Case study
realme GT 7's Amazon MX Player campaign lifted brand awareness by 8.7% and delivered double-digit gains across all key brand KPIs
Discover how realme used a 360-degree approach to build brand awareness for their new smartphone series using display ads, video ads, and in-show integrations.
key insights
8.7%
Increase in brand awareness
13.9%
Increase in purchase intent
22.5%
Increase in message association
Solutions used
Goals
realme, a leading smartphone manufacturer, aimed to build brand awareness and recall among Gen Z and young adults for their GT Pro smartphone range. Realme wanted their campaign to highlight the unique features of their devices, including the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, advanced camera capabilities, gaming features, and waterproof functionality.
Concurrently, hip-hop dance culture is gaining traction with the youth of India especially in the 18–34-year age group. Amazon MX Player had launched India's first hip-hop dance reality show Hip Hop India in 2023 which brought together the vibrant and talented underground dancing community for the mainstream audience. Season 1 was spearheaded by judges like renowned choreographer Remo D'Souza and popular dance icon Nora Fatehi. With the aim to build strong resonance with Gen Z and young adults through association with hip-hop culture, realme collaborated with Amazon MX Player as a title sponsor for Season 2 of Hip Hop India.
Approach
realme and Amazon Ads collaborated to build a comprehensive visibility plan that included in-show promotions and a host of in-show integrations, display, and video ads. The realme brand logo was included in the integrated logo unit for all online and offline show promotions and host callouts during the show. The brand saw extensive visibility through branding on various sections of the set, with product placement shown both on the judges podium and as a prize for final-round winners. A variety of in-show active integrations were leveraged to build recall on the key features of the realme GT 7 series smartphones, including its fast processor, fast-charging, advanced camera, and gaming capabilities. Custom cohorts were created involving Indian film celebrities and influencers to drive subtle advocacy for the brand. For example, a product launch segment featured a custom rap song to launch one of the new smartphone products of the brand. To further strengthen consideration, display ads and in-stream video ads were used within show content. The Amazon product detail page of the brand was included in the video ad experience to help strengthen recall on product features.
In-show integration for New Product Launch
Content integration to highlight product specifications
Results
realme saw over 5 billion impressions in show launch promotions and generated more than 77 million ad impressions in show content.1 As per a third-party brand lift study,2 the brand also saw a positive uplift across metrics, such as aided brand awareness (8.7%), brand favorability (13.8%), message association (22.5%), and purchase intent (13.9%). All of these uplifts were in the “excellent” zone when compared to Kantar’s global benchmarks for the smartphone category.
“realme believes in understanding the evolving needs of young India and engineering products that resonate with their lifestyle and aspirations. With the realme GT 7 Pro, our objective was to build meaningful and authentic connection with today's youth. Collaborating with Amazon Ads for Hip Hop India Season 2 allowed us to embed our story within culturally relevant, high-impact content. The seamless in-show integrations and immersive storytelling helped bring our flagship features like fast processor, advanced camera, and gaming power to life. The strong uplift across awareness, favorability, and intent reaffirms the value of content-led engagement in driving deeper brand affinity,” said Francis Wong, Chief Marketing Officer, realme India.
According to another study done by an independent body Ormax,3 the campaign led to a 15% increase in product consideration and a 7% boost in purchase intent, with both uplifts being statistically significant. The study pointed at strong brand recall with 65% show viewers recalling realme as the show sponsor.3 Also, a strong 15% uplift was observed for the association of the key message “Make it Real” with realme.4
The realme GT 7 series campaign with Hip Hop India Season 2 reinforces that when brands align with authentic cultural movements and deliver seamless, creative integrations, they can achieve breakthrough results that resonate with their audiences and drive measurable business impact.
Sources
1 Amazon internal data, 2025.
2 Kantar brand lift study, June 2025.