MxMIndia

Tag: Snapdeal.com

  • It is mostly insurance and public service advertising which has used and abused Yamraj, notes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Stereotyping Yamraj in Indian Advertising

     

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Sanjeev KotnalaThere are only two truths in life. Birth and death. Death creates maximum insecurity, Thus, Yamraj, the lord of death. In Hindu mythology, Yamraj presides over the cycle of death and rebirth, ensuring the proper record of karma and deciding on the soul’s destination and journey after death. Death is a sensitive subject in oyr culture and spirituality. Hence one would think that the representation of Yamraj in advertising requires a thoughtful and respectful approach. However, Indian advertising has stereotyped Yamraj, presenting him as trivial and comical. There seems to be no risk when using and depicting Yamraj in advertising. It is mostly Insurance and Public Service Advertising (PSA) which has used and abused Yamraj.

    One understands that the depiction of Yamraj needs innovative, creative representation that is contemporary and relates to the generation while respecting traditional understanding and symbolism. In fact, a few brands like Fevicol M-Seal and Max Life Insurance have used death in their communication. It is a subject I have earlier written in ‘Slice of death – advertising’.

     

    Yamraj and Insurance

    Life insurance and death are interlinked. The life insurance brands are forced to hint and touch on the subject of death and they do it wisely with sensitivity smoothening the fear of death. However, Yamraj, the lord of death, is not often used, and when used is a stereotypical character.

    Policy Bazar, in the past has, humorously connected death and insurance. This time Policybazar.com has used Yamraj to answer the simple truth about not delaying buying an Insurance policy to protect the family against life’s uncertainties like death and disease. It used a market and Hospital situation to make sense of the suddenness and uncertainty of death. The message is simple ‘Taalo Nahi, Le Daalo’ (Don’t delay, just buy it’ addressing the issue of procrastination in purchasing a policy.

     

    Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance has used activation with the Yamraj character to drive home the road safety message in their campaign ‘Yamraj to Rescue’. It focussed on reminding the people about following traffic rules, crossing only at the Zebra crossing, driving only when the light turns green, and using helmets and seatbelts.

     

    Yamraj And Food

    Yamraj is comical in Namaste Desi Ghee advertising.

    In the advertisement, Yamraj comes in to take Dadima’s soul. Dadima asks him to wait, serves food, and shares that the tasty food uses Namaste Desi Ghee. However, she also informs him that she won’t be able to cook such delicious food in heaven as the brand will not be available. Yamraj takes some food for the way and extracts the promise that he will come and Dadima will serve him food made in Namaste Ghee.

    The concept of death is used playfully, making one smile even though Yamraj is more of a joker in the advertisement.

     

    Yamraj And Deals.

    Snapdeal.com campaign highlighted ‘irresistibility’ with deals on the site. They are good enough to entice Yamraj, the God of Death, who grants life to the person who offers him a deal. The ads about the man parachuting,  delivering the package, Hospital and Runner, are simple and straight, demonstrating how Yamraj uses the deals on Snapdeal. Delivery person edits, and both are simple- straight.

     

    PSA Helmet And Yamraj.

    Honda has a simple Helmet On Life On campaign. Here, Yamraj monitors who is wearing a helmet and who is not. It humorously brings alive the silly excuses for not wearing the helmet and the possibilities.

    Western Indian Railways used Yamraj as an activation device to deter people from crossing or trespassing railway tracks. Chennai Traffic Police has also used Yamraj in the ‘Drink and be driven’ campaign. And the local government in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bengal and Bihar used Yamraj to drive home the caution message during Covid.

     

    Net-Net

    I am not sure if the comical depiction of Yamraj is acceptable, right or wrong, as I understand and appreciate creative freedom and its boundaries. The character has limitations and has been used mainly by Insurance brands and in PSA. However, brands like Everest sheets and even IPL had a Yamraj ad. Then there is the BJP ad using Yamraj against Kejriwal. Effectively, it has to be a real humorous or the direct association between the brand and message to effectively leverage Yamraj or  one ends up with an ad like Jaquar. Using death can be more straightforward.

     

  • The campaign celebrates the changing role of fathers in society and applauds fathers who take pride in hands on approach to parenting

    Snapdeal banks on #FathersCanBeMothersToo communication on Father’s Day

    By A Correspondent

     

    Snapdeal has released a unique campaign on eve of Father’s Day where it sought to break gender stereotypes. Through its campaign, it aims to change the universal diaper changing sign which mostly depicts a mother changing diapers to include fathers as well. Titled #FathersCanBeMothersToo, the campaign celebrates the changing role of fathers in society and applauds fathers who take pride in hands on approach to parenting.

     

    The campaign caught attention of parents and educators on social media for challenging traditional general roles. #FathersCanBeMothersToo trended on Twitter for more than 7 hours across India, becoming the most popular trend several times during the day. Additionally, #FathersCanBeMothersToo led to more than 6800 conversations and 23 million+ impressions on Twitter. Snapdeal also partnered with several malls and the Hyderabad airport for changing signage on their baby diaper changing stations.

     

    Talking about the inspiration behind the campaign, Kanika Kalra, Vice President- Marketing, Snapdeal said, “The world is changing around us. It is for the brands who belong to a new world to debunk gender stereotypes in the new age. On the occasion of Father’s Day, we decided to update this age old sign to acknowledge the changing face of fatherhood. It immediately struck a chord and we received many heart-warming messages. We hope that people adopt the new sign and question practices like this, which have been taken for granted all these years.”

     

    In the spirit of change begins at home, Snapdeal had kicked off the campaign by inviting all its employees who are fathers to bring their children to office on Friday for fun activities. To adopt the new signage, people can download the new diaper changing station sign from the Snapdeal website which is free for use at businesses, workplaces, public spaces like airports etc.

     

  • Letsgomo Labs provides end to end mobility solutions to businesses that are looking to harness the power of mobile

    Snapdeal acquires Letsgomo

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a move to further strengthen its leadership in the m-commerce domain, Snapdeal has announced that it has acquired Letsgomo Labs, a mobility solutions company.

     

    Letsgomo Labs provides end to end mobility solutions to businesses that are looking to harness the power of mobile. Founded by Manav Kamboj and Vikas Banga, the 76 member team with expertise across mobile technologies, design and strategy; consults businesses right from building mobile strategies to conceptualization of applications and mobile sites to implementation and hosting. The company also works with leading e-commerce companies to help them strengthen their mobile capabilities.

     

    With the acquisition, Letsgomo team, now a part of Snapdeal family will focus on further strengthening the organisation’s mobile technology capabilities. Mobile is one of the key growth drivers of e-commerce in the country and building a robust mobile commerce platform has been a key focus area for Snapdeal. With the acquisition of Freecharge in April 2015, Snapdeal has become the largest m-commerce company in the country. Already, 75 per cent of the orders on Snapdeal come via mobile based transactions. The recent acquisition of Martmobi – a mobile technology start up, was also a step towards further strengthening Snapdeal’s mobile platform.

     

    Rohit Bansal

    Speaking about this, Rohit Bansal, Co-Founder, Snapdeal said, “Mobile is one of our key focus areas and in a span of just 2 years, the medium has proved to be one of the biggest growth drivers for the company. Delivering a great user experience across varying data connections and numerous handsets being used in the country is the guiding principle for our mobile initiatives. Over 75% of our sales now come through mobile platforms and Letsgomo team becoming a part of our family will further propel our efforts in this direction.”

     

    Manav Kamboj, Co-Founder, Letsgomo said, “Snapdeal is focused on building strong mobile capabilities and we are truly excited to be a part of the Snapdeal family. We strongly believe that new age technology innovations will happen here. Mobile will continue to drive e-commerce in the country and how companies utilize this platform will be a key success determinant. We look forward to building world class mobile technology at Snapdeal and set new benchmarks for the industry in this space.”

     

  • Madison Media will now be the Media Agency of Snapdeal effective July 1, 2015 but work on the account will start almost immediately, informs a communique

    Madison Media snaps up Snapdeal wef July 1

    By A Correspondent [updated]

     

    Madison Media Plus, a part of Madison Media Group, has just announced the win of Snapdeal. The account – run by OMD – was won after a multi agency pitch. The account will be handled out of the agency’s Delhi office. Madison Media will now be the Media Agency of Snapdeal effective July 1, 2015 but work on the account will start almost immediately, informs a communiqué.

     

    Said Srinivas Murthy, Senior Vice President – Marketing, Snapdeal.com on selecting Madison Media, “We are very happy to have Madison partner with us on media going forward. They bring tremendous experience across categories, with learnings across multiple growth industries that can be leveraged for us. Madison is known for the high quality of media professionals and we look forward to them helping us drive our business to new heights.”

     

    Sam Balsara

    Added Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director, Madison World, “I am delighted that Snapdeal after an exhaustive competitive review has found Madison Media to be worthy of handling this large and demanding account. Today Madison Media offers an unparalleled depth of leadership, with unmatched experience and expertise and this will be further strengthened with the joining of VikramSakhuja in a few months as Group CEO of Madison Media and OOH.”

     

    Madison Media Group has won a host of new businesses in 2015including Viber, Lenskart.com, Zivame.com, Metro Cash & Carry, Gaana.com, Cricbuzz.com, Amul Hosiery, DHFL, Bandhan Bank, amongst others. The gross billing of Madison Media Group is about Rs 3750 crore, adds the communiqué.

    As reported earlier, the digital mandate for Snapdeal has been bagged by GroupM arm Mindshare.

     

  • DEN Snapdeal-TV Shop will bring best of Snapdeal.com products to television audiences at home

    Snapdeal.com, DEN unveil TV Commerce channel

    By A Correspondent

     

    Snapdeal.com has announced a 50:50 joint venture with DEN to launch a TV Commerce channel titled ‘DEN Snapdeal TV shop’. The channel aims to create a multi-nodal electronic shopping avenue for customers.

     

    The channel is currently available for viewers on channel number 132 on DEN cable network and will be extended to other cable and DTH networks in the course of the next six months.

     

    DEN Networks Ltd. reaches about 13 million households in over 200 cities across 13 states in the country. Snapdeal.com will leverage this robust distribution network of DEN to provide customers easy access to the wide assortment of products across Home, Lifestyle and Electronics categories with great value deals.

     

    DEN Snapdeal TV Shop will benefit those customers who have limited access to internet services particularly in Tier 2 and 3 cities further hampered by lack of physical access to top retail products and brands at competitive prices. Additionally, every purchase made on the channel comes with quality and delivery assurance from Snapdeal.com and the flexibility to pay on delivery – an option largely confined to e-shopping.

     

    Speaking about the partnership, Kunal Bahl, Co-founder and CEO Snapdeal.com said, “Innovation lies at the heart of Snapdeal.com and with this initiative we are taking yet another step to fulfill our promise of providing accessibility to the best products at best prices to consumers across India. We are delighted to partner with a likeminded brand like DEN Networks which enjoys massive reach and brand loyalty across the entire country and especially in smaller towns of India. India is a country with many heterogeneous segments of consumers, and we believe that by reaching 150 million households with 600 million people that have a TV, we can create another revolution through TV Commerce.”

     

    Sameer Manchanda, CMD, DEN Networks said, “We are extremely thrilled to partner with Snapdeal.com on this game-changing initiative. By leveraging Snapdeal and DEN’s nationwide distribution network, we will now be able to engage with a much larger audience which is still not exposed to the benefits of online shopping and internet access. Together we aim to offer the Customers a wide assortment of products and provide them with a hassle free buying experience.  The response to the pilot has been extremely encouraging and we are sure DEN Snapdeal TV Shop will be well received by our viewers.”

     

    Snapdeal aims to take the DEN Snapdeal TV shop to 100 Million households across India over the next 12 months.

     

  • This is in continuation with the company’s vision of helping a million merchants to go online in three years

    Snapdeal strengthens appoints Bhuvan Gupta as VP-Engineering

    By A Correspondent

     

    Snapdeal.com has appointed Bhuvan Gupta as Vice President-Engineering. In his new role, Bhuvan will be responsible for further strengthening the company’s technology platform by building technology which further eases merchants to sell online. This is in continuation with the company’s vision of helping a million merchants to go online in three years.

     

    Snapdeal has been ramping up its engineering team aggressively to further build and enhance customer and seller experience on its site. With the aspiration to become a globally renowned technology leader, Snapdeal’s 1000+ people strong engineering team aims to continue raising the bar on technology that enables great buyer and seller experience.

     

    Bhuvan comes with a vast experience across technology positions in multinational companies across industries, successfully leading technology functions and galvanizing their growth. With over 15 years of experiences, he holds an engineering degree from Birla Institute Technology and Sciences (BITS), Pilani and a business degree from the prestigious Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi. Prior to joining Snapdeal.com, Bhuvan was the CTO at BSB Portal (JV between BSB and Yahoo Japan). At BSB, he built the engineering team that developed popular Hike Messenger, Wynk Music and One touch internet, powering key mobile data initiatives for Airtel.

     

    “We are thrilled to have Bhuvan join the Snapdeal family.  Bhuvan comes with a rich experience and has been at the heart of key mobile and technology innovations in his previous organizations. Technology and innovation are at the core of our company, and we are positive that his passion for technology will ensure that Snapdeal continues to innovate and create life changing experience for buyers and sellers. His onboarding is in line with our plan of onboarding over 1000 of the top computer engineers in the country to make Snapdeal a technology powerhouse,” said Rohit Bansal, Co-founder at Snapdeal.com.

     

  • This association makes Godrej Nature's Basket, the sole large gourmet retailer to list its range online on a marketplace platform

    Godrej Nature’s Basket partners with Snapdeal.com

    By A Correspondent

     

    Godrej Nature’s Basket has announced its partnership with Snapdeal.com. Through Snapdeal, the eclectic Indian and international gourmet range from Nature’s Basket will now be available to consumers in 5000 plus cities, thus expanding the brand’s reach significantly across the country. This association makes Godrej Nature’s Basket, the sole large gourmet retailer to list its range online on a marketplace platform.

     

    Commenting on the association, Mohit Khattar, MD, Godrej Nature’s Basket said, “We are thrilled to partner with Snapdeal.com. This is a huge opportunity for the brand to connect with all discerning customers who are currently not serviced by our offline and online formats. We continue to aim to make food shopping a bigger pleasure and enable better and brighter experiences for customers by making it even easier for them to source the finest from around the world.”

     

    Godrej Nature’s Basket has listed over 700 products on India’s largest online marketplace in the first phase and the range will increase exponentially in the coming months. The brand will also introduce its chic gifting options range on the platform. Exclusive and elegant Godrej Nature’s Basket gift hampers, catering to discerning and quality conscious customers, will make their debut soon.

     

    Speaking on the development Amit Maheshwari, Vice President – Fashion at Snapdeal.com said, “Godrej Nature’s Basket is India’s leading chain for premier gourmet products and we are extremely delighted to enter into this partnership. Our gourmet category has been receiving an encouraging response from 40 million+ users and this partnership is a strategic move to further strengthen Snapdeal.com’s gourmet category. We are sure of a positive response from our customer base and hope fine food connoisseurs will cherish ordering these amazing flavours from around the world.  We look forward to a long term and mutually beneficial association with Godrej Nature’s Basket.”

     

  • Quirky and insightful, the latest ad film focusses on how easy it is to be fashionable

    Snapdeal unveils TVC announcing Annual Sale

    After the TV debut of the Snapdeal Mobile App, the online entity has announced its latest TV ad ‘End of Season Sale’. The new TVC is conceptualized and created by FCB Ulka Advertising.

     

    Quirky and insightful, the latest ad film focusses on how easy it is to be fashionable. One doesn’t need to sweat, whether it is to save money on fashionable clothes and accessories or to save oneselffrom waiting in long queues at the cash counters.

     

    The TVC crafted by FCB Ulka, shows the protagonist (played by actor PulkitSamrat) having a nightmare about his girlfriend on a shopping spree, at his cost, of course. He wakes up to realize that he was only dreaming and takes solace in the fact that saving on top fashion brands is still in his hand, courtesy the End of Season Sale on snapdeal.com.

     

    Sachin Das Burma-Group Creative Director- FCB Ulka said,”Yet again, we have managed to reflect real life in our communication, keeping the role of our product in the centre of the story. I think our target audience will connect to our effort and hopefully, the results will be good.”

     

    Sandeep Komaravelly, VP – Marketing, Snapdeal.com shared,”With this ad we are looking at highlighting the End of Season Sale at Snapdeal.com which enables consumers to save on some of the biggest fashion brands in the industry. Consumers can now avail upto 60 per cent discount across various fashion categories like clothing, footwear, Fashion accessoriesetc. There are 3.5 lac products and over 1000 brands for the consumers to choose from. We have also seen a substantial increase in the download rate of mobile app and have re-iterated the benefit of using our mobile app to access a variety of products through this TVC.”

     

  • Promart will offer its customers an additional 10 per cent discount on purchases of Rs2,500 and above by members who log in to Snapdeal.com and pay Rs30 for this special deal

    Promart Retail ties up with Snapdeal.com

    By Sagar Malviya

     

    Promart Retail announced a strategic tie-up with e-commerce company, Snapdeal.com, to bring offers and shopping experience for consumers. Promart is a value format retail chain that offers discounts all year round.

     

    Promart will offer its customers an additional 10 per cent discount on purchases of Rs2,500 and above by members who log in to Snapdeal.com and pay Rs30 for this special deal. Those who pay this small fee will receive a unique code by SMS. When this code is shown at Promart stores, an additional 10 per cent discount would be extended.

     

    Ashish Garg, Managing Director (MD), Promart said, “Snapdeal has a great presence in India and consumers can look forward to new promotions and packages with attractive offers. Promart already gives consumers an opportunity to buy the latest merchandise at 20-60 per cent discount. Now, with this partnership, they can enjoy sweeter deals and even better discounts.”

     

    The offer will be available at all Promart stores in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot and Mumbai till June. Kunal Bahl, founder and CEO, Snapdeal.com, said: “Contribution from Tier-II and Tier-III cities is growing tremendously, and this partnership with Promart will help us in delivering great value to our customers in these cities, given their strong presence.”

     

    Launched by Provogue India, the chain was taken over by Apple Group of Companies and VEMB Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd in 2011. As part of the takeover, Apple Group and VEMB got control of the brand’s assets and intellectual property.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • A Comms has tied up with the e-commerce site for a unique campaign across India

    A Comm’s latest TV campaign for snapdeal.com

    By A Correspondent

     

    One of India’s largest network media houses, Aurora Comms (A Comms) has tied up with one of the most popular e-commerce sites, snapdeal.com for their campaign. A Comms, which has been connecting brands to consumers at consumer spend zones, has tied up with the e-commerce site for a unique campaign acrossIndia.

     

    A Comms brought to the Indian market the innovation of streaming communication on multiple LCD panels in electronic stores. It has successfully been running campaigns connecting premium brands with technology climbers. snapdeal.com will be the first brand in e-commerce segment to be displayed in Croma and E-Zone outlets acrossIndia.

     

    A Comms uses multiple television panels in electronic stores to create an experiential zone for the brand. While some brands may use the medium as pure-play display medium, for some it also works as sampling.

     

    In the case of snapdeal.com, which already has a recall among tech-savvy and upwardly mobile audiences, this tie-up will only take it to the premium consumers of the two electronic stores and make them aware of its creative approach for getting the “Best Deals everyday”. That snapdeal.com itself has attractive offers in the same cities where Croma and E-Zone are present, is the X-factor of this tie-up.

     

    Samir Vithlani, Director – Key Accounts, Aurora Comms, said, ‘It is our endeavour to deliver targeted consumers in a contextual manner. Croma and E-Zone attract intellectual consumers; therefore we worked on offering branding and showcasing the deal site across these stores.”

     

    Abhimanyu Rishi, Head Activations, snapdeal.com feels this will help the e-commerce site get a new audience. “The footfalls in electronic stores are always increasing. Our tie-up is a unique attempt to promote snapdeal.com to the smart, upwardly mobile urban citizen. We want to drive home our messages innovatively, not intrusively,” he said.

     

    The Campaign:

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFrkWV-yZ44[/youtube]

    Aurora Comms, popularly known as A Comms, is India’s largest advertising network media house offering branding solutions across various consumer spendzones. The company already has tie ups with over 4000 destinations in about 600 cities inIndia.

     

  • This sort of an over-the-top idea is required for a new website that simply deals in great sales offers. Safe advertising would have killed the brand even before the god of death arrived.

    Debrief: Snapdeal: Deadly idea

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    It takes some guts, especially in a superstitious India, to run ads that feature the god of death as the protagonist. Well, the ‘great deals’ website Snapdeal.com has done exactly that, and no, don’t think the site will expire in a hurry.

     

    Termed ‘Yamdude’ in the campaign, the deadly god goes about having fun with scared dudes and the cool Snapdeal deals. He basically saves lives instead of taking them, being distracted by the product offers. In one ad, a sky diver’s ‘time’ has come, so Mr Yamdude arrives mid-air to get him. But when the chap flashes his discount coupons, the god gives him a chance to live, and instead buys himself goodies with the coupons.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUJc1gyFVb4[/youtube]

    Good, fun advertising. And the wackiness will help get instant brand recall. This sort of an over-the-top idea is required for a new website that simply deals in great sales offers. Safe advertising would have killed the brand even before the god of death arrived. So, a pat on the back for taking the risk.

     

    Seems to have paid off already. Snapdeal.com, because of the cool Yamdude, is being discussed on the social media. Always a good sign for brands targeted at the urban youth.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 3.5 Funky idea, entertaining ads.