- OnePlus has appointed Siddhant Narayan as India’s head of marketing. Narayan will be responsible in his new role in elevating the brand’s position.
OnePlus has appointed Siddhant Narayan as India’s head of marketing. Narayan will be responsible in his new role for elevating the brand’s position by leading the marketing strategy to establish a deeper connection and increase brand salience with the Indian consumer.
Narayan will lead to ongoing marketing efforts by the company to develop its associated ecosystem business in India. He will play a crucial role in strengthening the brand positioning, media, and creative strategies of OnePlus, along with their culture and engagement with the community.
Before joining OnePlus, Narayan was Daniel Wellington’s marketing head for the Indian subcontinent, where he launched the brand in India and developed a marketing strategy for the omnichannel. He also worked as Reliance Jio’s Head of Brand Story and was an integral part of Nike’s Marketing Team, contributing enormously to the creation of global and regional brand campaigns to bring the iconic sports brand spirit to life in India.
Narayan is an MIT School of Business alumnus, Pune, and holds a degree in Advertising and PR from Welingkar Management Institute, Mumbai.
His role in OnePlus will include building the Cross Category Brand Narrative to elevate the positioning of OnePlus in India. Craft strategies for all Marketing teams, including Digital, Advertising, Public Relations, Communications, Media Buying, Project Management, and Community Management. Design and implement comprehensive marketing plans to create Brand awareness, saliency, and engagement. Lead the Team to Define the Roadmap for the Brand Strategy in India. Strengthen Consumer Connect and Brand Emotion.
OnePlus became 1st smartphone (premium) brand to cross 2 million shipments in a year. Coming to Samsung which slipped to 3rd spot in smartphone market share, declined 2 percentage points YoY in the premium smartphone market in India.
Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Plus was the top-selling flagship for the company last year which contributed to Samsung’s ultra-premium segment shipments grew by 24% YoY. Samsung’s overall shipments reached 79% last year (as compared to 62% in 2018).
Competition coming from OnePlus and affordable premium offering from Oppo (Reno series), Asus (6Z) and Xiaomi (Redmi K20 Pro) ate Samsung’s premium smartphone market share. To give it a fight, Samsung launched a lite version of Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite.
Apple was the fastest growing premium smartphone brand in 2019 with 41% YoY driven by multiple price cuts on iPhone XR throughout the year. Apple iPhone XR was no.1 ultra-premium smartphone model in India.
This year Apple Inc saw the fastest rollout of its new iPhone 11 with aggressive pricing and channel strategy. 2020 might be a game-changer for Apple in the premium smartphone market in India but for now, OnePlus playing above and beyond Apple Inc.
