Marketing Strategy and SWOT analysis of OnePlus

We all want to have a better phone at a lower price. In late 2013, two former Oppo workers also wanted to have a high-qualified phone with low price, so they  started a new smartphone brand called  OnePlus. Carl Pei and Pete Lau made OnePlus phones the devices that every Android fan ever needed: great design, powerful specs, the fastest and leanest software, and a low price. At present, the company’s annual revenue is 1,9$ billion. As you can already guess from the title, this post will be about the marketing strategy of OnePlus, which can help us understand some of the driving forces behind this young company’s success and then, it will be followed by SWOT analysis.

To begin, let’s look at the mission statement of the company.

Mission statements help employees understand what the meaning and goal of their work is. By identifying the aim of your work, one can better understand the goals their company should be committed to accomplishing.

The Mission statement of OnePlus is “Never Settle.” Never Settle is a simple phrase used by the company to describe the action of always trying to be better, not resting on the success one has made but always striving for even greater success you can make in the future.

This simple mission statement means that OnePlus will never rest until it finds its users’ best experience. This phrase means that the company always tries to find out what people really want to get from their phones.  Never Settle means that the company understands that the world is getting more developed every day, and their company should not stop as well.

Now it is time to understand what marketing strategies OnePlus uses for branding.

For that purpose, let’s look at the following post from their Instagram page.

Having over 3,5 million followers on Instagram, OnePlus present very eye-catching posts to its audience. One can feel how attentive the company is to every single detail of the pictures. This picture grabs the viewers’ attention with its bright colors and high quality.

The caption next to the picture transfers the idea that OnePlus is a company that appreciates beauty and finds it in every detail. The viewer understands that this company’s workers are creative people whose imagination has no limits and seeks to represent everything uniquely.

That is the reason why it leads us to conclude that OnePlus belongs to Creator Brand Archetype.

So, what do we know about this brand archetype?

• Desire: to create something with long-lasting value.
• Aim: create culture through expressing own vision.
• Strategy: through developing creative artistic skills.

Here are the messaging levels of the Creator Brand Archetype.

• Level one: daydreams and fantasies
• Level two: being creative and innovative through copying some examples
• Level three: creating own vision
• Level four: creating structures that can have an impact on society and culture

The Creator is a promising identity for brand:

• That is in a creative field, such as marketing, arts, public relations.
• If their organization has a Creator culture.
• If their do-it-yourself element can save their costumers’ money.
• If their users have enough time for creativity to flourish.

And now, it’s time to look at the SWOT analysis of this consumer electronics company.

Strengths

Beautiful design: The company does not hesitate to experiment with its design and material choice that primarily works out in favor of OnePlus. 

Performance: OnePlus is known for being one of the companies that offers products with super-fast performance. Their products can run anything one throws at it, including simple web browsing, video playback, and even hardcore games.

Software and Operating System: The company’s phones come with a stock-looking operating system with many customization features for its users. The phone owner receives constant software updates, which will even enhance the performance of the product. 

Uniqueness: OnePlus has a particular Android platform Oxygen OS, which sets its phones apart from Android products.

Weaknesses

Weak Brands Image: As OnePlus is a young company founded in 2013, it is still not well established as a brand.

Camera: The company’s products can sometimes produce inconsistent photos. The images tend to be overexposed, and the white balance can even be on a warmer side. These are the reasons why the customers can sometimes be not satisfied with their photos. 

Opportunities

Access to International Talent in Global Market: One of the company’s challenges is the limited access to the high-level talent market because of having a limited budget. Expansion into the international market can help Oneplus to tap into the international talent market.

New products, new features– New products with new features would attract more users. As a pattern, at present, the company’s phones do not have wireless charging; however, most people give huge importance to that feature, so if OnePlus produces products with wireless charging, many more people will become the company’s users.

Threats

Competitors– The company has many competitors, including the strongest brands Apple and Samsung. In order to not lose its position, OnePlus should always keep up with trends and stay updated. 

Government Regulations and Bureaucracy: OnePlus should keep an eye on the fast-changing government regulations under the growing pressure from protest groups and non-government organizations, especially regarding environmental and labor safety aspects.

US-China trade relations: OnePlus has focused on China for its next phase of growth. However, there is growing tension between the two countries’ trade relations, and it can lead to protectionism, more friction into international trade, rising costs both in terms of labor cost and cost of doing business.

Cheap options: New brands selling equally competitive phones at a lower price like Xiaomi or Huawei are another major challenge. 

After getting details about the SWOT analysis of OnePlus, let’s now speak about their target market.

For that purpose, let’s look at this commercial, if you haven’t done so already.

The colorful and cheerful commercial begins with the direct integration of its product, where a young boy is holding OnePlus Nord. It is essential to note that even from the beginning of the advertisement, the phone is introduced as “a phone with its priorities straight,” which makes the viewer get engaged in the video to understand this phone’s priorities.

The video discusses some of the phone’s unique and exciting features, including Flagship camera, Nightscape, Dual selfie cameras, OxygenOS, 90 HZ AMOLED display, 5G-ready, Snapdragon 765G, and Warp Charge 30T.

As a pattern, at the beginning of the commercial, one can see a girl taking a picture of a boy in the late evening but still getting a high-qualified photo. One can also get excellent photos on the run. So, we can say that the company’s phone is being “stolen” because of its high standards.

It is equally important to pay close attention to the participants of the commercial. So, as it is noticeable, all participants of the commercial are young and viable. They seem to be socially active. They are fond of meeting new people, going to new places, and learning new things. Moreover, it is noticeable that these participants give importance to their appearance. As a pattern, one of them was in the GYM, taking care of her body, the other one was making his hairstyle, etc.

This leads us to conclude that the target segment which OnePlus has chosen are Conscious Progressives.

Let’s learn about this target segment.

Lifestyle, Values and other interesting facts:

• The representatives of this target segment give massive importance to education. That is why they are usually well educated and why knowledge is considered a strong base for their self-confidence.

• These people will not sacrifice for having a good salary or a position, but they are always open to having a promising career. Conscious Progressives care about the company’s future where they work and always want to feel that their tasks can contribute to its success.

• The people who represent this target group care about the world and are usually well aware of environmental issues.

• Conscious Progressives tend to have long relationships, which is why family is a significant part of their lives.

• The people representing this target segment are active Internet users. This is because they always want to be informed.

• More than half of Conscious Progressives are active radio listeners. They believe that radio shows still carry a sense of authenticity compared to TV shows. 

• Conscious progressives are book lovers, and reading is one of the main hobbies of them. However, these people would also enjoy cycling or a football game with friends on the weekend or after work/school. Besides, going on vacation, visiting, and making new friends while exploring foreign countries is a favored leisure activity.

• People belonging to this target segment are generally well-informed people who like getting into debates about the environment, technology, politics, etc.

Brands Usage

• People belonging to this target segment will not spend money unless it is essential (most of them will buy clothes only if they really need them).

• Although the representatives of this target segment can also buy for emotional reasons like everyone else, they are more demanding when it comes to the quality of a product

• While Conscious Progressives give importance to appearance, they do not prefer to spend too much time choosing clothes, putting on makeup, etc. These people have a more casual style, and they believe that one should be attractive by personality, not the way he/she looks.

All in all, here we introduced some of the critical factors that led to the company’s success. It includes the mission statement, target segment, the brand archetype where OnePlus belongs, and SWOT analysis, which could help us understand the company’s strengths, weaknesses and what threats and opportunities it has. We hope this was an interesting post that could help you find answers to your questions.

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