Chinese handset maker Lenovo said it will push the Motorola brand more prominently while keeping its dual-brand strategy with its investments towards marketing and offline retail expansion in India.
Jan Huckfeldt, chief marketing officer at Motorola, told ET that they really want to push the Motorola brand as we see a lot of potential for growth. Motorola brand is going to be more visible in the market as it benefits from an overall global campaign perspective and Motorola wants to ensure that the product is available at physical places where consumers go, he further mentioned.
The company is continuing the dual-brand strategy in India because it sells beyond a threshold of critical volume, he added.
The executive termed India as “super critical and competitive market for Lenovo”. With focus on the Motorola brand, Lenovo wants to build presence in the premium segment—$400 or above priced smartphones are considered premium, as per the company.
Lenovo has 8-9 regional distributors that cater to 350-400 city distributors and cover around 12,000 retail footprints. These retail footprints were only selling Lenovo branded products, but they will focus more on the Motorola franchise.
On GST rates, Mathur said there are open questions that still need to be answered, but it is not going to change direction of Lenovo’s business.
By Baishakhi Dutta
