Zepto highlights its 10-minute delivery promise through Shankar Mahadevan’s voice

The Mumbai-based quick grocery delivery service has come onboard as Disney+ Hotstar’s associate sponsor for the 15th season of IPL.

After enthralling the audience with Kailash Kher’s vocal cords, Zepto has now roped in Shankar Mahadevan to emphasise its 10-minute delivery promise. Through a simple ploy of exaggeration, the Mumbai-based grocery delivery service conveys that unlike its competitors, who may keep stretching their deadlines, it will deliver within its promised 10 minutes.

Conceptualised by L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, the ad is on the same lines as the previous one featuring Kher. The singers extend the aalap endlessly to highlight Zepto’s quick delivery. This one is placed in an airport, where Mahadevan is asked, “How much time left for boarding?”. He responds, “Five minutes” in an endless aalap, suggesting that it could take longer than that.

These ads are a part of the brand’s Indian Premier League (IPL) association. Zepto has come onboard as an associate sponsor of Disney+ Hotstar for the 15th season of IPL.

In these ads, Zepto has made a slight shift from its previous ones. While the earlier ads highlighted the use case scenarios of the app, this one highlights how other apps don’t stick to their quick delivery promise.

“Our earlier brand campaigns had more functional ads. But we realised that, in most cases, we are talking to our existing customers. They need to know the additional layers of offerings and information that this brand has to offer,” said Amritansu Nanda, chief marketing officer, Zepto, in an earlier interview.

“We want to stand out from the concept of ‘Indian Stretchable Time’. And, we're trying to reinforce the concept that there's one service that values your time. So, it sets specific value propositions and is a standout in the overall Indian service sector,” he added.

Zepto is the latest entrant in the quick grocery delivery market. It is a hyperlocal grocery app co-founded by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, two Stanford University dropouts. The company recently announced a fundraiser of $60 million, led by Glade Brook Capital, with participation from Y Combinator and others.