'You can't think like a marketer any more': TCL on why marketers need to understand entire businesses
Summary
TCL Corporation believes it is the right time to launch its own branded smartphones because its consumer electronics business is reaching a point of maturity where it is now an ecosystem of products, not just one single category. In addition, through its sister company, TCL CSOT, the brand can also explore new product categories like foldable devices and wearable displays. While the partially state-owned enterprise began life in China developing and selling household appliances, it is no stranger to mobile phones as the owner of Blackberry and Palm. While Streit acknowledges that TCL does already have a “unique portfolio” of mobility brands, he says these are very specifically targeted at segments of the market that TCL-branded devices currently do not and in the future will not play in. This means that TCL has to constantly be thinking tactically about how best to reach consumers, especially when it is not spending hundreds of millions in marketing every year for the sake of keeping its products more affordable.