Mrs Bech De preaches disposal to celebrate Valentine's Day

The campaign revolves around the idea that feelings don't work in the 21st century and hence, on Valentine's Day, if people value their old things, they should sell themon OLX.

OLX.in, the Indian arm of New York-based classified advertisements company OLX, has launched a digital campaign introducing a character named Mrs Bech De. The campaign is conceived by ITSA Brand Innovations and was launched this weekend across online, social media and radio on the occasion of Valentine's Day.

The campaign revolves around the idea that feelings don't work in the 21st century and hence, on Valentine's Day, if people value their old stuff, they should sell them on OLX. The ad features Mrs. Bech De as the new age materialistic aunty.

Mrs. Bech De has gone live on YouTube with three webisodes addressing distressed owners writing eulogies for things they have lived with but now seek to dispose or upgrade. Besides, OLX.in is also promoting the videos with banner advertisements on Yahoo, Google and other high traffic sites.

Facebook, Twitter and other social media have also been leveraged to widen the conversation and increase involvement and participation. The campaign will be on for close to a week.

Speaking to afaqs! on the brief for the campaign, Emmanuel Upputuru, founder, ITSA Brand Innovations says that OLX wanted a quick connect with the masses, especially the youth, around Valentine's Day. "So when we got briefed on doing something around Valentine's, we thought we will create a character called Mrs. Bech De who sees everything with a material lens. After all, in this material world with newer products, latest technology and more choices, it is a light-hearted take on a very real, everyday quandary we all face in our lives," he adds.

Speaking on whether the choice of a digital campaign was also meant to drive more eyeballs at a time when competitors like Quikr and others have been very active on TV, Upputuru says, "Digital today is the preferred medium for youth-centric communication, and of course it gives us an edge over the competition. Having said that, we might see Mrs Bech De become a property for OLX which is extended to other media."

In December 2012, OLX.in launched a television commercial that tried to assure viewers that what they see on the website is what they will get. The campaign highlighted the plight of house hunting and how OLX helped people to get better and assured deals. In 2011, Yahoo and OLX entered an annual advertising partnership deal to feature a permanent OLX link on the Yahoo! India homepage.

In April 2012, Upputuru quit Publicis India as its NCD and was joined by two former colleagues to launch ITSA in July, 2012 in collaboration with Concept Communications. The agency currently handles clients like OLX.in, Ingersoll Rand, American Express and Intuit.