From Yamdoot to Yamdude!!!

The campaign of Snapdeal.com highlights 'irresistibility' as a key factor, with deals from the site attracting even immortals like Yamraj, the God of Death.

It's not every day that one gets a chance to strike the deal of a lifetime. The new campaign of daily deals site Snapdeal.com shows how irresistible its deals are -- even for Yamraj, the God of Death, who ends up granting the gift of life to a person who passes him the deal.

Conceptualised by Draftfcb Ulka, the television commercial titled Yamraj, shows a man whose parachute fails to open while sky diving. On his way down, he meets Yamraj, the God of Death. The man pleads for his life and is denied his wish. Resigned to the idea of imminent death, he takes out a deals voucher from Snapdeal.com and hands it over to Yamraj. Elated and excited, Yamraj pulls the chord, opens the chute, and saves the man's life. The TVC then shows how the God of Death gets a chance to live a new, jazzy life that transforms him into a 'dude'.

Speaking about the campaign, Sandeep Komaravelly, head, marketing, Snapdeal.com, says, "Essentially, we wanted to showcase the excitement and the experience that we provide to consumers through our deals. While we had three or four ways of showing the great experience factor, we really liked this particular script as it highlighted the irresistibility factor to a huge extent by stating that the deals are irresistible, even for immortals."

Shiveshwar Raj Singh, group creative director, Draftfcb Ulka, explains, "The idea was fairly simple -- to predominantly talk about the offers from the site that nobody can resist. So, we tried to make it a memorable experience by exaggerating to the point that the deals offered by the site are not only irresistible to humans, but also to the gods."

The television campaign will be supported by out of home and radio.

Too hard to resist

Classified as an 'old idea in a new bottle' by advertising professionals, the campaign succeeds in bringing humour home, but lacks freshness.

Chraneeta Mann, executive creative director, Rediffusion-Y&R, says, "Yamraj gives life yet again! Snapdeal has been consistent in making the most of this property with its commercials. It's hardworking, it's relevant, and it is a fair attempt at being funny. It also treads the thin line between macabre and humour amazingly well. But, it's yet another attempt to use a much-exploited character in Adland. The character and the plot are not really cutting edge in execution. It needs to go beyond the tried and tested space in order to capture more eyeballs."

According to Arindam Sarkar, vice-president, strategic planning, Grey, the TVC is enjoyable and entertaining, but lacks freshness. He adds, "The approach, though direct and to the point, seems a bit of the 80's cliché. Yamraj going through a makeover with deals -- a little bit of humour to hold it together - turns out to be a classical approach for a cyber brand. The behaviour shifts amongst netizens has been exponential and deal hunting has got much more interesting, so why go back in time in a digital age?"

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