From Manufacturer to Connector: How BOE Unlocks Brand-Led Growth

Da Si oversees BOE Group’s global branding and communications, driving strategic support for the group and its businesses worldwide. 

In our conversation with Mr. Si, we uncovered how BOE is driving brand-led growth and transformation amid market complexity. By evolving from a traditional B2B manufacturer to a human-centric brand, BOE is activating both internal agility and external brand strength. The company is fostering a change-ready culture, deepening cross-functional trust, and forming ecosystem partnerships—while rapidly deploying innovation to deliver business results and build brand impact. 

How has BOE’s growth strategy evolved during its transformation from a manufacturer to an IoT technology leader?

Da Si: In recent years, BOE’s growth engine has shifted to focus on application-led innovations. We have moved beyond the traditional B2B hardware-centric business model by integrating our advanced manufacturing capabilities, core R&D strengths and scaled ecosystem resources to accelerate our transformation into an IoT innovator. 

The transformation is fueled by our relentless drive to redefine business boundaries—from automotive displays to gaming screens. Today, display-powered IoT solutions already generate over 30% of the group’s revenue. 

BOE partnered with Geely Auto to develop 8K Ultra-Wide Automotive Display 

How does brand play a role in your transformation?

Da Si: The role of brand is pivotal. Whether expanding globally or innovating for different applications, strong brand equity remains an indispensable competitive advantage. BOE is now adopting a dual-engine strategy that synergizes technology and brand, where technological innovations and brand building reinforce each other. 

In 2021, BOE pioneered China’s first semiconductor display technology sub-brand and product portfolio — comprising premium LCD (ADS Pro), advanced flexible OLED (f-OLED) and cutting-edge glass-based MLED (α-MLED) technologies. This move redefined industry standards, providing end consumers with high quality products and greater values driven by both the technology and our brand. 

We’ve moved beyond conventional Business-to-Business or Business-to-Consumer frameworks to adopt a Human-Centric (Business-to-Human) marketing philosophy.

Whether engaging business clients, end consumers or supply chain partners, we’re fundamentally communicating with people—where every decision-maker is first and foremost a consumer in daily life. Thus, we strive to balance technological expertise and human connection in our brand strategy and communications. Through consistent storytelling, we strengthened our brand image and enhanced consumer experiences. This shapes BOE’s brand as an innovative tech leader. 

When technology becomes tangible, half the battle is won. We’re revolutionizing how technology communicates, replacing jargon and spec sheets with real-world scenarios and experiences that let users feel the technology’s value. In our branding, we deliberately avoid dogmatic promotion, opting instead for experiential engagement that embeds innovations from datasheets into users’ lived experiences. 

「Hello BOE·2023」Brand Exhibition 

Why is long-term brand building necessary?

Da Si: Brand building is inherently a long-term commitment. As a leader in the semiconductor display industry, we’ve shifted our focus from bolstering our market leadership to demonstrating “how our innovative technologies empower, enhance and transform industries and lives.” This way of storytelling not only humanizes our technology, but also makes BOE’s brand more youthful, energetic and relevant. It also helps consumers better recognize BOE’s capabilities and innovations, their applications in daily lives, and our partnerships across the ecosystem. 

Amid global uncertainties, our brand power and human-centric values have strengthened our business resilience. Every effort we make today is an investment in the future: the more solid our groundwork, the greater our ability to withstand risks.

When challenges arise, we’ll be more adaptable and recover faster. That is the true strategic value of brand building. 

How does BOE enhance its brand influence through ecosystem partnerships?

Da Si: Building a brand can’t be done in isolation—it requires collective momentum. That’s the thinking behind our ”Powered by BOE” vision, where we co-create brand value through strategic partnerships. We’ve even established a dedicated Brand Partnership team within our Brand Center to drive two key collaboration models: deep alliances with industry supply chains (i.e., automakers and device manufacturers) and cross-sector partnerships (i.e., museums), blending hardware excellence with compelling content-driven experiences. 

Take our collaboration with the Palace Museum as an example: as its strategic digital transformation partner, we undertook all digital exhibition projects for the Museum’s centennial exhibition. When audiences marvel at the perfect integration of traditional culture and modern technology, they naturally pay attention to the technology provider behind it. This partnership model subtly marries technology and culture while steadily ingraining BOE’s brand value in people’s minds. 

BOE jointly hosted the immersive digital exhibition “The Way in Patterns” with the Palace Museum and Tencent. 

In esports, BOE has teamed up with e-commerce giant JD.com and ecosystem partners to form the “Best of Esports Alliance.” This initiative establishes a comprehensive ecosystem spanning e-commerce platforms, live streaming services, esports organizations, hardware manufacturers and device brands. The alliance has already attracted major global players such as JD.com, Intel, AGON, ASUS, Lenovo Legion, Mechanic, Mechrevo and MSI, connecting with esports enthusiasts while fostering a collaborative esports community. 

Two years post-implementation, this ecosystem approach has delivered strong outcomes: continuous improvement in consumer brand recognition and additional partnership opportunities across business units.

More importantly, this model is catalyzing meaningful changes within our group, transforming internal collaboration mechanisms and organizational mindsets. 

How do you foster agility and open thinking in your marketing organization to enable cross-functional collaboration and better results?

Da Si: I always emphasize two core principles with my team: First, we must reject complacency and embrace bold innovation. Second, we should apply critical thinking before implementing any directives—even those from leadership. Effective brand building demands disruptive thinking that combines creativity with healthy skepticism—only then can we surpass our own expectations. 

In change management, I consider internal communications to be as vital as external messaging—often more so. This becomes particularly crucial when overcoming operational bottlenecks or driving rapid transformation. Our approach establishes a comprehensive communication framework: securing executive buy-in through top-down alignment, fostering interdepartmental consensus through lateral collaboration, and unlocking grassroots innovation through bottom-up engagement. Most importantly, we validate every initiative with concrete results—measurable outcomes ultimately speak louder than rhetoric. 

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Since joining BOE in December 2020, he has spearheaded the company’s transformation into an IoT leader, achieving key breakthroughs: 

• Revamped BOE’s master brand architecture to reflect its IoT pivot, launching China’s first semiconductor display technology sub-brand and shifting competition from scale-driven to value-driven.
• Championed BOE’s “Empower IoT With Display” strategy through integrated campaigns, reinforcing its market leadership. 
• Pioneered innovative initiatives like ‘Hello BOE’ exhibitions and China’s first tech-edutainment show, “BOE’s Wonder Lab of Worry Solutions,” boosting awareness and engagement among end consumers. 
• Introduced microfilms and video-driven storytelling to humanize BOE’s brand, conveying “BOE is Always with You” through warmth and innovation. 

With over 20 years of brand and marketing leadership across China and APAC, Da Si has held executive roles at Motorola, AMD, and Amazon before joining BOE. 

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