How Bluetti capitalized on TikTok's momentum to transform from OEM

Last week, portable power supplier Bluetti won the 2023 Red Dot Design Award and was selected for the 2023 Forbes China New Generation Unicorn List.

After 10 years of OEM manufacturing, Bluetti began in 2019 to choose products with independent intellectual property rights and sell them on Amazon with its own logo. Later, they started to focus on building their own independent website.

How can a brand validate a long-developed new product in the market at low cost? Bluetti chose crowdfunding, which not only allows them to obtain production funds through crowdfunding, but also test whether the product is truly welcomed by users.

In 2020, after Bluetti launched its first crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, it raised $6.7 million in just two months, setting multiple crowdfunding records in related categories on Indiegogo.

Bluetti accumulated 1 million followers on its Tuke business account in less than a year. For companies transitioning from OEM factories to independent brands going global, Bluetti’s brand growth story may serve as a model for more OEMs to transform.

By showcasing various interesting scenarios in outdoor camping, Bluetti successfully transformed portable energy storage products into a lifestyle carrier in such settings.

This has also created a differentiated brand positioning for Bluetti, making it stand out among many portable energy storage products with longer battery life and higher power, extending the brand’s companionship and healing tone, and gaining consumer recognition.

In addition to regular sales activities, Bluetti also puts effort into important marketing nodes. For example, during Easter, they collaborated with Tuke influencers for product promotion content, offered ultra-low discounts for Tuke traffic-driving products, and so on. These are some of the creative approaches node marketing can have.

Bluetti’s overseas brand manager, Yu Hong, said, “After investing in Tuke for two months, our followers exceeded 100,000, and in less than a year, we accumulated 1 million followers.” The astonishing speed of follower growth has made Bluetti’s team optimistic about Tuke’s efficiency in acquiring new users.

Tuke’s fast-paced content presentation can help brands efficiently break through user circles. In terms of conversion, the high unit price of energy storage products means a longer decision cycle, so more channels can be used to complete the purchase chain: generating interest on Tuke, creating desire on Facebook, and finally completing the conversion with the help of the official website or Google search.

Through the backend data of its independent brand site, Bluetti has learned that more and more consumers are coming to Bluetti’s independent site and placing orders based on their interest in high-quality content shared on Tuke.

In terms of positioning, transitioning from an OEM to an independent brand;

In terms of channels, cleverly leveraging the power of crowdfunding;

In terms of direction, focusing on both home and portable energy storage;

In terms of model, combining both To B and To C attributes, with a higher growth ceiling;

In terms of policy, global strategic focus on “dual carbon” makes energy storage even more promising;

In terms of branding, better connecting with audiences, such as collaborating with influencers on Tuke to create scenario-based content and cover different trending topics.

The multi-pronged development of brand strength, product strength, technical strength, and service strength has made Bluetti’s growth path more stable.

Refined fan operations have also enabled Bluetti to achieve a 1+1>2 effect; high-quality content has helped Bluetti “go viral,” with the current number of followers exceeding one million, and the average number of views per video reaching over 100,000.

In terms of Tuke account content operations, Bluetti abandoned the initial content format focused on “parameter selling points” of the product itself, and instead provided users with more emotional value and solutions to real-life problems.

Yu Hong said, “We make videos about outdoor camping tips, the five essential kitchen tools for outdoor cooking, daily life hacks, etc. Maybe in a 60-second video, the product only appears for 2 seconds, but more users will pay attention to us because of the value in the other 58 seconds.”

Currently, Bluetti’s content direction has expanded from initially focusing on the product itself to covering all channel topics, including mainstream trending topics on Tuke.

Bluetti also collaborates with influencers to shoot some interesting short skits. In terms of content creation, Bluetti encourages influencers to create their own content.

For example, in 2022, an outdoor blogger used a Bluetti product to play a horror game on a desktop computer in the forest at midnight, and the video received many likes from fans after it was posted.

Yu Hong revealed, “Bluetti continuously collaborates with Tuke influencers,achieving continuous deep cultivation in content. Specifically, these influencers create content that best fits local user scenarios, and then authorize our official channel to publish it. I think in the process of such rapid brand development, Tuke has played an indelible role.”

The foundation of a brand is still the product. In overseas sales, Bluetti pays great attention to user experience. The success of Chinese brands in overseas markets is partly due to the brand’s own meticulous work on products and services, and partly due to market demand. Bluetti is no exception. Looking back at several products Bluetti launched in overseas markets after its establishment, all were designed from the user’s perspective and then iteratively upgraded.

China has become the main global production base for portable energy storage products thanks to its industrial chain synergy and human resource advantages. From obscurity to industry leadership, every choice Bluetti made was precisely at the right node.

Among portable energy storage brands, Bluetti ranks among the top three in the consumer market; relying on excellent product quality and a user-oriented attitude, its sales in 2022 exceeded 2 billion yuan, and it currently has millions of users worldwide.

Bluetti is just one example of Chinese brands going global. Its successful overseas experience also shows that brands that can create value for the market are more likely to win consumers’ hearts and maintain lasting creativity and appeal overseas.

Disclaimer: The information is sourced from the internet. If there is any infringement, please contact us for removal.