When OnePlus was founded in 2013 and released its very first OnePlus One, the disruption was felt in the industry; a true “flagship killer”. It was a formidable spec-heavy product, with an incredibly affordable price point, and it catapulted OnePlus into infamy, putting it on a trajectory to become a global player in the smartphone field, with extremely notable success in both India and Europe. Fast-forward to 2020, and the price of flagship-level smartphones for all brands has alienated a large majority of the market, with prices inching closer to $1000 dollars. The OnePlus 8, despite still carrying a serious value proposition, is tailored to those that will spare no expense for the absolute best specs, and as such is still out of reach for many consumers. To succeed in the increasingly important mid-range smartphone market, keep with the company philosophy of providing the absolute best hardware and software experience possible, and truly bring this experience to the world, OnePlus needed to go back to its roots, to find it’s true north, and to start a new beginning.
What We Did
To ensure that as many as people as possible were able to witness the AR launch experience, we expanded viewership by partnering with world-renowned tech Youtuber Lew Later, of the Unbox Therapy channel. Unbox Therapy hosted a viewing party on Youtube, providing commentary and reaction where he saw fit.
Furthermore, for our fans in Europe, we partnered with various regional influencers, to open up participation to the non-English-speaking crowds.
A Youtube masthead in India directed users to the Unbox Therapy launch event. On top of creating a sensational 23-minute AR experience, complete with a virtual Carl Pei, interactive viewing of the product itself, and an originally composed soundtrack, we blew our targets away, reaching an average of 620,000 concurrent viewers. In total, that launch video has been watched over 3.5 million times. The response to the experience itself was overwhelmingly positive, with thousands of articles, tweets, posts, and comments discussing the campaign, the launch, and the product.
Outcome
During the pre-launch period when we brought the first batch of pre-orders (when the phone was not even revealed) we sold out in 30 seconds. When launching our second batch – we were sold out in minutes. Still without having introduced the actual phone.
After the launch of the phone and following the success of the AR launch we then integrated the much anticipated and popular physical Pop-up experiences into a digital one. Channeling and transitioning the marketing hype into hot sales was the primary objective. We literally worked the oldest trick in the book – creating never ending lines of people - and made it digital. Making sure to deepen the social buzz around our phone now being up for grabs. We reached out to influencers and customized their own avatars – ready to stand in line, shoulder to shoulder with everyone else. More than 31,000 people made their own avatar and queued up – to be the first one to get their hands on our newborn baby.