E-tailers drive ad campaigns beyond digital

Amazon India joins competitors to reach greater numbers through TV

 

After making a debut as a sponsor for the Indian Premier League (IPL) twenty-twenty cricket tournament, Amazon, world’s biggest online retailer, is expected to launch a television advertisement campaign soon. Other e-commerce companies, such as Quikr, Flipkart, Snapdeal and Jabong, are also going all out on 360-degree advertising, going beyond digital marketing.

Category-specific companies such as furniture e-tailer FabFurnish also plan to run television ad campaigns. Experts say rarely do niche brands in such categories in the physical segment adopt such branding strategies.

Disadvantage digital
“We have already launched a new television campaign. This is because digital advertising is silent advertising; it can’t do brand story-telling for us. Also, television brings credibility to the brand,” says Piyush Bansal, founder and chief executive, Lenskart (which sells spectacles).

As e-commerce companies increasingly position themselves in the mainstream, part of their expansion strategy is to use mass media platforms such as television and radio to establish themselves, not just in e-commerce, but to a host of offline consumers as well, analysts say. The aim to capture a larger share of the market has raised the advertising budgets of most e-commerce companies. On an average, the advertising budgets of these companies are pegged at 20 per cent of their revenues.

Recently, Manish Kalra, head (integrated marketing), Amazon India, told Business Standard the company was involved in the IPL to connect with the Indian audience.

FabFurnish, which has a mixed format (it also has offline stores), uses mass media channels to reach untapped consumers or first-time buyers, primarily targeting the urban middle class. “During and after a few months of the television campaign, our traffic increased two and half times. We can afford to run such campaigns because furniture is a high-margin category,” said Vikram Chopra, chief executive and co-founder of the company.

Fashion e-tailer Jabong insists on an optimal mix. Apart from TV campaigns, the company has also sponsored leading fashion events, such as the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai. Rival Myntra was a sponsor for the Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week here.

Experts say television addresses 40-60 per cent of those who do not use internet. It is believed the two channels aid each other in furthering the cause of a brand to consumers.

For some, mass media helps address a wider audience. “It’s difficult to define our target audience, as we are out there to appeal to everyone who has a business or wants to sell something. Ours is more about building a brand and credibility,” says Pranay Chulet, founder and chief-executive of Quikr.