“He is basically doing what he did at OnePlus” is a refrain that we are getting to hear quite often these days when it comes to Carl Pei. The co-founder of Nothing and OnePlus has been accused of using the OnePlus strategy book in his new initiative, Nothing.
It began with the way in which he built up chatter and buzz around the first products from Nothing, the Ear (1), talking of them well before their release and stressing their design aspect. “Oh, this is so much like they went on and on about the Sandstone back and design of the first OnePlus months before it was released,” many said. And when Nothing announced that it would be coming out with a sub-brand called CMF, which would make “great design accessible to all,” there was a general feeling that this was the equivalent of OnePlus’ Nord sub-brand. “Pei is basically recreating OnePlus, but at a greater speed,” is the consensus in many tech corridors.
New brand? Yes, but the person is the same
Well, perhaps he is. But what we cannot understand is the fuss about it. After all, if a person who played a key role in creating a brand moves to another brand, are they supposed to follow a totally new approach there? Does a football manager like Jurgen Klopp totally change his ‘gegenpress’ tactics just because from one football club to another? Will Colleen Hoover start writing differently just because she has tied up with a new publisher? Will Jaspreet Bumnrah start bowling leg spin if he joins a new IPL team?
This is not to say that people never change their approaches. They do. But there is no law that says that you have to change an approach that has worked for you in the past just because you moved to a different place. In fact, in fields like consumer technology, it actually makes very good sense to stick to what works because that is what your audience and consumers tend to expect from you and what they are more likely to invest in. If we were to take a tech example, Steve Jobs did not depart radically from his approach at Apple when he left the company and created Next. Neither did he change when he was involved in Pixar.
Related Read: CMF Buds Pro Review
Is Nothing following the OnePlus way? (Yes, so what?)
It is, therefore, curious as to why Carl Pei is taking flak in some quarters for following a form book that worked so well for him in the past. Perhaps some might have expected something radical after his claims to be different and make tech interesting again, but well, the stark fact is that he DID make tech very interesting at OnePlus and has made it so at Nothing, too.
He has done so by broadly following a similar template – talking about what made the product special, giving out selective details well before a launch, and stressing the importance of software and design. Like at OnePlus, he has first garnered goodwill and attention for a brand and then moved into different price and product segments. It happened with OnePlus, and it is now happening to an extent with Nothing.
It has proved to be a potent blend and one that is difficult for competitors to clone because of Pei’s own communication skills and charisma. More importantly, it has worked, making OnePlus and the OnePlus Nord major names in the Indian smartphone space. It is a great path to follow or be inspired by. We wish others would (if they could) do the same.
Ironically, many of those who are accusing Pei of using the same strategy as he did at OnePlus instead of trying something new (why should he, we wonder) are also bemoaning the loss of the OG OnePlus. The simple fact is that at the end of the day, Pei is using a strategy he is comfortable with and which has struck a chord with consumers in the past.
At the end of the day, what really counts is not whether his approach is new and innovative, tried and tested, boring and repetitive, or any other cliche.
What really matters is whether he is giving consumers what they need or even think they need. It might remind people of what he did at OnePlus, but it worked there, which makes it well worth following again.
There’s absolutely Nothing wrong with it. Pun unintended (perhaps).
