Honouring its commitment to fans

> Honor Malaysia e-commerce director Allen An shares why the brand has gone a different, separate direction from Huawei, with its devices targeting younger digital natives

IF YOU’VE ever wondered why the Honor devices are so popular despite the fact that the brand has no dedicated retail stores of its own, you’re not alone. Originally established and released as part of Huawei, the brand’s developers eventually began to see a different reception towards the Honor devices.

That prompted them to make Honor an independent operation that focuses on goals and markets which are different from its principal.

“We saw a trend in China [where] the e-commerce market is growing very fast, that is why we chose Honor as a dedicated series to penetrate the e-commerce market,” says Allen An, the ecommerce director of Honor Malaysia in a recent interview with theSun.

“The first product from Honor [as a] dedicated brand was the Honor 3c [which] we [received] very good feedback from the market.

“During the one week pre-order [period], we got over eight million [reservations] in China, and after that, we [noticed] there is a big potential.”

When it comes to its target markets, An adds that Huawei is designed for working professionals while Honor has its eyes on the younger generation which he refers to as “digital natives”.

That’s the reason why Honor gravitates more to e-commerce and fans when it comes to generating sales.

It’s been two years since the brand has gone on its own. In that time, Honor has managed to penetrate into 74 markets globally.

An reveals that the amount of resources put into each country varies according to the shopping behaviour of that market.

He says that while e-commerce is popular in developed countries with a larger population such as the United States, China and India, in Malaysia, some 90% of the sales still come from retail.

So, An has to relook at the sales strategies for Malaysia, which ride on both e-commerce and retail.

However, he emphasises that while Honor is designed to be an ecommerce brand targeted at digital natives, it doesn’t necessarily mean its relationship with its advocates is only subjected to the virtual world.

An strongly believes that purchasing a device goes beyond the hardware and specifications.

To him, it’s about the experience of using a good quality phone and the long-term service that comes after that.

He has noticed that most of the questions asked during after-sales services are software-related issues which can be easily resolved through technical guidance.

While they can seek professional help, Honor has provided an alternative by organising events for users and fans to help each other out, and build new friendships in the process.

“When we sell a device to our consumers, it’s not the end of the relationship, it’s just the start [of it],” he adds.

“After that, we will use our social platforms such as Facebook or WeChat to contact and organise [events] for them. I’ve noticed that young people are actually eager to share what they have experienced.”

On top of that, Honor is endeavouring to build an ecosystem that offers more benefits for fans.

Apart from creating strong bonds with its users, it is also cultivating good relationships with selected partners such as Lazada, Chatime, RedBox and more. It’s no wonder Honor users get lots of discounts!

Since its marketing strategies revolve around the specific lifestyle needs of the digital natives, you can expect the same from its devices.

The newly-rolled-out Honor 8 has about everything the common digital native needs – from its looks to the feel and specifications of this hand-held device.

Apart from the eye-catching futuristic look of the Honor 8, Honor has chosen to invest more on the development of the top three most important features to suit the lifestyle needs of its users – camera, speed and security.

Equipped with a dual camera to shoot clearer and a larger aperture for brighter photos, the device works just like a compact version of a DSLR (digital single reflex lens) camera.

Speed, on the other hand, is influenced by the chipset of the device. Expect a much faster phone that doesn’t affect the power consumption of the device since Huawei is the leading the chipset design industry.

The Honor 8 has taken its security feature to the next level with a fingerprint sensor located at the back of the phone which doubles up as a customisable short- cut access to applications.

Leveraging on its powerful chipset, the Honor 8 registers all fingerprint data into it instead of the phone software – an extra protection that makes it harder for outsiders to gain access.

An cites the battery as being the biggest issue for phone makers but Honor fortunately has managed to resolve this issue with the use of its chipset that is relatively smaller than others, which helps to reserve more space for the battery.

He adds: “If we want to increase the capacity of the battery, it will make our phones larger, [so] the battery technology is improving very slowly, and that is the next barrier we want to remove.”

While some of us still cannot get over the cutting-edge features and consumer-centric after-sales service, An is saying that its developers are already planning for the next generation of the Honor series.

This will come with even more advanced technology – proving once again that the brand intends to stay on top of its game for generations to come.