Oppo’s €1,800 Smartphone: Tests Beat Advertising

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Oppo’s €1,800 Smartphone: Tests Beat Advertising.

A smartphone for €1,800 demands more than an attention-grabbing commercial. That is precisely the point Elvis Zahou makes: the CEO of Oppo Europe is questioning advertising and describing how the under-35 target group informs itself instead. For you, the search for a premium device becomes less a question of which message is loudest and more a question of which tests and experiences underpin the decision.

Why Oppo does not want to rely on advertising alone at €1,800

Zahou’s message is clear: advertising messages are losing ground to other sources of information. According to him, under-35s increasingly choose their high-end smartphone based more on test results, user reviews and AI responses. The focus is therefore not a campaign’s reach, but whether the product is presented convincingly in these three channels and can support the decision.

“I no longer believe in advertising.”

For Oppo, this approach presents a clear communications challenge. A message about the premium smartphone must work not only in an advertisement, but also be understandable where the target generation gets its information. Zahou’s strategy thus shifts the focus from sheer attention to acceptance: the product should hold its own in available tests and AI information and prove itself through real user experiences.

Under-35s: three anchors for the smartphone decision

The decision-making journey described by Zahou consists of three anchors:

Tests

According to Zahou, test results play an important role in choosing a high-end smartphone. They provide an objective starting point for evaluating a device.

User reviews

The experiences of other buyers also feed into the decision. This puts everyday experience alongside formal test verdicts.

AI responses

Responses from AI systems are also used. According to Zahou, they explicitly form part of the information on which under-35s base their choice.

The combination is decisive: Zahou does not present the three anchors as merely a replacement for advertising. He explicitly says that young buyers base their decisions on them — on more than just advertisements. Anyone considering a €1,800 device who looks at only a single anchor is therefore looking at too little.

This leads to an unusual measure of success for Oppo. It is not enough to make the smartphone visible in an advertising moment. It has to clear the bar set by convincing tests, authentic experiences and digital information. That is precisely what distinguishes Zahou’s communications approach from a purely campaign-based idea.

What the price means for your decision

For you, Zahou’s approach means concretely: Advertising may kick-start a decision, but it cannot carry it alone. Especially at €1,800, tests, user reviews and AI responses need to align so that curiosity turns into a sound purchasing decision.

The report’s strategic message is therefore not that good advertising is becoming irrelevant. It describes a change in how consumers make decisions: Oppo wants to reach under-35s where they already research their premium smartphone. The price of €1,800 makes this shift particularly relevant because buyers at that price expect more than a single advertising promise.

Value for you

You can find the original version of the Frandroid report, including Elvis Zahou’s analysis, here in the original.