(Image source from: How Xiaomi Mi 3 captured the Indian mobile bazaar?)

Hust three weeks in the market and Chinese brand Xiaomi's flagship Mi 3 is grabbing eyeballs right from the word go, hitting headlines and even earning the ire of consumers due to its flash sale model.

One of the most talked about brands right now, the question is how did a new brand like Xiaomi manage the feat. Well, all thanks to India’s most popular e-commerce site Flipkart and it's simple social media marketing strategy that has paid off for the site as well as the mobile makers.

For India, this form of marketing could be fresh, but not for Xiaomi. For it, this was just an Indian adaptation of China's marketing and sales strategy.

The company is believed to not spend a single penny on advertising ever and entirely counts on social network announcements to build a hype.

It normally reveals the number of units in a flash sale, and when and where they will be available, and they are swept clean off the shelves within minutes and seconds, as seen previously.

Given the not-so-good image of Chinese brands in India, the company was wise to pitch it differently. For instance, it re-branded itself as Mi, quietly dropping the Chinese name ‘Xiaomi’ that could have put the Indian consumers off.

A look at the social channels for India, the Flipkart company listing, you will find just ‘Mi’ now. It’s a change necessitated by its plans to take the brand global. In Southeast Asia Xiaomi was a name that could easily get by, but for a global play, the brand needed a new identity. Mi fits in perfectly, and it all starts in India.

AW: Suchorita Choudhury