‘We do not want to be inaccessible’: Boult co-founder Varun Gupta on premiumisation and growth

Gupta, in a chat with indianexpress.com, shared insights into the company’s journey, its strategy that focuses on quality, and not pushing prices into the luxury segment.  “We do not want to be inaccessible by launching extremely heavy price point products,” said Gupta, explaining Boult’s approach to premiumisation. “We’re premiumising by about 30-50 per cent and not by 500 per cent.” This is a stark contrast when compared to competitors who have launched exorbitantly priced products, something which Gupta termed as “vanity partnerships”.

Talking about Boult’s collaboration with Ford Mustang, Gupta said that it is a partnership that goes beyond branding. “This time, we designed products which really carried the spirit of this thing (Ford Mustang), from the colours, to the stripes, to the iconic trademark, to the LED lights, to the texture on the grill,” he said.

On being asked about the product design, Gupta highlighted the depth of the collaboration between the companies during the development process. While working directly with Ford Mustang’s USA design team, the Indian company underwent extensive knowledge transfer to understand the legacy of Mustang. “We took our team through a stringent training process to understand the principles of Mustang, the design language, the brand book, the dos and don’ts, and then we started designing,” said Gupta. The co-founder revealed that the process took over a year, with an additional eight months spent perfecting the quality, finish, and packaging.

When asked about the push towards premium offerings, Gupta shared that it was happening at a time when the audio market is showing signs of stagnation. “The overall category is stagnating, and whenever any category starts flattening, the companies focus on premiumisation,” Gupta said, adding that while other brands in the category are “de-growing, are funded and are losing money,” Boult has maintained profitability.

Global expansion

Further discussing the brand’s outreach strategy, Gupta said that a key distinction of Boult has been its approach to manufacturing. “Thanks to our Make in India initiative, we are manufacturing more than 99 per cent products in India by ourselves,” Gupta said, adding that this strategy gives the company greater control over quality and costs. “Initially it was ‘Make in India’, and then it was ‘Make for India,’ and now it is make from India for the world,” he said.

On being asked about Boult’s vision for global presence, the co-founder said that currently the company has presence in the United Kingdom and Nepal with plans to enter other Southeast Asian countries, Europe, and the United States of America. While most thriving Indian companies have a vision to reach beyond the geographical boundaries, it is not as easy as it seems, according to Gupta.

Talking about challenges faced by Indian companies, Gupta said, “When you go to second world or first world countries, the ASPs are higher. The expectations of consumers are higher, the standard certification, licensing and control from the regulators is higher.”

On responsible tech

A recent report by The Times observed that excessive use of noise-cancelling headphones may lead to hearing difficulties, paving the way for companies to advocate for responsible use of these devices. When asked about advocating for responsible use of tech, Gupta said that Boult takes its product safety seriously, particularly with regards to concerns related to long-term health.  “We want to focus on safety first, rather than just giving a blasting sound which could possibly harm the customer after a certain decibel value,” Gupta said, suggesting that even when pushing for premium experiences, Boult hasn’t given up on its responsibility to consumers. He said that the company has implemented some thoughtful features like magnetic on-off switches in neckbands and strict over-voltage protection.

When it comes to the future, Gupta said that the company is focussing on consolidating its presence in existing categories instead of pursuing rapid expansion. “In the last six months, we got into home audio, speakers, dash cameras and power banks. This year, we plan to go deep and big in these categories, rather than launching a lot of new categories,” said Gupta adding that the goal is to transition from being perceived as just an earphone company to being known as a comprehensive smart device brand.

Boult has begun expanding its offline presence and as spread is distributed to 20 states in India with more than 3,000 points of sale. “When consumers see a product online, offline and in stores, it builds a lot of credibility and legitimacy in their minds and hearts,” Gupta noted.