In a recently rare interview, Mr. Nguyen Tu Quang, CEO of Bkav Corporation, stated that though Bphone was controversial, it "surely has created inspirations for Vietnamese people". In the next two months, Bkav will announce the official decision on Bphone and whether Bkav will continue with this smartphone or not, let's take a look back at how Bphone effects have spread.
Long lines of guests waiting for security check before entering Bphone launching event on May 26, 2015 at the National Conference Center (Hanoi).
And the first moments of Bphone.
Two years ago, on May 26, 2015, Bphone officially launched in an "unprecedented" event. There had never been such a “strange” launch event in Vietnam: More than 2,000 attendees, no welcoming speeches, no ribbon cutting, no artistic performances of top stars but a lot of emotions.
"Mr. Nguyen Tu Quang, Bkav's CEO stepped onto the stage in applause and camera flashes. He held the device he claimed to change the Vietnamese industry forever: the high-class domestic smartphone" was the description of the Japanese leading business newspaper Asia Nikkei News published on June 9, 2015. His message of "Unbelievable!" was spread rapidly on social networks.
Video of Bphone launching event in 20 minutes.
That was the booming moment of a viral communication campaign for a product that marketing experts thought Bkav had done very well. Viral was about messages, stories, news... talked about, shared, imitated and spread in the community. Bphone had been leaked nearly a year before, but the information was drop by drop and made little attention. After that, the level of interest increased with the leak of images and features, etc. with dense appearance on newspapers and social networks.
After the launch, Bphone got compliment as well as criticism, mainly focusing on the "boast" about the product of Bkav and Mr. Nguyen Tu Quang, but it cannot be denied to become typical to inspire businesses.
In a speech in August 2015 at an event of Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, General Director shared that the launch of Bphone "made me think a lot". Why a business, smaller than Viettel in terms of human resources, finance, could "launch a product with appearance, design and reputation much better than us?".
"Ignore the PR skills, ignore the question of the number of Bphone sold. Let's look at their aspiration. Bkav has stood up and claimed to the Vietnamese people that "Bphone will beat the iPhone". None of us uses Bphone. So many of us use iPhone. So many people laugh at an 'explosive' Quang, as newspapers and media have named. That can be true, but there is another fact that they dare to think of surpassing the iPhone".
"Super secure" smartphone Viettel Luxury Phone.
Up to now, Viettel is turning its desire to launch products with "good look and name" into reality. These are pictures of high-end smartphone Viettel Luxury Phone, which has a genuine leather back cover, with a high security capability. It is expected that the device will be sold by the end of this year at a price of no less than 1,000 USD (more than 23 million VND).
Regarding marketing, we can clearly see another successful "Bphone" campaign of Bitis Hunter sports shoes. Its information was revealed gradually throughout 2016, and at the beginning of January 2017 it created an explosion of information when simultaneously appearing in the clips of 2 singers loved by young people: Son Tung with the MV "Lac troi" and Soobin Hoang Son with "Di de tro ve”. During the campaign, if you notice, you can see that Bitis ekip always compared to Bphone's campaign. Whether it was a compliment or criticism, it was inspired a lot from Bphone.
The "pioneers" often get inspiration, but also face opposition. After the launch, it took the father of Bphone two years to have the official decision about it. This message makes people wonder, whether Bkav will continue to pursue the dream of high-end smartphone "Made in Vietnam" or claim its death. However, the public is always expected to have such impressive launches of Vietnamese high-tech products, which have not been repeated so far.
Source: VnReview.vn
