Amazon: All the world is a market

Consumer apprehensions about delivery, authenticity of products and return policy are addressed in Amazon's new campaign that designates the online marketplace as a store the consumer 'owns'

A boy convinces his father to get a quick replacement for a photo frame that they have conspired to break accidentally while playing a game indoors. A youth woos his dancing partner at a dandiya night by getting her to choose a ring online on his smartphone. A girl reassures her grandfather, who is peering into a magnifying glass to assess his watch, that it is an original timepiece. And another tells her grandmother how she could easily return one of two birthday gifts that turned out to be the exact same product.

These four stories are rolled into a minute-long ad by Amazon as part of its new brand campaign titled Apni Dukaan. With the mobile phone in hand and the refrain of apni dukaan (our shop), each of the four individuals prevails over those who continue to have misgivings about making purchases online.

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The fears of a section of customers over on-time delivery, authenticity of a product bought online and easy return policy are addressed in this ad that brought together film-maker Anurag Kashyap, lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya and music director Amit Trivedi. The campaign was conceptualised by Orchard India.

Amazon's push to allay consumer fears is understandable, given that a large section of the population still patronises offline retail. Online sales are still tiny, at $16 billion in 2015, but the country is the world's fastest-growing e-commerce market and much coveted by China's and America's internet giants. Already, the combined sales of India's top three e-commerce platforms - Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon - have overtaken that of the top 10 offline retailers.

An Amazon India spokesperson says, "While e-commerce adoption is growing in the country, there is still a large section of population that is hesitant about making purchases online. In order to convey features like easy returns and access to genuine products that essentially build customers' trust and confidence in shopping on Amazon.in, we decided to use a phrase from our popular culture, 'yeh apni dukaan hai'. In daily parlance, customers generally say this in reference to those stores that they are very familiar with and have complete trust in. We want to make people aware that Amazon.in is one such store."

Relatable situations have been used to tell the story intertwined with Amazon's service elements, the spokesperson adds. "With an entertaining jingle-based execution, we are hoping to capture people's attention, put a song on their lips and have them say that shopping on Amazon.in is like shopping in 'apni dukaan'."

She points out that right from Amazon India's first ad campaign - it spoke of the world's largest online store coming to India and offering benefits like 100 per cent purchase protection, guaranteed one-day delivery, easy returns and cash on delivery - each talks to the consumer about everyday shopping aspects intrinsic to them. Past campaigns include Aur Dikhao, an appeal to the Indian consumer's mindset with its insatiable hunger for more options before arriving at a choice, and the more recent Kya Pehnu - which conveys the ultimate sartorial dilemma each of us face whenever we have to attend an important occasion and need to be dressed in our best.

"Our vision is to enable any customer to find, discover and buy anything that she wishes to buy online. For us, everyone is a customer and our target audience is not confined by age or demographics." She adds, "We are a youthful brand at heart and more importantly customer-obsessed."

Kaizad Pardiwalla, chief operating officer, Orchard Advertising, points out there's still a large section of people who are hesitant about shopping online, although they do everything else online, because of a "slight trust deficit". "There are certain barriers that make them hesitate from shopping, because of past experiences they may have had with other portals or fear. The objective of the Apni Dukaan campaign was to build the consumer trust and confidence in shopping on Amazon.in, which is why we talk about easy returns, access to genuine products and cash on delivery."

He also claims that Amazon is considered just as "apna" as homegrown etailers.

Starting in late January, the month-long 360-degree campaign was integrated across out of home, radio, digital and social media channels. Its budget is estimated at Rs 20 crore, sources say.
Brand: Amazon India
Budget: Rs 20 crore
Agency: Orchard India