Market penetration: Infinix finds strength in consumer promo

The Nigerian phone market has witnessed exponential growth since the liberalization of the telecommunication sector over a decade ago. The country’s huge population which makes the market a ready attraction for every brand is a contributing factor to the growth. Another factor is the Nigeria’s growing economy that has been described as one of the fastest in the world. Brand owners capitalize on these positive factors for their commercial success.

Despite these encouraging factors, brands have also become more creative in their bid to gain attention and patronage of consumers, whose demands and expectations are becoming more sophisticated by the day.

In the Nigerian phone market, there are many globally-tested brands pulling their weight, but this has not deterred new entrants, which daily announce their presence in the highly-competitive space. In doing this, there is a need to be innovative in order to gain market share from the established brands.

New brand that is making waves in this respect is Infinix Mobility. The company is a joint venture co-invested by MobiWire (ex-Sagem Wireless), a lean and agile ODM creating mobile device, and Earning Way, manufacturer of smart devices only. The company, which made its debut in the Nigerian market in February, 2013, is already winning the hearts of the consumers with its range of products and creative consumer promotion.

Within the first eight months of operations, the company has launched a wide range of smartphones including Race Max Q, Bolt Q and x570 Alpha to the delight of the target market. In pushing these products, Infinix Mobility is also exploring the strategy of consumer promotion.

One of such promos is the ‘Dream Big” that the company just organised. It was a one-month consumer promotion designed to reward the loyal consumers of the newly introduced x 570 Alpha smartphone. Consumers who purchased the smartphone during the period were given raffle tickets where they were expected to state their wishes. Over 10,000 people participated in the promo. The consumers with the best 20 wishes were invited to the grand finale where six winners emerged. Five of them won N100, 000 each while one person won the grand prize of N500,000.

Speaking at the promo’s grand finale in Lagos, according to statement, Adebayo Shobanjo, Infinix Mobilty Network Operations Manager, said the Infinix x570 Alpha smartphone is specifically targeted at the stylish African consumers, who desire trendy features and attractive physical look for their phones.

“The phone is a quad core device with 12MP camera. Driven by the fastest quad core 1.2Ghz processor to guarantee the best performance, it uses Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean OS with over 800,000 free applications. It also has 16GB built-in and a corning gorilla glass 2 protection (anti-scratch). Going by these features, you would agree with me that this product is unique and solutions-driven,” he said.

On the vision behind the consumer promo, Shobanjo said “Our driving force at Infinix Mobility is to be one of the dominant players in Nigeria’s mobile phone market. We are less than one year old in the market but we are already pulling our weight. We control about 5 percent of the smartphone market. We have introduced series of products that are not only functional but also possess trendy features. The “Dream Big” promo is about the consumers. It is our way of rewarding them for believing in us and patronizing our products. They have helped us to make our wish come true and it is time for us to make their own wishes a reality.”

Some of the consumers’ dream wishes included overseas vacation, trip to watch favourite teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United play live, dinner with favourite celebrity, tuition for post-graduate studies and appointment as brand ambassador, among others.

At the end of the draw,  Peter Awotimayin won the grand prize of N500,000. His wish was to travel to Manchester, United Kingdom, to watch his favourite team, Manchester United, play live at the Old Trafford stadium. Five others also won consolation cash prize of N100, 000 each. They are Nick Okpara, John Gbrika, Femi Enitan, Nkechi Nwosu and Abimbola Olubunmi.

After receiving his N500,000 cash prize, the grand prize winner, Peter Awotimayin, expressed his deep appreciation to Infinix Mobility for the prize and the opportunity to fulfill his dream of travelling abroad.

He said: “I am so excited to be the grand prize winner of this consumer promo. I was surprised when I got the invitation to this ceremony. I didn’t believe I could win but here I am.