 So for this, to talk about on Xiaomi ringing the right Cots in users heart, we have Mr. Anuj Sharma, CMO of Xiaomi. Please put your hands together for him. He'll be talking about the smart phones and how we can become More smarter than the smart phones or maybe the smart phones, Maybe smarter than us. Please welcome sir. Thank you so much for coming and the audience is all yours. Please go ahead. Thank you. Hello everyone. I think I'm going to be between you and Lunch. So I'm not going to take as much time as, you know, I'd originally planned. I'll try and make it really quick. But as you would have guessed, I am from Xiaomi. I'm wearing it on my t-shirt as well. But then we take this opportunity of, you know, introducing The company a little bit because I think that's fundamental In everything that we do. So Xiaomi is a little differently pronounced that Compared to what we normally hear. So it's coming in from a very interesting place, Interesting source. Xiao actually stands for millet. It's the small rice. And the whole idea of getting that name from there Is the fact that it's a basic food for most of Asia. So that's where it came in from. It's also a very interesting part where it's linked to this Old Buddhist saying, which basically says a single grain of rice Can be as great as a mountain. What it really means is, you know, the small things Kind of grow up from a very small start. The whole evolution of it has to be super important. Like perhaps all good friendships that we want to cultivate With our fans. Now the base of everything that we do in marketing Started off with one key vision. So back in 2010, you know, the whole smartphone revolution Was just getting started. Internet was not with everyone. Obviously today it's everyone has access to internet. Everyone is interacting, transacting. Some of us are still on our phones. But in 2010, this was a very, very different era. And at that point you had the digital haves And digital have nots. Which basically meant that we were on a very dangerous Task where you could divide the entire community. You could divide the population because of the digital divide That was to come. And at that point, there were seven people, seven friends Actually who came together and said, we need to change this. So we should not allow that to happen. And this is where, you know, looking at the mobile side of internet Was the company born. Xiaomi as a company is just over 11 years old now. So back in 2010, when this idea came about, That has manifested into what the company is today. And the basic idea was to get innovation for everyone. We believe that everyone in the world should have access to technology Because technology is the way that you would progress going forward. Think of it as, you know, right now all the opportunities that we see. If you're coming out of college and you're looking for a job, It has to be built on technology. That no longer are people going around with their CVs And dropping it in offices, right? Or if you're a small vendor and you're looking at payments Digital payments have changed it. Now imagine a world where all of this was not happening. Everyone has been very, very different. And of course what we want is to have that innovative technology In the hands of people. And it's not just about smartphones. Of course right now we associated this with smartphones. It's about technology. Whatever technology that comes in, The challenge with our industries are, you know, If it's a new tech, if it's something that we've spent A lot of R&D dollars on, we want to keep it for a small group. And obviously we want to make the maximum money that we can. At Xiaomi we believe that that could actually harm the society. And that's where we want to push that forward And bring that technology as early as possible To as many people as we can across the world. And the company basically has these core values, right? We basically never want to cease to explore. That's what I said. It's not about phones alone. Whatever the next technology is, whatever the needs could be. No empty promises. So we don't want to be just sitting on, you know, A higher cloud and talking at 30,000 feet. And of course the last part is, and this is a little tricky one, Especially for a marketer like me, We friends with our users. For the longest time we all have been told That your customer is king. We believe that is a wrong thing at Xiaomi. Of course, I mean, some people can continue to have that. The thinking is, you know, when you have a king or a queen, You will do anything. You will give empty promises to get your way. And that's what used to happen. But there's one segment in all our lives where we do not lie. We're not making things up. And those are friends. So we believe in Xiaomi that our customers need to be our friends. And we need to treat them as such. So that's where the entire story starts coming together. Where you have to be truthful. You have to be transparent. You have to be upfront with your friends. And this is where a lot of things that you've seen in Xiaomi have happened. With those understandings, we basically started in India Just about eight years ago. So we're still kind of very, very young in India. Like the rest of the world. And we started with three key pillars. So we said we will bring in the best products that you can get. And it has to be across price bands. So we can't be limited to say only the premium segment Because you will miss out the masses in India. But we also kind of have to get to every nook and corner And every particular demographic of the country. The second one, which is challenging is when you do this And when you spread that wide out is maintaining your quality. And the third part is, like you would be with all your friends You have to keep it honest. And pricing is one part of it Where we continue to have what we call honest pricing. How have we done so far? So if I look at quality, and this is a little interesting We are the number one quality brand in the country. Even with all the challenges that we have The way we are shaped in terms of a business We continue to have the lowest field failure rate Across all brands when it comes to phones. Moving to the next part of it Bringing in the best possible products Now, we've had this for multiple generations But I definitely believe that as we came in We completely revolutionized how the smartphone industry was In fact, there's a quick chart And I don't know if you guys at the back can read this But this is 2014-15 This is what your 3G penetration was And that was 4G And in a year, Xiaomi was able to completely flip that For the entire country The reason I brought this chart here today Is because we are on a cusp of moving to 5G And obviously we are very very excited to do this again And the third part of it, and this is the toughest Honest pricing Now, as a business I think there is no company which says no to profits Everyone wants to maximize as much money as you can make We don't So we've actually publicly gone out and stated it multiple times That we at Xiaomi will not make more than 5% of profit ever It is extremely bold But why are we saying all of this? One is, again, going back to the part where You are friends with your users You don't rip your friends off Of course, this 5%, now the other question is Why not 0% You still need to feed in that R&D So that you can bring in better products For the future So you can't completely go zero But you will not go beyond 5% If we ever make more than 5% We tend to give it back to our fans In one way or the other It would be a better product Or a discounted pricing But we always flow that extra profit back Into our community Again, that's what friends would do We believe that's the right thing to do as well All of this, over 5 years So this is 2014 till 2019 Made us Essentially going in from innovation to everyone Our fans used to call us the Desh Kabran So that journey was phenomenal for 5 years We depended on two aspects of it Again, our fans The Xiaomi fan club Incidentally, I spoke about The Xiaomi fan clubs The last time I was at the pet CMO summit We've got fan clubs in close to about 30 cities These are not official fan clubs These are people who believed In the same things that we believe in And decided to form communities around that They meet up on a monthly basis They discuss what the next step of the tech should be Sometimes if we are lucky enough to be in that city We are part of those discussions But they are now becoming a guiding force Equal to what our internal teams are And the second team That is obviously super important Our own people Employees at the heart of everything I'm not too sure how many of you guys know this But most of our campaigns Feature our own internal employees Because we believe our employees Are the brand ambassadors So instead of... We have partnered with celebrities We have partnered with others But at the core of it We keep coming back And using our own employees As many campaigns as we can Because we believe That the people who are part of Xiaomi Are the biggest believers in our vision And if you're talking about our products If you're talking about our journey That's the best way of doing this But that was still 2019 And by that time We were the most loved brand And the most desired brand And luckily as a by-product of it We started selling brand in the country When it came to smart phones Smart TVs as well Incidentally at this point in 2019 Our smart TVs had just done About a year and a half At that point for smart TVs Xiaomi was selling as many TVs As many smart TVs As Samsung, LG and Sony All put together At much of a revolution And of course smaller things as well So we saw security cameras We saw power bank as a need In smaller parts of it So we were the leading brand here We are the leading brand here But then We had The entire pandemic So for the last two years Obviously we've all collectively Faced challenges Across the board I mean obviously this event Couldn't have happened in the last two years But beyond that Consumers fundamentally faced Problems that they had never done So I'm talking about 2020 2021 And the reason I've just left this Slide blank is because those were Dark times I'm sure people in the room here We've all been privileged enough To have a support system We've been privileged enough To continue to have a job in most cases And to get that income For a lot of our countrymen Actually faced a lot of problems And then at Xiaomi We were thinking about this part Right from the beginning What do you do? Considering these are your friends So we kind of changed strategy a little bit The first thing was We again believed That technology is connecting people Together So we looked at Our entire Universe into two or three different groups So one aspect was The people who really needed help And of course we did a whole bunch of CSR At that point we mobilized Most of our employees Going out and helping With the people who really needed this The second thing is we changed our product strategy And the third one is We also realized People in the middle Between our consumers And between us who needed that help too So we did two interesting things here So one is like I said We changed our entire product strategy And if I can get that on Now it's too much So because people were kind of Working from home Or learning from home We launched laptops We launched tablets Again they were not part of our Everyone So the teams continued to work super hard To try and solve problems That our consumers were having One interesting thing which was It's probably a First world problem But who's going to put a Jhadoop So that was a big question So we even launched Robo vacuum cleaners during the lockdown So our teams obviously worked really hard To get that in Incidentally, Xiaomi is the One company today In just the two years or so But the other aspect That I was saying Now a lot of us would also Not know this but Xiaomi has the Largest single brand Detail network in the country We have more than 3000 partners who Only sell Xiaomi products And nothing else And these are across the country Right from The lockdowns to really small places Where These guys obviously had that interest They believed that Xiaomi products can change for example Their small towns fortunes Or their villages fortunes And for all of these partners When the lockdown hit It was almost A doomsday You had retailers Who obviously because of the lockdown Could not open their shops Or even once the shops started Opening up slowly People were too scared to step out I'm sure all of us remember After the first Lockdown or during the wave Two part of it We all didn't want to go out and expose ourselves At that point In just about three weeks time So about 21 to 22 days Our team Completely worked on a platform Which linked the consumers With every retailer In their locality We basically called it me commerce Or local commerce And this was done in just 21 days The idea was You take care of your own Whether it's consumers Whether it's your fans or even your retailers You have to ensure That this The overall business goes on They get their livelihood And they stay part of your family So this was quite interesting And Then towards the end of 2020 I think Diwali Because Diwali is a community festival 2020 Was the first time where A lot of people Were not able to connect Back with their family or friends So we did this Small campaign I would say To kind of just put that Message across That even if you are not With your parents Or with your family You can still be with them Thanks to our original vision Which was essentially that technology Needs to be for everyone And technology can connect everyone So we did this little film During the lockdown I think we can probably just play this Hopefully the audio is up You know Even though you are alone You don't have to be And that was the message that we were taking there And We continue to take that message forward Even in the post-COVID world Today obviously, I'm hoping COVID is over And that's why we are all here And We are all here We are all here We are all here But A lot of fundamental things Have changed And we Want to stick with the basic Core message That Xiaomi will be a friend of its consumers Xiaomi will be a friend of its users And Treat them such So what we did here Was a little interesting Obviously Diwali season is coming up We are talking about now The sales started last night I'm sure all of you guys would know this And Everyone is talking about how big Diwali is going to be How awesome it will be What's the overall market size And of course the campaigns that will come with it But we were looking at What would friends do And We were thinking of How do you kind of communicate The right thing that needs to be communicated And So I'll show you The Diwali campaign that we finally went ahead with But How it got started is a very interesting story So this Happened Around the Independence Day weekend So Independence Day Luckily was on a Monday this time Which basically meant you had a long weekend And I have this My person, a colleague in my team Called Sumit Headsmapped Product Marketing And Sumit has now got An eight year old lab So he obviously loves that lab But he was scared That obviously he's now getting old And a lab has never seen The ocean so his lab's name is Max So he said On Friday evening we were sitting We were having this conversation And he said I'm going to take Max to the ocean That's my weekend plan So Saturday, Sunday, Monday One day all the way to Goa One day in Goa And one day back So he decided to do that On Friday evening on his way back home He stopped at the nearest petrol pump And He knows the guy It's close to his house so he keeps going there often And the guy asked Saying it's a long drive So Sumit says yes He said What time are you leaving So Sumit said early tomorrow morning The guy is So we are a 24 hour petrol pump So you can fill your petrol tomorrow also If you don't mind Can you come tomorrow instead of right now Obviously a very weird question Because you are there for business that time And Sumit asked him why is he saying this And the guy turns around and says Sir After midnight The petrol prices will be dropping This was so weird In the place that we are in today That somebody actually told him That if you just wait for a couple of hours You will actually get your petrol cheaper And because you are Filling in for a long drive You will be able to save some money So sure enough He did that Next day morning Buck or two per litre So maybe 100 bucks But it's that small thing that mattered It was that trust that he had With him And the guy considered him To be a close enough Like a friend To tell him or give him that extra tip That don't buy it now But just come after midnight And then fill up your gas Things like this happens so rarely In the overall context In the Indian business context That Sumit came in on Tuesday After a long weekend And told us that this had happened It's such a small story But it happened so rarely That he remembered it And he told all of us And we thought this was brilliant Because for a business to do that One is rare And second is At least from a marketing perspective So What do friends do Before Diwali shopping How many of you guys Are looking at new electronics This Diwali season Any hands How many of you guys are really into tech So let me ask a question If a friend asks you That should I buy a phone Probably three or four weeks Before the Diwali sales start You normally tell them That there's a lot of offer coming in Right? As a business you're not supposed to do that But as friends you do And we did exactly that So let me just run this campaign If we can get that video going Diwali with me's offers are being decided And one thing is clear Before buying any tech Wait for a while Hashtag don't buy tech yet What is it? It hasn't come yet Diwali with me So even Like two weeks before the sales were supposed to start We just basically told people That don't buy right now Because you'll be able to save money Incidentally I don't know if you guys caught that But the people in the film Are our employees In fact one of them is sitting there So say hi to Kasturi Kasturi was also in that film The whole idea is obviously they are brand ambassadors We need to use them Or even delivering all the messages that we do But In order to go out and tell people That you can save money But by not buying from us now By the way we're not telling people that After this date which is 20th of September Which is already now You need to only come and buy from us We're just saying that if you are in the market For tech Just waiting a few more days Can save you thousands And I think that's a message that a friend would give you As a business, as a brand We think we are our friends with our consumers So that's where we are I'll just move on So I'll just probably sum it up Saying if you want to be Connected with your users Be transparent Have purpose driven communication And of course Stay honest the entire time And treat them as friends Not as consumers Also not as kings and queens That over time will give you the results Thank you so much Thank you so much Anush And it was really a good one And the best part is that Covid has of course affected a lot of us But it's on you how Positively you take things It's nothing very It was a very big thing Not a usual thing for us Two years of lockdown and you have Discovered so many devices Big round of applause for him please Did a good job and They are doing a good job Thank you so much I'll call upon Mr. P. Sriram Chief Product Officer in the group To hand over the momentum to him please And meanwhile you can also put your hands together Once more please thank you so much Your claps will keep you warm It's very cold here