boats sponsor this event.
- Boat x LFW
Boat is a part of another epic event, Lakme Fashion Week. At fashion events, brands are advertised as fashion accessories. The model walks the ramp with a boat product.
Boat’s collaboration with Lakme Fashion Week. The brand has a large customer base in event marketing. What is the next step in boat lifestyles marketing strategy? Boat is making strong progress and is planning to become a true wireless earphone market leader. They are also focusing more on our customers’ changing needs and offering new products. Technology is the biggest driver of any change, and Boat plans to make that change through audio equipment.
Competition
- Gonoise
Gonoise is the biggest rival of Boat. It was also founded at Gurgaon, Haryana in 2014. Gonoise competes withinside the digital gadget industry. - Mivi
Mivi comes only second after Gonoise in most important competitors of Boat. It is founded in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, India in 2015. Mivi also operates withinside the digital gadget industry.
- Skullcandy
Skullcandy is likewise one of the pinnacle competitions of Boat. It is founded in Park City, Utah in 2003and is one of the most prominent international consumer electronics brands worldwide. - JBL
JBL has a good market share in the consumer electronics market and is a dominant player too.
Boat - Future Plans
The employer believes that there’s usually a fashion of purchasing earphones alongside brand-new smartphones. Boat unearths this idea to be a channel of fulfillment for them. According to the reports, the main telecellsmartphone makers are withinside the technique of sewing new members of the family with audio companies. For example – Samsung has were given JBL and Harman, Apple has Beats, and so on. These producers are attracting purchasers with warm offers so that the customers don`t purchase earphones or headphones separately.
‘That is wherein the marketplace is moving’, says Aman Gupta.
Video intake might be a call for motive force withinside the coming future.
Boat is presently aiming to offer increasingly more merchandise to meet the increasing number of excessive calls for technological devices and produce them at less expensive fees to its customers with style! The logo desires to assist the Indians to get all of the first-rate technological gadgets that they want from the homegrown logo Boat, without allowing them to depend on the opposite overseas brands.
Conclusion
Boat lifestyles have just entered the market, but have already acquired a huge chunk of the market. The boAt lifestyle offers both a stylish and durable product that is the highlight. The popularity of boAt’s products has forced giants like JBL to lower their products to compete in the affordable audio segment. As mentioned above, Aman is interesting because he was a former employee of JBL. Technology has improved our lives and is currently the largest game-changer in the world we live in. boAt Lifestyle wants to be at the forefront of change in the audio market. The brand doesn’t look stationary, but it’s a great journey. In an interview, CEO Aman Gupta said he hopes to get out of the pandemic and get back on track.
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Sanchit Kelkar
Content writer
Anooj Srivastava
Graphic designer
Swathi Sharma
Editor
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