Snapdeal's 'life-changing' deal for Sellers

The online marketplace, in its second TVC with actor Aamir Khan, gives an insight into how the platform has changed the lives of sellers registered with it.

Online marketplaces have changed the dynamics of buying and selling in India and the world over. Today, a seller in Coimbatore can make a sale to a customer in Delhi or Patiala, via these marketplaces. Geographical barriers are a thing of the past.

For an e-commerce player, while it is extremely necessary to continuously strive for more consumers, it is even more necessary to continuously expand its seller base, so as to offer variety and discounts.

Picking up this insight, Snapdeal, a major player in the Indian e-commerce space, has launched a TVC where it's attempting to communicate with its existing as well as new sellers.

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, who is also the e-commerce company's brand ambassador, is seen talking about how the lives of these sellers have changed after they registered with Snapdeal. The ad also invites new sellers to come on board.

The TVC focusses on sellers who have built their brands and expanded their businesses on Snapdeal. It also talks about the various benefits of selling online and how small businesses can grow with Snapdeal.

This campaign succeeds the 'Dil Ki Deal' brand campaign, which was consumer-centric, aimed at showing how shopping on Snapdeal for loved ones is a very emotional and fulfilling experience.

Snapdeal claims this to be its first campaign targeted towards businesses and an extension of its philosophy of creating life changing experiences for its buyers and sellers, by helping them reach their aspirations and fulfilling their dreams.

The creatives are designed by Leo Burnett and the campaign's media plan spans OOH, radio, print, TV and digital.

Speaking about the campaign, Sandeep Komaravelly, SVP, marketing, Snapdeal, says, "Sellers form an important aspect of our ecosystem, and with this campaign, we wanted to talk about how their lives have changed after being a part of Snapdeal. One has to agree that, in our business, we need both sellers and consumers, and hence, this time, we thought lets connect to the sellers. We wanted the other sellers (entrepreneurs and SMEs) to understand the benefit of working with Snapdeal and come on board. We aspire to create a community of a million sellers in the near future."

Adding to this, Rajesh Minocha, creative director, Leo Burnett, says, "Taking the brand philosophy of 'Dil ki Deal' to the sellers was quite a task to live up to. No gloss, real business sense with Aamir to carry the message - this could arguably be a landmark attempt in the category. This could give a massive momentum of digital conversion in its truest sense in India. And, we'd be really proud of it."

With over 40 million members and 100,000 sellers, Snapdeal.com claims to deliver to 5000+ cities and towns in India and is a bigger player in this space.

Few of the most selling categories on its platform are mobile and computer verticals, clothing and footwear.

Launched in February 2010, by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, the platform currently has 11 million products across 500 diverse categories from regional, national and international brands and retailers. The online marketplace will invest $150-200 million in the next one year, expanding its delivery operations. It has picked up a minority stake in logistics firm GoJavas, a former logistics arm of smaller rival Jabong. Recently, it also acquired FreeCharge.

Currently, over 70 per cent of its orders come from mobile phones. It is backed by investors and individuals such as Soft-bank, BlackRock, Temasek, eBay Inc., Premji Invest, Intel Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Ratan Tata, among others.

Does it work?

Rondeep Gogoi, creative director, Crayons Advertising, calls it a "hardworking ad", but not one that hits the right note. "It has real sellers, real situations and even a map of India. But, it fails to strike a chord. Too much time is given to explain the product, and less on the emotional gratification it brings to one; should have been the other way round. Maybe, instead of different sellers, if the script had revolved around one seller's story, the ad would have cut a better deal with the audience," adds Gogoi.

Meanwhile, Jayanto Banerjee, national planning director, Hakuhudo Percept, thinks it is a great business idea to talk to sellers. "Content drives consumers. And for a multi-brand e-seller like Snapdeal, vendors and sellers provide the content. The more the re-sellers, and the more varied they are - richer is the end-consumer experience. Towards this, I think this is a great business idea - to reach out to small businesses, to convince them that their business will grow through Snapdeal. In my mind, this is the first time someone has done it in an audio-visual format. It's a bold move and definitely feels like a correct one," Banerjee says.

Adding to it, Deepak Singh, executive creative director, Dentsu Creative Impact quite likes the ad. "It Is talking to the seller directly and giving a clear and transparent picture of Snapdeal, which most of the ads are not doing. The film is shot well and because of Aamir, people will believe in the ad too. Getting 'Aamir' was also a nice move. There is so much happening in Indian market that, to standout in such a clutter is not easy. In my view, this is a nice ad but it is also not something which will be remembered for long. In my view, this TVC will do its work and go. Which is not bad," adds Singh.