As the Covid-19 global pandemic forced people to stay indoors, shops and malls to close and life as we know it to come to a standstill, consumers took to the web to shop for daily essentials, work-from-home equipment, technology and gadgets, home improvement tools, and everything else in between. Across the world, technology brands started interacting with their users more through online campaigns and activities.
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Global smartphone company, OPPO was scheduled to deliver two major launches, Reno3 and Find X2 in Q2 of 2020, both important drivers of success for the region. The company had to adapt overnight and pivot to new channels very quickly as there was only a small window to react. The learnings from what was initially an experiment brought forward very poignant audience and channel insights that shaped the company’s strategies for the region as the Covid-19 situation gave rise to the new-normal that we now live in.
When OPPO’s final launch of the year – the Reno4 Series – approached, the company had to, once again, look at overhauling and recalibrating its approach based on the new normal. It was decided early on that a face to face launch would not be possible and given the success of the previous two online launches, OPPO decided to throw everything it had creating a stand-out virtual launch for its new line-up of devices. While circumstances were different, the company’s goal remained the same – to bring the best of OPPO’s technology to the region.
A multifunctional team set to work to conceptualise and create an event that would convey the ethos of the Reno4 Series while elevating the OPPO brand philosophy of elevating life through technological artistry. The Marketing and Communications teams in OPPO partnered with omnichannel marketing company Lucid Dreams to bring this vision to life. The planning and execution were a joint effort that involved several teams. Lian Shi, the Marketing Manager of OPPO GCC managed the whole project from initiation to execution, collaborating with Micky Huang, the Creative Director of Lucid Dreams to constantly forge all creative and informatic content of this project.
Using the latest technology in 3D and CGI, Lucid Dreams managed to shoot the two hosts with two teams working simultaneously in Dubai and Kuwait and combine both into a seamless visual experience in a matter of weeks. Using a virtual set gave OPPO the flexibility to showcase the product information in a more dynamic way. On the videos with the key opinion leaders, Lucid Dreams used its experience working with influencers to create five different scripts that reflected each personality, resulting in five unique stories all tied by the concept of Own The Night.
“From a creative and production perspective, the biggest challenge for us was how to combine all the different stories and talents in one cohesive content. Two hosts, in two different cities plus five key opinion leaders. Seven people, seven different personalities, seven different stories. This was a true team effort and the result was a bold campaign that set OPPO apart from any other brand in the category.” commented Micky Huang, Creative Director of Lucid Dreams.
OPPO’s PR partner, Impact Porter Novelli, ensured that the event and all supporting materials clearly articulated the best features and benefits of the Reno4 series. In addition to a slim and lightweight design, super-fast flash charging and powerful performance, OPPO’s Social Media partner, Karma Media, worked closely to feature the Reno4 Series’ breakthrough in a suite of never-seen-before night-time portrait and video capabilities, that elevate photography and mobile entertainment to all-new heights, enabling users to ‘see the world from completely new perspectives.
Lian Shi Marketing Manager of OPPO GCC said, “The spirit of exploration underpins OPPO’s brand DNA, as an innovative technological brand, we would like to pursue novel things and bring unique user experiences to our customer. As a brand we aim to act as a bold explorer, encouraging more users to be creative, think differently and further explore in their own lives. We are constantly exploring, so rather than release products in a traditional way, we wanted to think out of the box and engage with our consumers in a way they will enjoy and feel inspired by.
We know that today our customers have very short attention spans. Releasing technology products is not just about educating them on the specifications. It is thinking about what and how to communicate to our end-users in an engaging way, quickly attracting their attention and offering a unique customer journey. We hope our customers enjoyed the dynamic content of the launch and were inspired to experience our trendy products in real life.”
After weeks of meticulous planning, on September 22nd, at an interactive and engaging virtual event titled, ‘Own the Night’, OPPO unveiled its Ultra Night Wide-angle Video and other engaging videography functions that give every user a chance to make their night come alive in their own unique way. The event also revealed touch-free interactions and made this flagship feature more easily accessible to a greater marketplace, powered by an AI-enhanced Smart Sensor that allows the phone to be controlled with a wave, and an AI algorithm secures the phone from peeping eyes.
Leveraging long-standing partnerships and relationships with many top-tier influencers, the event was hosted by Kuwait-based Engineer, leading YouTuber and Gamer and technology expert Omardizer. Featured videos from several famous faces including actor, model and photographer, Omar Borkan, photographer Jumana Jolie, tech expert Mr Tech, fashionista Tamara Jamal and presenter and actress Asallah Kamel, captured the Reno4 series’ latest innovations, with real-life demonstrations of how they can change a user’s life.
Cherry Fu Marketing Director of OPPO GCC said, “While the restraints of the pandemic meant we could not meet our customers physically, it presented an opportunity to invest in content creation and promote it well to reach more eyeballs and get more visibility. OPPO is a very young brand, driven by young people, for young people, so our customers are already online, making this switch to digital channels seamless. Working with a diverse range of online
talent perfectly combined the key aspects of the devices – technology, design, creativity and fashion.”
The promotions that OPPO delivered pre-event resulted in over 12,000 fans across the region joining the virtual event LIVE. It was also uploaded onto the OPPO YouTube channel to be watched by customers at their leisure and this has been watched more than 80,000 times in two weeks.
OPPO takes great pride in treating customers as partners, believing that every single person that buys an OPPO phone plays a part in its success. It is customers that have contributed to OPPO’s 214% YoY growth for Q1 2020, something that is expected to continue as the Reno4 Series devices reach more and more customers worldwide.
As the pandemic continues, it is important for tech companies to not lose sight of long-term commitments. OPPO is constantly learning from past and current experiences that challenges can and will be turned into opportunities to drive change for the better. Throughout all of this, OPPO lives by the guiding principle of the Chinese term and philosophy, ‘benfen’, which means one’s part or duty; it is focused on accountability. OPPO believes its duty is to share technology to make customers’ lives easier. This is something OPPO will continue to do with Reno Series and beyond.
Behind the scenes
