eBusiness Weekly
Leslie Mupeti
More than 3 billion people around the world use social media each month with 9 in 10 of those users accessing their chosen platforms via mobile devices. In Africa, people have more access to mobile phones than electricity and clean drinking water. Of all the mobile phone companies active in Africa right now, only one stands out. Transsion holdings. Never heard of it? Read more to find out.
Infinix, Itel, Tecno, Oraimo, Carl care. These are the names most people are familiar with. These five brands are all owned by the parent company the writer mentioned above called Transsion Holdings.
Transsion was founded by Chinese national George Zhu Zhao. In 2006 the company launched Tecno telecoms and in July of that same year, they launched their first mobile phone in Africa the Tecno T201. In November of that same year, they launched their first dual sim in Africa, the Tecno T780. In January 2007 Itel mobile was launched. Infinix was launched in 2012.
Transsion Holdings has never sold a single phone in China and they don’t own a single outlet in the Asian country. This is the perfect example of perfect target marketing. Their target market is Africa, not China. They are not in any top ten in China in terms of popularity or even sales, most Chinese people don’t even know Transsion brands. Their focus is Africa.
By 2010 Transsion was doing so well that they were ranked 3rd in Africa in terms of mobile phone sales behind the giants Samsung and Nokia. In 2014 following their success, they expanded business to Latin America, The Middle East, and South East Asia. Since 2016 Transsion brands have been ranked among African Business Magazine’s Top 100 most admired brands in Africa, which is a big deal.
At present they have sold over 200 million mobile phones on the Continent and in 2017 they overtook Samsung to become the highest-selling mobile phone in Africa. This didn’t happen overnight because at first, the Transsion phones were uglier and buggier than the competition. Let’s look at the reasons why Transsion became number 1 in Africa.
- Price
Africa is a continent that has a lot of diversity. There’s a diverse mix of rich, middle class, and poor people. Transsion phones start from as low as $10 and there are some which can go as high as $300. No matter your income level you’d be able to afford a phone.
- Language
Over 5 million people speak the Swahili language as a local language in Africa. Over 135 million speak it as a second language.
Transsion produced phones which came with this local language. Local Africans who couldn’t speak English had the opportunity to use a phone that was written in their own native language. in Nigeria, the phones came in Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa dialects.
- Power
Electricity is a real problem in Africa. Transsion created phones with big batteries with as much as 5000mAh. You can go as many as 3 days without charging an Itel phone and some Transsion phones can charge other mobile phones.
- Design
Although it’s entirely plastic, Transsion designed their phones so well that customers could get and enjoy that premium feel. Some publications blasted them for using cheap materials like plastic but to be honest the customers don’t really care whether it’s made from plastic, wood, or mud. The phones use Mediatek chips, which is okay because one can’t expect the phones to use Snapdragon chips and still be cheap.
- Distribution
Africa doesn’t have efficient central retail systems such as those present in America or Europe. Local vendors or independent store owners are in charge of market penetration and distribution of goods on the Continent. Transsion came up with a pattern to work with these disorganised local vendors. They rewarded them for distributing their products.
For every phone sold, the vendor gets a reward and this made the people happy and stimulated growth very fast.
Transsion approaches shop owners and they offer to brand the shops. The person will be paid annually for this. This strategy has worked so much that every shop which sells Tech products in Africa is Tecno, Itel or Infinix branded.
- Football
Transsion knew that Africa loves English football. So what did they do? They went to England, approached Manchester City and they struck a deal with them to become their brand ambassadors. This gave the customers a feel that tecno/itel/infinix are not just local but international brands.
- Social media
If you walk into the social media streets, the term “itel” is synonymous with “cheap.” To a non-business person or a non-marketing person, this might seem like negative publicity. It isn’t. That is exactly what the company wants. Their target market is the average Zimbabwean who craves an Apple or Samsung phone but who can’t afford it. So why not combine a slick design with a cheap price?
The company wants its brand to come to mind when someone thinks about the word “cheap.” So the next time you send out a tweet mocking the company’s cheap price remember that you’re doing free marketing for them.
Leslie Mupeti is a brand identity and brand strategy expert. He can be contacted on +263 785 324 230 and [email protected] for feedback.
