"In India, no brand name comes to mind when you think about the printing industry": Nilesh Parwani, MD, Vistaprint

Vistaprint India tries to influence a shift of business from unorganised to organised, as it rolls out its first campaign establishing itself in the commercial printing sector.

Vistaprint India, with its first advertising campaign, has joined the list of international brands - after Coca-Cola and, most recently, Amazon - that have tried to 'Indianise' themselves with a colloquial catchphrase. The brand's campaign, 'Chalta hai ko chalta karo', is a comment on the state of the printing business in India.

Vistaprint is a brand from the house of Cimpress, a company based in Netherlands, which started operations in India two years ago. This campaign comprises a series of four TVCs, each talking about a different problem that one may face relating to one's printing needs. The campaign has been conceptualised by Orchard Advertising, which is a part of Leo Burnett Group.

Nilesh Parwani, MD, Vistaprint India, says, "This is an industry where people are just not aware that they can get better in terms of service and quality. They have accepted that this is how service will be delivered in the segment, which is why we have highlighted the promise of service."

Kaizad Pardiwala, COO, Orchard Advertising, says, about the creative route, "Printing as a category has never been advertised before; hence, we needed people to take notice of the brand and the offering. Humour does have a strong cut-through with people today, and while humorous, it is a satirical piece of work which gives you a peek into the world of printing and what it could be."

While the global traditional TG of the brand has been small offices and households (SOHO), the Indian market space has also opened up newer segments like large corporates, due to the lack of organised players, making it a large potential area.

"We haven't shown one particular TG in our ads, because the segment is really wide. No name comes to mind when you think about printing industry in the country, and we wanted to capture that space," Parwani states.

The campaign will be on TV till the end of September, while its digital leg continues till October end. Spots will be purchased on business news, primetime English news, high viewership Hindi news and Hindi movie channels on TV. On the digital front, the brand will use YouTube to showcase videos on how Vistaprint was part of various success stories. Association with 'TVF Pitchers' and other social media promotions are on the cards too.

The numbers game

Parwani informs that out of the 6 billion-dollar(estimated) commercial printing business in India, less than one per cent is organised. When asked what qualifies as organised, he says, "Transperancy, reliability of service, simple customer access can determine if a company is organised, all of which are significantly missing in the print space."

Within two years of operation, the brand claims to have grown five to six times, and aims to own five per cent of the market in the next five years. It has a repeat rate of 70 per cent, Parwani claims.

Vistaprint positions itself as a one-stop-shop for multi-channel printing needs, ranging from business cards to clothing. The company's recent initiatives include a tie-up with Yashraj Films for movie merchandise and a new 'embroidery plus' section for customised prints on branded clothes. Vistaprint has also opened up an offline store.

Chalta hai?

Nagessh Pannaswami, co-founder, Curry-Nation, perceives the ad as an interesting take on a category that's mostly ignored and low on the TG's radar. On the idea of 'Chalta Hai', he says, "The idea fits the category, but I wish there was a stronger insight at work here. This is an insight and idea that's been used and seen before."

Pranav Harihar Sharma, executive creative director, Rediffusion Y&R, says, "What's interesting here is that a dry category like 'printing' has been advertised in a very engaging manner. The inherent problems to the category, like delay, quality, quantity etc, are communicated in a nice and simple manner."

"'Chalta hai'," he says, "is actually India's answer to 'I'm sorry'. The only difference being 'I'm sorry' is accepting your mistake, while 'chalta hai' is making someone else accept your mistake and live with it."

While he finds the 'saali-saas-sasur' ads entertaining, he adds, "I wouldn't have made the fourth commercial. Saali-saas-sasur fall in the same zone, while 'girlfriend' is a little off. I know its difficult for a writer to control the greed of 'one more is not bad', but the fourth execution is clearly weaker."