Can you win the startup race without a unique business idea? | Success story of boAt

“When you take Boat, you leave everything behind. You plug into a new zone.” -Aman Gupta, Co-founder and CMO, boAt

boAt, the name would have sounded bizarre 5 years ago to anyone wanting to buy audio hardware. But that's history! Aman Gupta, the dynamic CMO of boAt, with his aggressive marketing techniques, paved the way for the D2C startup to take the lead in the Indian audio hardware sector.

When Sameer Mehta and Aman Gupta launched boAt in 2016, the goal was to avoid another low quality product sourced from China “without having a clear vision on the design and Intellectual Property”. With years of research and work experience in the audio industry, the boAt founders were creating high quality, durable products at an affordable price, with a premium feel and building a community around the user base.

Know the boAt Owners!

“We did a lot of use-case analysis. Our research showed that buyers were looking for tangle-free earphones at a reasonable price and a long cable. they were also bored with plastic microphones.” Aman Gupta, Cofounder boAt.

When the team at boAt identified India's primary user base, they were able to grow into many other markets. For Boat's earbuds and headphones, Gen Z and millennials were the primary target group.

After thorough research, the audio hardware creators were able to pinpoint the primary purposes for which Indians were using their devices. As a result of this need-gap analysis, boAt became the 5th most popular wearable brand in 2020.

Where is boAt currently sailing?

Growth and Market Share

With increasing revenues, boAt has surpassed all the prominent market players namely- JBL, Samsung, Sony. It has become the most used headphone company of India.

The startup generated total revenue of Rs 1,531 Cr in FY21, a tremendous increase of approximately 2X over FY20 (In FY20, boAt generated total revenue of INR 704 crore).

In FY21, the startup's total revenue from operations was INR 1,511 crore, while its other income was INR 19.57 crore. During FY21, the company generated an EBITDA of INR 127.1 crore.

So, what does a company clocking such high revenues do with its money?

boAt’s New Products and SAILS

From the point of its inception, boAt has been aggressively capturing many segments in the audio hardware industry. It started with offering sturdy cables for Apple iPhone chargers. Within a short span of four years, it captured the earphones and headphones segment too.

With these products witnessing high growth, boAt made sail in the Smartwatches and Earbud segment.

It launched its first smartwatch-boAt Storm- back in 2020. The watch was launched with the aim to capture the smartwatch segment. With an affordable price, the watch became an instant hit in the market. After its launch, boAt released many more smartwatches, the latest in line being- boAt Matrix- which has been launched as its premium range product.

Boat has been capturing the earbuds market as well with an equivalent speed. Samsung has been the market leader in this segment for a long time. To get the throne, boAt adopted a similar strategy of affordable earbuds i.e., Airdopes to capture the market.

It launched its first earbuds-Airdopes 461 TWS- in 2020 at an affordable price. Like its smartwatch segment, its Airdopes were also an instant hit. Its latest release will be the Airdopes 511 V2 in this category.

boAt - The Shark!

boAt has not been a bystander when it comes to acquisitions. Like many other companies, which in their course of journey acquire new brands to strengthen their brand equity, boAt has adopted a similar strategy.

In June 2021, boAt acquired Tagg Digital, a Delhi based consumer electronics goods company to strengthen its earphone and headphone arm.

Aggressive Marketing Strategies

The entire industry is aware that, when it comes to aggressive marketing, there is none better than Aman Gupta, CMO boAt.

Time and again, the startup founder has shown his genius in building his marketing campaigns. From cricketers to actors to singers, he has left no stone unturned to create more awareness about his brand.

You may like to read: Reasons why marketing is the new sales

After showing numerous tricks under his sleeves, the founder featured as a judge a.k.a Sharks in one of the most innovative business reality shows on Sony TV- Shark Tank India, for which he gained a lot of attention. The show introduced budding entrepreneurs to a panel of five investors, including Aman Gupta.

In an interesting episode of incidents, Aman Gupta went on to propose to acquire Hammer, a Panipat based tech start-up, who makes makes high-quality audio gadgets, fitness bands and electric toothbrushes, leaving sharks Peeyush Bansal, Namita Thapar, Ashneer Grover, and Anupam Mittal startled. Later, the deal closed at Rs 1 crore for a 40 percent stake in the company. Hammer’s owner Rohit Nandwani said, “I would personally like to thank Shark Tank India and Sony Entertainment Television for believing in our dream and giving us such an innovative investor like Aman Gupta, who himself is a stalwart when it comes to tech entrepreneurship in India”.

The show is definitely a great platform for budding entrepreneurs, but it has also proved to be a boon for Aman Gupta’s marketing.

Future Routes of boAt

1. Get an IPO

In September 2021, boAt decided to raise Rs 3,000- 3,500 crore ($400-500 million) through an IPO. The management of the company, valued at Rs 11,000 crore, held discussions with multiple investment bankers.

After four months of discussion, in January 2022, it is set to become the first Indian D2C (Direct to Consumer) to file for an IPO. The IPO is likely to include fresh issue of shares of Rs 1,000 Crore and Offer for Sale (OFS) worth Rs 1,000 Crore.

The largest investor in boAt, Warburg Pincus with a 30% stake in the startup, is set to offload its stake to less than 25% with IPO.

2. Acquire the maximum possible

Imagine Marketing Private Limited, the parent company of boAt, has signed an agreement to acquire Singapore based KaHa Pte Ltd, an end-to-end smart IoT product development company. Imagine Marketing will be able to augment its wearable product offerings in terms of the concept, design, electronic firmware, algorithm development, Android/ iOS applications, new feature integration, social engagement and analytics with this acquisition. The company aims to create a smart wearables ecosystem with powerful functionality at affordable prices that truly benefit the consumers.

3. Be the King of Collaborations

boAt has formed a joint venture with Dixon Technologies, to design and make wireless audio devices as the company boosts local production ahead of its initial public offering. The joint venture is targeting a revenue of ₹1,000 crores in the next four years. This would help boAt to innovate at a faster pace and develop a more effective way of production. An executive from Imagine Marketing said, “Both companies will co-invest in the evolving Indian mobile accessory market, thereby paving the way towards “Make in India". Aman Gupta, its CMO stated.

A: boAt is an Indian Brand.

B: We will Make in India.

With this announcement, we move towards a powerful A+B.

boAt has also announced a joint venture with Bira91, an Indian craft beer brand. “Magic happens when 2 Young Homegrown brands of India come together”, said Aman Gupta, cofounder of boAt.

Bira 91 and boAt have come together to launch an exclusive ‘Boom’ limited-edition collection of audio devices.

With its IPO, acquisitions and collaborations and dynamic leadership, this boAt is all ready to face any storm that may come in the audio hardware and wearables industry.