Ads in-line with On-line trade

About the ad

This is about the Flipkart ad that is currently featuring on television. Once again there are kids dressed (and made to behave) as adults. This time, in stead of taking on a couple, family or hospital staff, they mimic our Indian daily news channel. This could be any regular news channel except the stock market types. After every tragic accident, a news story is backed by, or sometimes pulled through, debates on news channels. There are a few people on the panel, almost each of whom would be fighting to get time to talk. These panelists fight more aggressively than the applicants at a B-School group discussion! Keeping this in view, the portrayal of the in-line v/s on-line shopping debate in this format works bang-on!

The 'India wants to know' punch takes a cue from the 'Desh jaan-na chachta hai...' statement which has now become a stereo-type. The ad works wonders for the brand as the cliche news debate is presented in a fresh avtaar. From the housewife's view to the very convincing politician; all roles are depicted effectively and packaged to sell.

From this ad, Flipkart is not only marketing the on-line shopping idea, it is also stating that on-line shopping ==> Buying from Flipkart. This is evident when they say "Ab shopping nahi, Flipkart karo". Well, when the global market research giant, A C Nielsen ranks Flipkart.com as the no. 1 e-tailing site, it seems that the brand has the right to be this ambitious.

About the brand-ing 

Since inception (if I may say so), Flipkart has featured unique ads. They have always managed to stand out from the clutter and while I talk about the above mentioned ad; it seems like the third generation of the Flipkart ads. The first one was the 'no kidding, no worries' set which also brought in lines such as 'the online mega store' and 'shopping ka naya address', second being the 'fashion has a new address' array and the third being 'India wants to know'. 

A brand which started the unique concept of kids as adults portrayal only to position the 'no kidding-no worries' ad-line. Little did we know that they will keep up the trend and give us a better ad each time. It is a format where repetition is interesting. 
The brand managers have also catered to the popular norms related to online shopping.
Whether it is the fear of goods being delivered in time, concerns about originality and warranty on goods or the apprehension in paying money before goods are delivered, Flipkart has addressed them all; in its funny yet make-sense ads. The thing about ordering something after looking at its mere picture, was attacked in the 'Flipkart.com se dada ka naya mobile aaya hai' ad. There are a host of its ads...a rough total of 25. In case you want to get entertained by them, you can watch them here.

About the segment
There is a reason why online stores are advertising aggressively. The online shopping trends in India are still evolving and it is at this stage of evolution that a market witnesses immense growth. Each e-tailer wants to make the best of this growth.
Google reports the upward trend that online shopping in India has seen and that it will continue to witness. According to the Online Shopping Trends in India, 2013 - A Google India Report, the online shopping trends on Google increased by 128%. This is expected to grow further, in 3 digits again. For more detail on these trends, you can view the report here.