Motorola has just launched the Edge 60 Fusion in India soon. And ahead of the launch, we spoke with the company’s marketing chief, Shivam Ranjan, who shared insights about the device, Motorola’s broader strategy, its plans for community engagement, its approach to market positioning, and expansion into new markets like Indonesia.
Let’s start with your latest launch. Tell us about the key USPs of the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion.
Absolutely. First, let me talk about the display. I think it’s a significant upgrade over last year. We are providing a display which is truly flagship grade in the segment.
It’s a super HD 1.5K curved display with a 45-degree curvature on the side, and a 33-degree curvature on both the top and the bottom. You won’t find any other display of this kind in this segment, which makes it truly immersive. Additionally, we have made other improvements over the last year, like the 4500 nits brightness and 446 PPI. Everything stands out in terms of the Edge 60 Fusion being a truly flagship-grade experience.
The second one is the camera. Last year, we provided great hardware with a Sony sensor, and this year, we have brought in the best camera in the segment again. The key upgrade in the camera is Moto AI features, including AI adaptive stabilisation for videos, a photo enhancement engine for enhancing the photos through raw processing at the backend, and also colour segmentation. These three features were not there in the previous generation.
Now, the third aspect, which I want to highlight, is AI. While you are seeing a lot of AI features in the premium to flagship segment, and sort of in upper segment devices, you are not seeing that level of features in the entry premium segment. We are starting that with Edge 60 Fusion.
Last year, we didn’t have any AI features, but this year we got not just the camera features but generative AI features and assistant AI features, similar to those found in Motorola Edge 50 Ultra and Motorola Razr 50 Ultra.
These features will continue to be upgraded over the year through updates.
Lastly, we also focus on durability, while maintaining the slim, sleek, beautiful form factor, even the material and finishes. And if you see the blue one, it’s not the regular vegan leather. It’s a very nice fabric, with a textured finish. So beautiful finishes, materials, and very slim and sleek devices. The devices also have IP68, plus IP69, plus military grade 810H ratings, wherein we have passed about 16 of their tests, including temperature, shock and impact.
So we have gone all out, and these are the top four KSPs of the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion, and, of course, there are more upgrades.
Riding on the back of some compelling products, brand Motorola has picked up momentum. How do you plan on taking it to the next level?
We like to continue to take a step up on things that are working for us. This includes design, not just through colours, materials, and finishes, but even in terms of the curvature of the displays and stuff like that, making it slimmer, thinner, lighter. So we continue to step up, and you will see a lot of different finishes, etc, this year.
The second is the camera. I think we continue to take a step up in terms of the camera, where we are seeing Moto AI and software optimisations coming in, which will further enhance the output of the devices to a whole different level.
So if you try comparing a Motorola Edge 50 Fusion versus an Edge 60 Fusion camera output, while the primary sensors are the same, the colours and the imaging output will be significantly upgraded. And this is something that we will continue to do because I think that’s one of the primary reasons to buy, if you do a traditional sort of check, is: camera! One of the top three reasons to buy is the camera. What doesn’t come is designed, but that has been, you know, our strength, and we feel that while people don’t say it out, there is an inherent desire to have design as a focus.
So these two continue.
But in addition to that, I think our focus on ensuring that we give consumers a software experience that is meaningful, whether it is in terms of AI or through Smart Connect features. How do we make their lives easier, simple, more convenient? Because again, we believe that the device, the smartphone, is actually the fulcrum of all your experiences, because you use that to connect with your ecosystem, connect with your friends, family, etc.
And if that can give you convenience, that can give you magical experiences. That is, what will make a lot of sense, that is where you really need the power of AI and which is why we are democratising AI. So, by bringing in some of the best AI features from the previous generation to this, and continuing to give consumers more and more value from that perspective.
So I think these three continue to be our focus. And also, we believe that instead of trying to target a niche, we’re trying to give a well-rounded device experience to consumers. We don’t, for example, say okay, this device is a gaming device. We want to basically give consumers the best of all experiences.
This means bringing most of the premium experience to accessible price points and combining them together to make a really powerful proposition for the consumers so that they don’t feel that compromising on any aspects.
What’s happening on the community front?
Yeah, on the community front, we have seen a lot of love from the consumers. In the past few years, we started some initiatives. We’re looking at reaching out to colleges, where we’re trying to bring in college ambassador programs. We also have a social media community on our social handle but we are also trying to work on making it more organised… something which is planned better and is executed better to be able to reach out to our consumers, our fans and our community pages more often than than what we have been doing so far.
So while we are taking some steps in that direction, I think you will see a significant change this year where we’ll put it as one of the focus areas because as we grow bigger, as you see on the IDC reports as well, we are right now close to 8 percent share in the market.
I think now it’s also very important not just to acquire but also to retain the customers and upsell and upgrade them. And that’s where the community becomes very important. And hence, this year, you’ll see a significant step-up in our focus on communities.
Motorola recently made a comeback in Indonesia. How does the strategy differ compared to India? What is Motorola doing in other South Asian countries like Thailand & Malaysia?
I take care of various markets in the APAC region, and some markets are very, very different from here. So, for example, if you talk about Japan, it’s a carrier-driven market whereas India is a retail-driven market. So that’s a very different approach. Australia is a mix of both. Australia is 50 percent carrier, 50 percent retail. So it’s a different market altogether. So, market by market, strategies are different. But if you specifically asked about Indonesia, it’s a very similar market to India. There are certain minor differences. But essentially, it’s a market very similar to India in terms of the number of competition players that you have. You have almost every brand there that is playing in India. It is also a retail-driven market in terms of both online and offline. The difference is that in India, you see online and offline share 50-50 percent each, whereas there the online share is still lower, about 30 percent and offline is still bigger at about 70 percent. In Indonesia, you also have multiple big players, whereas India mainly has two big players.
So some minor differences are there, but our strategy for the Indonesia market was to look at the consumers and be able to appeal to them instead of the channels per se. Because what has worked for us in India is that we believe that we have been able to create that pull for the consumer.
So, irrespective of where we are placing the product, whichever channel, whether it is online or offline, if we can generate that pull that desire to own the brand, consumers will walk into whichever channel is required and buy our product.
The same strategy we applied in Indonesia, where we want it to appeal to the Gen-Z audiences in Indonesia by bringing in the vibrancy of our brand: the colourful, the useful nature and which is why we shot a local campaign video in Indonesia with one of the biggest local lifestyle influencers. We brought in colours and designs, which is one of the big things that has been a reason for success in India. We took that there. Also, we brought in these software features, which are again differentiated. So, for example: Smart Connect and Moto Gestures like chop-chop and double-twist.
We brought in all those features as a reason to buy our device instead of playing the standard game of a chipset and megapixel, and (battery) mAh. Our campaign was more focused on giving consumers a window into a brand which is very youthful, energetic, colorful, and lifestyle tech. We aimed at bringing alive lifestyle tech from the word go.
In India, our progression was as a tech brand that moved into lifestyle tech, but in Indonesia, because we were entering after a long gap, we started with the campaign that focused on lifestyle tech. We brought in the aspect of colours, pop, youthfulness, Gen Z, music, gestures and software, that appeal to the audiences. So the feedback that we are getting is that the consumers find Motorola as one of the most youthful brands in Indonesia, and that’s why we have seen a very strong response in terms of selling out with the first product.
We have been oversubscribed in retail and across marketplaces, we have been one of the top SKUs both in volume as well as GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) on online platforms as well with just one product. It’s an incredible response, and now we are looking at expanding in terms of bringing more franchises. So right now we are there with the Moto G. We plan to bring in the Motorola Edge and other franchises also there.
I can’t comment on newer markets which we have not entered at the moment, but at an Asia Pacific level, we are definitely looking at growing our share. So while the focus markets of India, Japan will continue to grow, which are the biggest markets in Asia Pacific, we will evaluate and enter new markets, like Indonesia.
Lastly, if you were to point out one key differentiation factor for Motorola, what would it be? (for example, the way some brands focus on performance, some on design, durability, etc).
That’s an interesting question. But frankly, we believe in actually providing a fusion of features to the consumers at accessible price points. So we believe in the democratisation of technology and providing the most well-rounded smartphones at accessible price points. So unlike some other brands, which have chosen a niche, whether it be gaming, processor, or camera, we have gone with the approach of giving consumers a bouquet of the best at accessible price points, and we find success through that.
