A #Brand in Feature - @HuaweiZA #Huawei #SouthAfrica #TheLifesWay

Hi Guys, 

Huawei Technologies as I understood from reading articles published in the Harvard Business Review and by going through all the press releases and smartphone launch events which I was a part of starting from P8 to Mate S to Mate 8 and recently P9. 

The strength of Huawei lies in its aggressive yet thoughtful approach to spend money where it demands and save where it can be saved. This has been the key principle across many companies and sectors now but Huawei is lavish in all its launch events where Huawei employees, distributors and sponsored team players along with media supporting the brand enjoy to their heart desires. As every employee is the shareholder of the company, they work hard to earn the reward. I have seen the quality of Huawei smartphones against some top mobile brands and I can say that Huawei brings some of the best features at the value for money price tag. I have also used various versions of wifi data cards and USB dongles from the brand and found them to be the top class. Those have been my constant companion during all the launch events or trips to have wifi available for all my gadgets. 

During P8 they launched the light painting feature along with multi-directorial video feature to club several shots using several P8 smartphones to make one video covering different angles. The brand ambassadors are always the latest and the ones who really inspires the youth and the brand is constantly looking for in every country for the same. MiCasa's J Something was made Creative Director since P8 launch and he has been instrumental in bringing a lot of value to the brand locally. P8 Lite managed to cross more than 10 Million Shipments in just 9 months of it's launch. They launched their own Smartwatches along with Swarovski which looks awesomely great. 

The launch of P8 happened first in London which is the most sought after location giving worldwide recognition along with giving several top bloggers from every country an opportunity to attend the same. I know of some people who have been part of those trips and they have had an amazing experience of the launch along with the latest smartphone in their hands to actually make them the very first amongst their peers to review the devices as well to keep them too. Along with every launch event there comes an either Huawei branded product or something else that makes it way toward you in the form of goodies bag to each and every person attending the event. I have received Huawei Wifi Data card, Hugo Boss Sunglasses, Mont Blanc Card Holder, Huawei Band and Huawei OTG 16gb pen drive. 

The marketing timing is next to perfect as I have seen the posters going up in Sandton City as I was coming back from the launch event of P9 a little bit early to match the timing that people leaving for their cars could easily remember and recap all the things of the event in mind. P9 has great Hollywood stars becoming brand ambassadors Scarlett Johansson and Henry Cavill. Just some months ago, expanding their association with Soccer teams Lionel Messi was announced the global brand ambassador. At this year Valentine’s Day in Sandton City, the brand gave a special chocolate card to everyone who was passing their pop-up store and a similar maze exhibition was launched for Mate7 along with a Group Selfie Contest to make public aware of the brand with an opportunity to win their G7 mid-range devices. In South Africa, they sponsors the Ajax Cape Town soccer team as a whole and recently was part of Huawei Media Tour 2016 to China. Huawei also bought out the networking stakes in MTN and all MTN network engineers are now on the payrolls of the brand. With their Media Pads they collaborated with Harman Kardon to provide niche audio experience to the beholders of the device. 

Huawei has cultivated new partnerships to bring latest technology to further their ambitions. They were the manufacturers for Google’s Nexus 6P and with P9 dual camera they have tied up with German photography lens brand Leica who have assisted them in bringing the latest niche camera smartphone. The P9 has one colored lens and one black and white lens to give you the liberty to choose your own style and no need of post processing the images any longer. This is also one of the innovations as other brands have only brought dual lens to make use of wide camera shots or 3D shots. With the latest collaborations with 94.7FM and KFM the brand is going to reach each and every corner of Gauteng and Western Cape from which the business will drive the company forward. I am not aware of the Rest of Africa’s strategy but I think it will be the same worldwide to capture as many penetration as possible. Along with that this time they have tied up with Hugo Boss to offer their sunglasses worth R3000 with every purchase of P9 and P9 Plus. 

Huawei have also tied up with top instagrammers and photographers to showcase their smartphone camera capability including Tim Moolman who was last seen promoting LG G4. He has been given an opportunity to travel to all 9 provinces in 9 weeks and people can follow his journey and share it on their social media channels to win premium devices. With several Instagram competitions running to giving people an opportunity to win several of their top devices, Huawei is not leaving any stone unturned to keep them trending on a daily basis. Earlier during Easter, they had fun competition with their telecom partners to hold a treasure hunt on the principle of Finders keepers. I did tried my luck but unfortunately went to the wrong location but I did had fun running from one shop to another. 

African market has strong hold of Samsung and Apple but slowly and steadily with great products and price range the brand has reached a good stronghold. The same pattern is seen in Indian market when Apple quarters profit fell and CEO came running to India to open new App development centers to reach the market that’s so huge that only China and India is enough to make any brand successful. Huawei has done great with Honor brand in India but to replace Samsung in the niche market will be an uphill climb as was the case for Apple but I am sure that Huawei will surpass that too in the next 2-3 years. With the Brand Logo changing its color from Red to Black, it has opted for the color of choice of World’s top brands rather than just China's Splendid Achievement as mentioned on Wikipedia. The company is building itself by investing vast amount of money into the research and development of the new products. 

I didn’t had any such luck to be travelling with the marketing team to the launch event in London or a trip to China till this day but I do get invited to the South Africa launch events. I have really spammed my social media channels to promote and showcase their smartphones and launch events. I took Mate7 to Drakensberg and shared photographs. Check out my Instagram feed for more than 300 photographs from several launch events as well from the time of actually reviewing the device along with more than 30 posts for the brand with 1000s of tweets going via twitter handles which I did all without any sponsorship and just for the love of the brand. 

I am really looking forward to be become one of the sponsored unofficial ambassador to use their products in my day to day life. “So I will dream…until I make it real, for all I see is Stars” and Huawei will make this Dream Possible soon. Check out this Youtube Huawei theme song which is my favorite motivational song and I am hooked to the same listening it more than 100 times per week. Till the time my dreams are in the process of reaching via Universe to the brand...

Cheers!!!

Enquiry for your brands, launch events, sponsored posts, giveaways and product reviews - Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com 

Ajax Cape Town unveils new #Adidas kit @HuaweiZA Renews Sponsorship

Hi Guys,

Ajax Cape Town revealed its new Home and Away kits for the 2015/16 Premier Soccer League season that kicks off next month. Coupled with the unveiling of the Adidas kit was the announcement by the club’s official shirt sponsor, Huawei, that it has renewed its partnership with the club for another year. 

“We are extremely excited to announce that we have extended our sponsorship with Cape Town’s pre-eminent PSL team for another season,” said Yudi Rambaran, Director of Product & Marketing at Huawei Consumer Business Group South Africa. “Our partnership in the past season has been hugely beneficial to both the club and Huawei, which has also been vindicated by Ajax’s strong showing throughout the season.”

The Ajax Cape Town sponsorship announced last year was the first such deal in South Africa for the global smartphone brand. The team will don its new kit for the first time in its Cape Town Cup fixture against Sporting Clube de Portugal at Cape Town Stadium on 24 July 2015.

The iconic shirt design and simple crew neck collar of the new Adidas Ajax Cape Town home jersey pays tribute to the rich history of the club’s Dutch Eredivisie heritage. The new Ajax 15-16 Home Jersey is modern and trendy with a rounded crew neck. In true Ajax fashion, the jerseys design boasts the traditional red chested middle with white side trimmings.

The new Solar Green Ajax Away jersey boasts an eye-catching colour combination to stand out on the pitch. Adidas combines the main colour Solar Green with white three stripes on the sleeves, a white v-collar and white sleeve cuffs. The Adidas Performance logo on the front and the famous Ajax crest are black, while the bottom of the new Adidas Ajax jersey has a black stripe.

“We are proud to once again partner with Ajax Cape Town in producing beautifully designed modern jersey for the upcoming 2015/2016 season,” commented Adrian De Souza, Senior Category Manager Football at Adidas South Africa. “We believe that the jersey will be well received by the players and assist them in improving on their good form of 2014/2015 season.”

“Ajax is proud to see the maintenance of its iconic red and white design of the home jersey. At the same time, we believe that adidas has surpassed expectations in being the difference and in creating a striking away kit that we are all excited about,” said Milo Boer, PRO at Ajax Cape Town.

Rambaran said Ajax Cape Town is a perfect fit for the brand on numerous fronts. Firstly the links to the prestigious UEFA Champions League through the local club’s association with Ajax Amsterdam position it as a premier brand.

“More importantly, though, Ajax Cape Town’s profile as a young, dynamic team that challenges the status quo and fearlessly tackles obstacles is perfectly aligned with our core brand values,” he said. “The investment in young players and a desire to establish strong role models in the local communities are also values that we appreciate and pursue. “We believe we have found the perfect partner to demonstrate the Huawei ‘Make it Possible’ slogan.”

The sponsorship deal will benefit players who will be provided with Huawei devices and accessories, and therefore become brand ambassadors although Ajax Cape Town fans can expect to see even greater brand activation campaigns being rolled out in the coming season.

This is considered an integral part of the partnership with the club, with the intention to build high profile campaigns and platforms that will bring the fans even closer to their football heroes.

“We firmly believe in building brand affinity through close engagement with our consumers, and Ajax Cape Town enables us to build unique experiences that demonstrate our world-beating technological innovations that a tech-savvy, youthful audience can appreciate,” Rambaran said. “We look forward to another season of taking fan engagement to the next level and helping Ajax Cape Town build on the love the deep affection it has already generated with its supporters.”

He added that the continuation of the Ajax cape Town is further demonstration of Huawei’s commitment to South Africa, its consumers and sports lovers.

The Adidas kit features ground-breaking technologies beyond simple aesthetics that is sure to give Ajax Cape Town players an edge on the pitch. This technology is found in the adidas ClimaCool composed of heat and moisture controlling materials, ventilation channels and 3D fabrics to improve air flow to the skin ensures that athletes stay cool despite body heats rising during exercise.

The new Home and Away kit is now available at Adidas Performance stores as well as many sports retailers countrywide at a recommended retail price of R649.

Cheers!!!

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