OPPO Australia Managing Director Michael Tran really cares about customer feedback, to the point where he's seeking it out himself.
"I'm always on forums, I'm always stalking, reading comments, seeing what people say," Tran told WhistleOut at OPPO Australia's tenth-anniversary event last week.
"What Australians are saying about our brand and products is incredibly important to us. We take feedback from users seriously, along with the insights shared by local tech media, who have such a strong understanding of the Aussie smartphone landscape."
These comments - which come from places such as Whirlpool (an Australian forum focused on telco) and the OPPO groups on Facebook - have contributed to both local business decisions such as what products are ranged, as well as fed back to head office to contribute to the wider company.
"Customer feedback has led to expanding our range of accessories, such as chargers and cases, which are now available on our official online store — something that many of our users had been asking for," said Tran.
On the global front, Tran said Australian feedback has been used to improve ColorOS, OPPO's take on Android.
"I would go back to HQ and go 'you know, someone mentioned this, we really need to look into this, we definitely need to look into this and validate it and see if we can implement it'."
Tran also uses forums as a bit of a vibe check.
"I was on Whirlpool reading all the comments [following the launch of the Find X8 Pro] on what people were saying; 'thank god they finally brought back the Find series'."
Tran has been with OPPO Australia since the beginning, starting as Director of Marketing in 2014. He was promoted to Managing Director in 2019, and also holds the role of Director of Global Marketing and Brand Strategy in the wider business.
Speaking about OPPO's ten years in Australia, Tran pointed to his team as a driving force.
"My team has really shaped who I am today," said Tran. "From the old OPPO staff to the new. When I entered this market, I can hand on heart tell you I had no idea what was doing, let's just be honest."
Despite this, Tran says OPPO has now sold over one million devices in Australia, and is a comfortable number three behind Apple and Samsung.
That isn't to say that OPPO's ten years in Australia have all been smooth sailing. One of OPPO's first retail partnerships was with Dick Smith, which collapsed shortly after. OPPO stitched up an agreement with JB Hi-Fi in 2016, and the brands have been working together since.
Tran pointed to learning to trust retail partners as a key takeaway in his decade down under.
"What I would have done differently is believe more in our retail partners' ability to really push our brand," said Tran. "There were times where I wasn't sure if I should be bringing that particular model or enough stock of that particular device, but our retail partners were so confident in us."
Last year's foldable Find N3 was a launch where Tran underestimated demand, leaving customers unable to get it.
"The Find N3 sold out instantly," said Tran. "I wasn't too sure if it would resonate with the consumer."
This meant that there were customers who simply missed out. Tran recalled a particular caller on tech commentator Trevor Long's podcast complaining that he wasn't able to get a device.
"How come the Find N3 is sold out? I can't get one. Can you speak to OPPO?"
Looking forward, Tran says building out OPPO's accessory ecosystem and more consistency in launching flagship devices locally are key goals for the next ten years.
"We want to look at that ecosystem play where we're bringing IoT products, wearables, buds, watches, and tablets into the market," said Tran. "Not that we haven't brought them before, but we really haven't focused on it. It's been more of a test-and-learn thing for us. I'm hoping that this will be something that will help us get into more of consumer's hands."
"I remember when we first launched, when I saw someone use [our] phones, it would just really excite me. Now, when I walk around, I see people using our devices and it's such an achievement. A lot of brands come and go, and that's an unfortunate part of the business, but for us to last - and I hope we continue to last for a long time - [the highlight] is seeing consumers love our products."
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