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In 2020 Carl Pei left OnePlus to show the world that Nothing can beat Apple. Everyone thought that he’d fail as the smartphone market is too saturated.
To their utter shock, Nothing sold 8 lakh phones in its 1st year of launch
Here's how he's changing the world by doing NOTHING:
So, what is NOTHING?
Nothing is a consumer tech company with a simple philosophy:
Every smartphone is either a copy of another or just a slight improvement from its previous version.
But now this co. is willing to change the way we use these devices fundamentally.
“Nothing’s mission is to remove barriers between people and technology to create a seamless digital future".
We believe that the best technology is beautiful, yet natural and intuitive to use.
When sufficiently advanced, it should fade into the background and feel like nothing.
Most of us believe that the smartphone or consumer tech market is way too crowded. But Carl doesn't perceive it that way. He thinks that there isn’t a lot of competition in this market.
For eg, if you tape the logos on phones, not many people will be able to tell what’s what.
When you think about buying a phone, there’s Apple, & then there’s all of Android.
Most brands don't have a very strong brand recall & there are no clear lines of demarcation in our mind.
Samsung & OnePlus were the only outliers, but are now struggling to regain relevance. So, to change the landscape of the consumer tech market, Nothing has to do a lot.
But being a start-up, it's extremely difficult for them to ace at all fronts.
That's why, Carl and his team went back to the fundamentals. When the design speaks for itself, it makes the product go viral. They're also making the world realize that marketing is deeply ingrained in the product and the product is a marketer itself.
That's Product-led Growth 101.
So, all they are doing is mastering the basics of everything to get this humongous task of building hardware tech as a small start-up company.
And that's why they've been working quite smartly to position itself in a market led by trillion dollar giants.
Let's start with "THE HARDWARE & DESIGN".
Why did they choose hardware over software?
Building a hardware company is tough because of the huge capital investment, but once you have your product sorted out, getting it a userbase is relatively easy.
With hardware, Nothing got an opportunity to build something with eye appealing aesthetics that pique curiosity of potential customers.
Intriguingly designed product has the potential to stand out from its competitors, sell itself by capturing the attention, and finally,
— gets a leg to stand on in the market.
A unique hardware design creates a sense of exclusivity & perceived value, which makes it more likely for customers to choose that brand over others.
It may seem gimmicky, but Carl thinks fundamentally about consumer behaviour & culture.
Tech is an extension of the human organism, so it makes sense that he wants to make tech cool again.
That's why they crafted the Glyph interface. It's functional & fun at the same time.
Nothing is not trying to create products for people who are extremely into specs & numbers
— because tech shouldn't be complicated.
It's your daily driver that looks beautiful, gets the job done, and doesn’t have a lot of issues.
If the product is delivering on that, the numbers hardly matter.
Now let's turn to "THE MARKETING".
The company worked around the very basics of marketing.
They introduced the product in the simplest way ever — introduce the problem and drop the solution.
1️⃣ THE PROBLEM
They demonstrated the industry problem by claiming that consumer tech has become boring and uncool.
Moreover, the marketplace is being guarded by big organizations that no longer want to innovate and change the world.
Apple, which started with a mission to challenge Status Quo, is making repeated models which don't inspire anymore.
Androids are on a self-fulfilling prophecy to make foldable phones that nobody needs.
And most people agree with this. There's not much going on in the industry.
2️⃣ THE SOLUTION
That's exactly why Carl incepted the idea of Nothing.
3️⃣ BRAND REVEAL
Rather than hosting a grand launch and spilling all about the product at once, the company started to reveal the details — one at a time.
Moreover, there's no use in creating a hype if you or your product can't deliver on it.
This is called making sustainable hype, as opposed to the quick hype which is easily forgettable.
4️⃣ INFLUENCER MARKETING
They targeted all the tech enthusiasts & creators to build their brand awareness and reach out to the early adopters.
Finally, "THE MARKET CAPTURE".
Just like any other new brand, Nothing could've spent on big marketing campaigns in order to capture the market.
But on the contrary, it slashed its own profit margins. It launched its first product — Nothing Ear (1) — at a very low margin to capture a larger market share.
It was a banger product, which made it easier for them to survive & climb up the ladder.
Now its price has been increased by almost 50% 👀
Similarly, the company is now charging a 45% higher markup on their Phone (2) than what they charged on Phone (1).
