Boat Case Study

The Story of boAt: a case of successful start
up India
The boAt is an Indian Consumer Electronics Startup, that has revolutionized the way
people listen to music. Only within 5 years of its operations, it has become the market
leader with a whopping 27.3% market share in the earwear segment, selling 8,000-10,000
units every day in 2019! How did boAt achieve this? Let’s take a look at the success story
of boAt.
We’ll start by looking at the recorded music industry of India, existing
competitors, the journey of boAt, its communication strategy, and finally the
future.
India’s Music Industry:
Driven by low data rates and increasing smartphone penetration, the country is
witnessing higher traffic towards legitimate sources of music such as OTT platforms,
video streaming platforms, etc.
Building a differentiation in a highly competitive market

To cater to such an extensive and diverse demand, a lot of audio OTT players
have started competing in the space. And, to supplement their growth, global
companies such as Apple, JBL, Sony, Bose, and Sennheiser have now started
offering output devices ranging from wired & wireless earphones and Bluetooth
headphones.
But the obvious bummer with these players was the pricing. The prices at which
these players were offering their products were way too high vs consumer
expectations. We all know India is a price-sensitive market. Secondly, a lot of
consumers were accustomed to using bundled headphones that come packaged
with the smartphones and hence did not found viable to pay a premium price
for just the audio accessories. Third, the pirates and Chinese Products. Street
vendors who were selling these counterparts at a much lower price but lacked
quality and were not durable. This unfortunately set a perception in the market
that paying a premium or “anything extra” for a set of headsets is pointless.
This is where boAt found the opportunity. Before we get into the opportunity
itself, let’s understand the Journey of boAt.
The story of boAt
The two founders Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta started Imagine Marketing
in 2014, the parent company of boAt, with an initial capital of ₹30 lakh, which
they raised from family and friends, this investment helped them leap to their
first Product in 2016 — the boAt BassHeads225.
Initially, the founders limited their channels to popular e-commerce platforms
like Amazon and Flipkart. But, in May 2018, it caught traction, when Fireside
Ventures invested ₹6 crores and its founder Kanwaljit Singh became a key
member in the company’s offline strategy. Under his leadership, he opened a
few offline stores and in 2019, around 20% of its sales came from these stores.
The insights boAt discovered were simple, yet, powerful ones. During their
target consumer (Millennials) research well they found the following insights:
1. This generation in India looked for quality and affordable products. They
looked more for a great experience and value for their money invested
2. They wanted the accessories which would go with their lifestyle and are
durable
3. They preferred bass-focused music
4. They wanted easy to use products (ex. cables which were easy to
untangle)
And hence, they launched a range of products that created a kind of
experience that plugged their consumers into Nirvana. Today, their portfolio
includes an extensive catalog of headphones, earphones, speakers, travel
chargers & premium cables.
Going by the figures, boAt clocked revenue of ₹108 crores in FY2018 from only

₹27 crores in 2017, a hike of almost 300%. They have a repeat rate of 30% and
are eyeing a revenue of ₹500 crores by 2021. Later, the company went on to
add a number of quality products such as earbuds, headphones, smart
watches, wireless speakers, etc to its product range. As of December 2020,
boAt was already selling 14,000+ products in India every single day. BoAt’s
both audio and wearable range offer top-notch quality whilst keeping the price
affordable. Established audio electronics brands like JBL had to drop down
their prices in order to stay relevant in the target industry.
boAt Funding
 Kanwaljit Singh of Fireside Ventures invested INR 60 crore in boAt in the year 2018
 Warburg Pincus, a New York-based private equity fund invested $100 million in boAt for a
significant minority stake
 The company raised INR 50 crore from Qualcomm Ventures at a valuation of INR 2,200
crore
boAt Revenue and Marketing

Performance
The company struggled in the first two years of its operation (2016-2018), mainly because of
the lack of funding. However, once the company raised INR 6 crores from Fireside ventures,
there was no looking back. According to filings with the Registrar of Companies, boAt’s
FY2018 revenues grew by 4 times to INR 108 crore.
Fast forward FY-2019, boAt became the leading ear wear brand with a 27.3% market share.
In FY 2020, the fashionable audio brand generated revenue of INR 500 crore. This was a
staggering 108% increase from 239 crore in FY 2019.
When boAt started off, it was just available on popular E-commerce stores like Amazon and
Flipkart. However, its products are now available in 5,000+ retail stores. boAt has reportedly
served more than 20 million customers so far!
So, what was their strategy to reach this number of audience in such a shorter
time?
boAt Marketing Strategies

The company knows just too well the likes and dislikes of their target audience
and the places they visit often- social media, Google, gym, etc. In a nutshell,
boAt has targeted the youth of the nation very well as can be seen from the
below mentioned marketing strategies:
1) Presenting itself as a lifestyle brand

boAt has never portrayed itself as a consumer electronics company. Rather, it
has always taken immense pride in presenting itself as a lifestyle accessories
brand. Doing so creates an image in the mind of the user that boAt products
can be used at all places whether you are sweating in the gym, or commuting
in a bus.
This intent of the company was also visible at the Lakme Fashion Week (2009) in Mumbai,
where all the models sported only boAt products.
2) Digital Marketing
Over the years, the company has spent a lot of money on online marketing, as
they have targeted the youth. BoAt has mainly run its campaigns on Google
and social networking websites like Facebook and Instagram. Interestingly, all
customers of boAt are referred to as ‘boAtheads’. The company has also
appointed youth icons such as Kiara Advani to win the trust of the customers.
3) Expanding Range of Products

Some companies launch a product, gain success and then fizzle out as they fail
to expand their catalo. Expanding your product range over the years is a good
marketing strategy in itself and boAt has been exceptional at that. The
company first made indestructible apple charging cables and chargers. Tasting
success, they did not stop at that introduced ear phones, which was followed
by wireless speakers and headphones. With this continuous, well-thought
expansion, they were able to capture a large share of the market, owing to
which its popularity grew by leaps and bounds.
4) The Perfect Targeting

boAt products offer affordability without cutting down on style. This was not a
common thing 7 or so years ago, when the market had either premium brands
or cheap ones that did not offer an X-factor. The blend of two was rare. BoAt
addressed that gap with its products that attracted the youth. The brand
ambassadors were also carefully chosen which had a great face value among
the millennials, especially from industries such as Bollywood and Sports
(Cricket). In terms of quality of the ear wear, the products could be worn
without any fear of damaging them even while gymming or performing high-
intensity exercise in the outdoors.
5)Communication strategy
boAt has a community for their audience, all the users of boAt products are
called ‘boAtheads’. Possibly one of the few “Indian” brands to do something
on these lines for headsets/earphones. The founders believe in the consumer-
first approach, hence they pay attention to what consumers are expressing and
then build and modify their products accordingly.
They Sponsored popular youth events like Sunburn, Lakme Fashion week and
IPL which striked the right chord of the millennials.
They roped in Brand Ambassadors to whom the audience could relate to, that
is, their core target audience. They launched campaigns which further
strengthened the brand appeal among the musicophiles. Here are a few of
them: Sikhar Dhawan,etc.
Conclusion
boAt has made a huge name for itself in the last 4 years. It’s reputation and
popularity was bolstered after the appearance of one of its co-founders, Aman
Gupta, on Shark Tank India season 1. On the marketing, pricing and styling
front, the company has left no stone unturned in outsmarting the existing
competition. The impact has been such that renowned brands like JBL had to
cut down on its prices in order to stay relevant in the industry.
The future of the company looks quite promising, courtesy of a dedicated R&D
team, millions in funding and the zeal to stay appealing to the youth. Notably,
Aman Gupta’s present net worth is INR 10,500 crore.
Q1) what strategies did boat do in terms of STP and 4 P of marketing right and
different from other existing players in the competition.
Q1) critically discuss their strategy to enter into wearable market.
OEM for apple chargers

Then earphones

Boat Case Study

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Boat Case Study

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Story of boAt: a case of successful start

Building a differentiation in a highly competitive market

Going by the figures, boAt clocked revenue of ₹108 crores in FY2018 from only

significant minority stake

boAt Revenue and Marketing

boAt Marketing Strategies

1) Presenting itself as a lifestyle brand

3) Expanding Range of Products

4) The Perfect Targeting

OEM for apple chargers

You might also like