OnePlus ropes in Robert Downey Jr. for new brand campaign

Premium smartphone maker OnePlus Thursday said its latest marketing and brand campaign will feature Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr.

The campaign featuring Robert Downey Jr, who is popular for his role as Avengers superhero Iron Man, will appear in a series of brand creatives across mediums in India and China starting with the OnePlus 7 Series launch, a statement said.

"The long-term campaign celebrates the disruptive role that OnePlus has played in the smartphone industry... Riding on the immense popularity of the iconic actor, the new ad creative will talk about OnePlus' much-awaited upcoming flagship," it added.

Robert Downey Jr. commented on the partnership saying, "It's cool to see a young brand disrupting the tech landscape... I was challenged to help them create an authentic campaign based on the tenets of quality and craftsmanship, and it's already proving to be a great fit creatively... In checking out the upcoming 'OnePlus 7 Pro' the attention to detail coupled with innovative design was truly impressive..."

The Avengers actor was previously signed with HTC who paid $12 million for a two-year global campaign.

The Chinese company, which competes with the likes of Apple and Samsung in the premium smartphone segment, had unveiled the latest generation of smartphones -- OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro, priced at ₹32,999 onwards, earlier this week.

The flagship OnePlus 7 Pro features 6.67-inch display and is fitted with a triple-lens rear camera setup (48MP+16MP+8MP) and has 4,000 mAh battery. Its 12GB RAM variant will retail for ₹57,999 in India.

India is a key market for OnePlus and accounted for a significant part of the company's total revenue last year. The company has previously stated that India is set to become its "second home ground".

According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung had 44% share of the premium smartphone ( ₹30,000 and above) market in India in the March 2019 quarter. OnePlus and Apple had 26% and 19% share, respectively, in the said quarter.