A masterpiece of Metal and Glass
After 15 years of being queen bee at Vu Televisions, founder, chairman and CEO Devita Saraf is now donning a new hat, that of chief brand ambassador! We ask the buoyant boss-model -lady how she’s keeping the brand young and future-proof.
We also got to spend quality time with the latest telly from Vu and you can read more about that here in our full review of the Vu Masterpiece Glo (55in).
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It may be the go-to brand for the vast majority of online TV shoppers, but Devita sets the record straight… “We have entry-level screen sizes but we are not a price warrior or low-cost player. Our focus is on innovation, quality and design and the buyers for Vu TVs usually have a higher budget and want the latest technology in large sizes. Secondly, we are focused on a younger audience so the products have more software and hardware innovation than traditional televisions brands.”
She also believes that she is in the best position to communicate with her audience directly and sites pertinent examples. “Every iconic technology brand from Apple to Tesla has been represented by the founder and CEO – and similarly the person who represents the personality of the Vu brand has been myself. Since we are a luxury tech brand, the ads for Vu that include me are definitely more glamourous but the core message of being a technology leader remains the same.”
Her presence invades both the technology and the culturally woke space, arming her with critical insight. “Successful companies require innovation and that does not come without an element of calculated risk, which as an entrepreneur and company owner I can bring to the business. Also, culture is important in today’s business world, a leader who cares for the customers and employees as much as the balance sheet has a stronger impact and that’s what I have been able to bring in and differentiate ourselves from generic brands in this industry.”
While the brand is synonymous with televisions, they have dabbled with innovative (yet nascent) tech such as 3D camcorders, teleconferencing TVs (long before WFH was a thing) and more. And while there are rumours of Vu getting into the smart speaker space, Devita remains predictably reticent… “We’ve been focused on the television and display industry since 2006 but we started out as a luxury technology brand with a slew of products in video, audio and IT and at some point, we will expand to a broader range of products again.”
The recent onslaught of ultrashort throw projectors to potentially replace TVs hasn’t shaken her belief one bit. “The newer generations want brighter picture, faster refresh rates and streaming content for which large TVs are still more popular. We launched the 100” at ₹20 lakhs and it was sold out soon, and we followed that up with the 85” Vu Masterpiece QLED at ₹3,50,000 and sold 8x more of that product because of affordability. But ultra-large size is still in demand and we will do something like the Vu 100 soon.”
If you’re a good ol-fashioned mall browser (yes, they exist!), Devita has some good news to end with. “Commodity TVs made by Chinese brands can sell only online, but an experiential brand like Vu requires an omnichannel approach where consumers can test-drive our product range, innovation, quality and design and then choose what sales medium they are comfortable buying from.”
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