In today's fiercely competitive market, brands are constantly seeking innovative ways to stand out, and boAt, the audio products company, is no exception. The brand's recent advertising campaign took a bold approach, urging consumers to switch from Apple to boAt.
The print ad showcases the brand's earphones alongside an Apple, with a text overlay stating "Think Better." It takes an additional step by encouraging people not to be 'fanboys', but rather to become boAtheads.
The brand has also released a video advertisement for this campaign with a disclaimer that read, "No Fruits were harmed in the making of this film. It's time to give an Indian brand a chance to compete on the global level. Don’t be a fanboy, be a boAthead."
The ad features a woman discussing her decision to switch to boAt's earphones due to the sound quality. The choice of earphones in question is compared to the scrutiny faced for choosing someone from a different background. Meanwhile, her family, likely Apple users, can be seen questioning her choice of brand, with dialogues like "Kaunsa brand ka hai wo?" and "Log kya kahenge?".
The main aim for the brand with the campaign appears to be taking a playful dig at Apple's loyal fan base, who are known for not taking criticism towards the brand. While this provocative campaign has quickly garnered attention on social media platforms, it has also sparked a debate among netizens. While some applauded boAt's creativity to challenge the status quo, others remained sceptical, questioning the effectiveness of the strategy.
Lakshmipathy Bhat, SVP - Global Marketing & Communications, Robosoft said, "Happy for Boat. Wishing them even more success. But ‘don’t buy Apple products buy mine instead’ is likely to work on those who won’t buy an Apple brand in any case. There are two audiences, mindsets. One large group sees Apple as way too expensive and poor value for money. ‘I can get the same features, badge value at half the price’ is a common outlook."
Independent consultant Karthik Srinivasan believes that boAt's larger agenda was to gain attention. In his blog, he mentioned, "What happens when a beehive is poked? The queen bee couldn’t care less. But the worker bees that have sworn allegiance to the queen would get angry and create mayhem. What happens when people see someone willingly go near a beehive and poke it? People become the audience to see what unfolds – they have rationally kept their distance, but now that someone else doing the poking, it is good fodder for their entertainment."
In a similar line of thought, Sanjay Mehta, Co-founder and Director, Mirum India shared, "The ad is not really focused on the Apple consumers, or with an aim to convert them from their Apple Airpods to purchase boAt products instead. The ad is aimed at the much larger non-Apple user customer base, and to tell them that when they use a boAt product, they are supposedly getting the same (or better?) quality than the Apple product."
Though it was expected to face criticism due to the strong brand loyalty among users, many have raised objections to the brand's assertion of being an 'Indian Brand'.
The criticisms stemmed from a statement made by Aman Gupta, the co-founder of boAt Lifestyle, in an interview with a tech magazine. Gupta mentioned that although the headphones are designed in India, they are assembled in China to maintain a balance between cost and product efficiency.
Here's what a few users had to say about boAt's campaign:
“Sorry boAt, but nice try. Lage Raho (Keep going). By the way, you have a long way to go before you can take potshots at Apple. We will root for you, but don't make this awkward”, said another.
While another commented, "Build good products, you don't need to sell patriotism".
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