Inside Xiaomi's Brand Strategy With Prakash Subedi
Xiaomi, popularly known as MI, has grown in a relatively short period to be one of the global leaders in electronic gadgets. Since its inception in 2010, the Chinese electronic giant has taken over the world by storm and is competing against the likes of Samsung and Apple in the smartphone segment. In Nepal as well, the company has made remarkable progress and climbed its way to becoming the leading brand based on import data (IDC report) in Nepal in 2020. Despite competitive brands like Samsung, Vivo and Oppo paving their way into the market, Xiaomi has outplayed all of them owing to its brand strategy.
Xiaomi's core brand strategy has always focused on three aspects i.e., Honest Price, Best Specifications and Highest Quality. The honest pricing model of the brand pertains to maintaining a cost leadership model across all ranges of its products. At the same time, the brand emphasizes innovation in its products to ensure its customers get products with high specifications at competitive prices. Prakash Subedi, Brand Manager at Xiaomi, sheds further light upon the strategies Xiaomi has used to quickly climb its way up the ladder.
Brand Architecture
While success came to Xiaomi in its initial years, consumers had a distorted perception of the brand. Especially in countries like Nepal, its popular series of smartphones, Redmi, came to be known as a different brand altogether. Even today, many are still unaware that Redmi is a product series developed by Xiaomi. Therefore, Xiaomi devised a brand architecture strategy that differentiated its products based on their intended purposes. The brand's Xiaomi series of phones are its flagship models, whereas the Redmi series caters to the budget audience and the Poco series is positioned as gaming phones.
Product Diversification
Being mindful of competitors like Huawei, Vivo and Oppo, Xiaomi opted to diversify its range of products. Although the company has found huge success in the smartphone segment, its offering does not end there. Xiaomi's larger ecosystem includes products ranging from mobile accessories, laptops and televisions, among others. Xiaomi has been consistent with its brand strategy of maintaining honest pricing, best specification and highest quality in its entire range of electronic products.
The Pandemic Scenario
The covid period had an interesting turnout where consumption increased throughout the globe despite the persisting lockdown. In Nepal, there was a rise in sales of electronic appliances without much expenditure on marketing. In fact, social media and online marketing were the only mediums for brand communication during the period. Xiaomi, as a brand, has historically grown via word of mouth and a strong online presence. As such, the brand was able to increase its business size owing to its honest pricing model which allowed consumers to get the best quality products at the honest prices.
