UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Information and Technology

HIMACHAL PRADESH UNIVERSITY

CASE STUDY ON BOAT

 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the case study entitled "E-Commerce & Case Study of BOAT
TECHNOLOGY LTD submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of B.Tech.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING (IT) to the University Institute of
Technology (UIT), HPU, Shimla, is an authentic and original work carried out by
Shreya(15202610057) and Neha Nangla(15202610035). The matter embodied in this project
is genuine work done by the student and has not been submitted whether to this University or
to any other University/Institute for the fulfilment of the requirements of any course of study

Project Guide: Director-:

Dr. Akshay Bhardwaj Dr. AJ Singh
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The completion of this report on the evolution of "Boat Technology Limited" and its
embrace of e-commerce would not have been possible without the invaluable contributions
of several individuals and resources.

First and foremost, we would like to express our gratitude to Dr Akshay Bhardwaj, whose
guidance and expertise throughout this process proved valuable. Their insightful feedback
and unwavering support helped us navigate the complexities of this topic and refine our
analysis.

We are also grateful to internet and college library for providing access to essential data and
resources. Their willingness to share information and answer our questions was
instrumental in shaping the depth and accuracy of this report.

This report is a testament to the collective effort and collaboration of many individuals. We
are truly grateful for the opportunity to delve into this fascinating topic and contribute to
the understanding of Boat in the e-commerce era.
 Abstract
Technology has advanced to such a level that, we are surrounded by some of the
greatest inventions of humankind. Wherever we looked at, we are surrounded by
electronic devices from smartwatches, to wireless speakers to wireless earbuds; all of
these are keeping us preoccupied with their services.

The tech market is at its top form now. Music is something that soothes our soul, so
there is hardly anyone who doesn’t like listening to music. It becomes even better when
you’re travelling alone, nothing can beat the feeling of having music as your
companion.

Now, every person has their own preferences, including for music as well, in this case,
headsets and earphones are mandatory so that you could listen to your favourite tracks
without being a hindrance to others.

The demand for headphones and earbuds has increased at an immense level in the last
few years. So much that we will always find a person holding one of the equipment, all
the time. There are various companies that provide all types of mobile phone
assortment to their customers including earphones and headsets. Among them, one of
the most famous ones in India is the company called boat.

In this case study, we will talk about boat’s branding strategy and how it has
established itself with its prominent and quality products as one of the most loved
consumer electronics brands in India ,its target audience, business revenue models,
marketing strategies, SWOT Analysis and Challenges faced by it .

INTRODUCTION
The boAt is an Indian company that deals with audio tech that mainly focuses on
products like wireless speakers, earbuds, smartwatches, headsets, and
earphones. All of them are quite accessible in terms of price.
The boAt was founded in the year 2016 by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta. The
main aim of the company is to provide people with fashionable tech and be a
part of their daily lifestyles. Currently, Vivek Gambhir is the CEO of the company.

BoAt started its journey with the capital of just INR 30 lacs, which was invested
by the founders themselves. As per the reports of 2020, boAt is said to be selling
14,000 to 15,000 of its products daily and has over 2 million customers and has
bale to attract the attention of their customers by developing a wide range of
earphones, wireless speakers, Airdopes and headphones. The quality and the
price make it more approachable to its target audience.

About Boat:

Founder: Aman Gupta, Sameer Mehta

Founded in: Nov. 2013

CEO: Vivek Gambhir

Objective: Provide technical music support to users

Headquarters: New Delhi, India

Initial Capital
Rs. 30 lacs
invested:

Popular
Wireless speakers, earbuds, smartwatches, headsets, earphones, etc.
Products:

Website: boat-lifestyle.com

Net-worth: Crossed Rs.1500 Crores in FY-2021

“Plug into nirvana”. Nirvana means attainment of complete peace or

“moksha practice”. The founders chose this term to be the tagline as they
Tagline:
believe that music connects a person to his soul thus attaining complete
peace and freedom.

Logo: “Plug into nirvana”

Company name: Imagine Marketing Services Pvt. Ltd

The emergence of the company:

A Delhi-based startup was founded in Nov. 2013. From 2013 to 2016, the company was
struggling hard to generate sales. So in 2016, the company brought changes to its business
strategies. BoAt emerged as a lifestyle brand that deals with fashionable electronic devices.
The main idea behind launching the brand was to bring affordable, fashionable, and durable
audio devices to accessorize people of different age groups.
The company began as a cable manufacturer and seller company. In the initial years, BoAt
bought earphones from Chinese manufacturers, applied branding on them, and sold them in
the Indian markets bearing the name “BoAt earphones”.
It has grown in years to emerge as a popular global brand to sell fashionable audio devices
ranging from portable travel charges to premium headsets. In just a few years, the company
has successfully gathered more than 70,000 happy customers and popular brand
ambassadors.
BoAt has emerged as the 5th largest global brand in 2020 to provide wearable music
devices. Lakme Fashion Week in 2019 held in Mumbai, displayed ramp walkers carrying
boAt products as the only accessories.

BoAt - Founders and Team-:

Aman Gupta from Gurugram and the passionate audiophile Sameer Mehta came up with the idea of
launching the brand. The rising popularity of Chinese products in the Indian market was something
that made them realize the need for swadeshi products. They mainly focussed on providing good
quality durable products with affordable prices to Indian customers.
Aman Gupta – Is the co-founder and CMO of boAt. Being a commerce graduate from DU, he
jumped from one organization to another to finally land at co-founding one of the most popular
audio devices companies in India.

He had an incredible career discussed below.

 Joined The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
 Pursued MBA degree in
 General Management and Marketing, from The Kellogg School of Management from
Northwestern University; and
 Finance and Strategy from The Indian School of Business.
 Joined Citi Bank as an Assistant Manager.
 He applied to work for JBL due to his fascination with gadgets and worked there for 2
years. He managed the offline distribution of JBL through kiosks like Croma, Reliance
Digital, etc. During his working period, he learned about product management which
later on helped him in co-founding boAt.
 Became CEO & Co-Founder of the Advanced Telemedia Pvt. Ltd.
 Became Senior Management Consultant of KPMG (Klynveld Peat Marwick
Goerdeler).
 Joined Harman International (JBL) as a Sales Director.
 Finally in 2016 co-founded boAt along with his partner Sameer Mehta.
 Also co-founded the parent company of boAt named “Imagine Marketing India”.

Sameer Mehta – Co-founder, CPO of boAt and ED of Kores. In the initial stage of his career,
Sameer Mehta was the owner of a company named “Redwood Interactive”. Being a student
of St. Xavier School, Mumbai, he pursued a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the
popular Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics.

boAt’s Investors:
2018: an investor Kanwaljit Singh of Fireside Ventures, invested 60 million in BoAt. He was
spellbound by the unique performance of the company from choosing the right audience to
maintaining a standard quality of products.
2021: Qualcomm Ventures invested INR 50 crore in the company at a valuation of INR 2200
crore. The boAt has a total of 5 investors.

Goals and vision of boat company:

BoAt found flaws in the longevity of mobile charging cables used in the market. The
founders witnessed frequent damage caused to such cables due to internal and external
factors and thought of finding out solutions to such problems. So they focussed on
launching indestructible cables. Soon they launched water and sweat-resistant hearable
products.

Business and Revenue Model :

The company focused on 3 important market strategies to create a good consumer base:
 Consumer's Needs
 Consumer's Desires
 Consumer's Behaviour Pattern
The founders implemented their research on the products and made the products
affordable, durable, and fashionable. boAt focuses on building a customer-brand
relationship where it considers the buyers as a member of the boAt family. They also
focused a lot on the brand boAt and presented it as an Indian brand. For the marketing of
the brand, boAt decided to appoint cricketers and other celebrities as the brand
ambassadors of boAt because the Indians are very fond of cricket and Bollywood films. All of
these helped the company create a considerable consumer base and become a billion-dollar
company in India with smart pricing and attractive looks. boAt now claims of selling 6,000
units per day with four units sold every minute.

Here's a quick glance at some of the most prominent growth milestones of boAt:
1. boAt has gathered 800,000+ customers within a short span of 4 years as of July, 2022
2. It claims to add one boAthead to its family within every 3 minutes that pass as per
reporting of July 2022.
3. The company sells four units every minute and over 6,000 units each day as of July
2022.
4. The business has been profitable for 5+ years straight.
5. Company has over 900 employees.

BoAt revenue performance report 2022:

The largest product line of BoAt was wireless earphones and headphones. The sales grew by
2.5 times to Rs.947.4 crore in FY 21 from Rs.375.7 crore in FY 20. The second position was
taken by the wireless speakers. Sales of the speakers grew up to 2.6 times from Rs.113.2
crore in FY20 to Rs.297.4 crore during FY21. The manufacturing and assembling of the
company take place in China. The company plans to shift its manufacturing industry to India
through the Indian Government’s PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme. The company’s
total annual expenditure grew 2.2times from Rs.637.6 crore in FY20 to Rs.1420.1 crore
during FY21.

BoAt’s revenue has crossed a whopping 500crore in FY2020, which was the expected
revenue of the company for FY 21-22. Today, the company has 5000+ retail stores and 20
distributors.
Shareholders of BoAt:

The owners Sameer Mehta and Aman Gupta hold 28.26% of equity share capital on a
diluted basis, i.e. both the founders hold 56.52% in the company. The BRLMs (Book Running
Lead Managers) are Axis Capital, Credit Suisse, ICICI Securities, BofA Securities, and Link
Intime.
BoAt recently signed a 50-50 john venture with the electronic manufacturer Dixon
Technology Ltd. to establish a powerful manufacturing base in India for local production of
its products. It was a step to move away from China.
Marketing strategies of BoAt:
 Private label business – In the initial years of its origin, the brand used the traditional
business model of Private Label Business, where it purchased its products from
Chinese manufacturers, did the branding, and sold them in India under the name of
“BoAt products”. This method did not benefit the company. So to increase its sales,
the company thought of changing its business model.

 Designer electronic devices – Till 2014, audio devices were sold in the market as
simple electronic devices. Nobody focussed on their design. The boAt started
launching electronic products which grabbed the attention of the audience due to
their unique designs. It sells audio devices like accessories. The boAt is also
collaborating with the fashion industry. It launched spunky headphones at the Lakme
Fashion Week 2020 by collaborating with the popular fashionista Masaba Gupta.
Together, they launched products that gave a feel of the disco style of the late 70s.

 Digital marketing – To increase sales, BoAt adopted digital marketing techniques in

its marketing strategy. For a successful business, it has to first create demands in the
existing market. So the founders turned their focus around e-commerce. The
marketing strategies of the company are as under:
 Mobile marketing – boAt connects with its audience and customers through a
mobile app, emails, and SMS marketing.
 Email marketing – The company sends personalized messages to their existing
and potential customers informing them about a new product or upcoming
discounts. Such messages carry catchy and crisp emails.
 Social media marketing – boAt has reached great success through social media
marketing. It makes a presence on digital platforms like Instagram, Facebook,
LinkedIn, etc.
 Hashtag Marketing – The company smartly uses catchy hashtags to increase
customer conversion. Such hashtags have made a remarkable presence on social
media platforms. Some of the popular hashtags used by the company are
#boatheads, #levelupwithboat, #raisethebar, and others.
 Campaigning through social media – Instagram stories are created and shared
by BoAt under the name “boAt adventures” to catch the attention of the
audience. Digital campaigns have helped the company connect with the right
target audience and share the right type of content.

 Influencer marketing – boAt has struck deals with influencers, celebrities, and
popular personalities from different industries. Celebrities like Kartik Aryan, Kiara
Advani, and Jacqueline Fernandes are some famous endorsements of BoAt. Also,
popular content creators like Prajakta Koli, Harsh Beniwal, and Bhuvan Bam are some
of the promoters of the brand.
  Engagement Marketing – Concerts created by boAt are unforgettable to the
audience. The company uses a two-way communication method using photo booths,
and nirvana zones and asks its customers to participate. They then share customer
stories on their official Instagram page. This creates emotional bonding between BoAt
and the audience and creates a loyal customer base. This engaged communication
generates buzz around the market. Further boAt has conducted takeover tours with
popular musicians like A.P.Dillon and has successfully launched campaigns in
Mumbai, Chandigarh, Goa, Gurugram, and Hyderabad. In 2019, boAt conducted the
Sunburn Festival at Goa where stars like Wiz Khalifa, DJ Snake, Tyga, and Yellow Claw
performed.

 Offline marketing – Digital marketing has been proved to be a very effective market
strategies for many businesses. Offline marketing like print media, newspaper ads,
and others also play a pivotal role in promoting a business. The boAt uses print media
to promote its brand. The company also sells through retail outlets like Reliance
Digital and Croma.

 Innovation – The company experts adopt innovation in their product range. The
company keeps launching different types of products and continuously grabs the
attention of its audiences. Every product launched by the company has a touch of
innovation.

BoAt mainly focuses on customer needs, the customer wants, and their behavioural
patterns. The company made its products affordable and durable for every type of
customer. The brand deeply studied the market and its customers. Thus it collaborated with
cricketers, musicians, fashionistas, and such personalities who were popular among the
target audiences. In such a way the company could successfully create a strong customer
base and become a billion-dollar company in India.
Strength Weakness Opportunity Threats (SWOT) Analysis
SWOT HELPFULL HARMFULL

INTERNAL FACTORS Strengths: Weakness:

 Profitability  Low profit margin
 R&D and marketing  Heavy expenses on
 Innovation freight

EXTERNAL FACTORS Opportunities: Threats:

 Spikes of wearables  Lack of innovation
 Acquisition  Compromising Quality
 Car speaker segment

Reasons for the success of BoAt:

 Improvisations – BoAt refers to the influencers of its brand as BoAtheads. They

form an integral part of the clan. The company aims at customer satisfaction and
brings in products based on their likes and requirements. This gives their users a
feeling of belongingness. The products of the company are fresh and colourful.
 Adaptability – The steep growth of the company is mainly because it adapts
itself to the changing trend in the market. It kept a keen eye on the latest trends
in the market. It constantly kept adopting such changes in its marketing
strategies. The brand’s first product was the indestructible Apple charging cable
followed by an exclusive range of earphones. Their first earphones were named
BassHeads. Soon after, in 2018, the brand came up with a wide range of
speakers. In 2019, BoAt launched soundbars and home theatre systems.
 Classification as a lifestyle brand – The brand depicts itself as a lifestyle brand
and not a consumer electronic brand. These tactics were displayed during the
2019 Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai, where the models displayed boAt
products as their only accessories while dressed up in designer outfits.
 Blitzscaling – It refers to the quick growth of a company. This method prioritizes
speed over efficiency. This method is also used by companies like PayPal and
Airbnb. This risky method is meant to provide quick success.

 Targeting the appropriate group – The brand is famous for providing stylish
products at affordable rates. The brand selects younger personalities as its
 ambassadors. The company focuses on providing lifestyle products mainly
targeting the younger mass.
 Digital marketing – The company saw a steep growth in sales during its initial
period. It bypassed the traditional marketing mediums like TV and print media.
The campaign by BoAt mostly runs on digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram,
etc. The online group of BoAtheads consists of 80,000 members at
present. Word-of-Mouth marketing is another marketing strategy of BoAt. The
company claims to sell 4 units every minute and 6,000+ units per day. The
company establish 5000+ retail outlets and is supported by 20+ distributors.

Challenges
boAt started as a bootstrapped company in the initial years with funding of around Rs 30 lakh
from the founders and had to struggle initially for raising funds. Apart from this, the company
faces numerous challenges day in and day out in manufacturing trendy products at affordable
rates and bringing them to the market that is already packed with equally able competitors.
The top competitors of the Boat are Noise, Mivi, and Skullcandy.
> Noise
Gonoise is one of the biggest rivals of boAt. It is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, India
and was founded in 2014. Noise competes in the electronic equipment industry.
>Mivi
Mivi is another rival of boAt. It is headquartered in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, India and
was founded in 2015. Mivi also operates in the electronic equipment industry.
>Skullcandy
Skullcandy is also one of the top competitors of Boat. It is headquartered in Park City, Utah
and was founded in 2003. Skullcandy also works in the electronics industry.
Apart from these, there are certain other competitors of boAt like pTron, Boult Audio,
Fire-Boltt, and Ambrane.

Awards and recognitions of BoAt:

 2020: Company was declared as ‘No. 1 brand’ for truly wireless earwear in India.
 2020: Declared as “5th largest wearable brand in the world”
 2021: Selected as the official audio partner of 6 IPL teams
Future Plans
The company believes that there is always a trend of buying earphones along with new
smartphones. boAt finds this concept to be a channel of success for them. According to the
reports, the major phone makers are in the process of stitching new relations with audio
companies. For example - Samsung has got JBL and Harman, Apple has Beats, and so on.
These manufacturers are attracting consumers with hot deals so that the users don't buy
earphones or headphones separately.
Conclusion
Within 6 years, boAt company has successfully captured the whole world of electronic
gadgets in a spellbound way. It has established itself as the 5th largest wearable brand in
the world and the number 1 brand in India. The marketing strategies of the brand are
commendable. The company mainly focuses on smart and crisp marketing campaigns. They
have smartly used the digital platform for the promotion of their products. Even during the
pandemic, the brand used different tactics to stay relevant in the market. Their popularity
has forced other big companies like JBL to lower their product prices to compete in the
affordable audio device category.

REFERENCES
 https://www.boat-lifestyle.com/pages/who-are-we
 https://startuptalky.com/boat-case-study/
 https://forgefusion.io/boat-case-study/
 https://www.mypminterview.com/p/casestudy-boat-billion-dollar-marketing-strategy
 https://startuptalky.com/boat-success-story/