Exclusive | Don't just focus on Dumb selling, AskMe's Sethi

Gone are the days when you had to search through your yellow pages diary for a number that you wanted. Today things have become much easier.

With the presence of the internet and the kind of search we have, sourcing data has become very easy. There are specialized services where companies register to make communication easier. One such company is Getit Infomedia’s AskMe.com.

AskMe.com which was launched in 2011 is a 24x7 service available for their consumers across all major cities in the country. Apart from telephone, one can also reach them online or through their mobile services and through their App.

Recently, the brand came with a new television commercial in which they showcased Kangana Ranaut telling the audience to come on a genuine platform to buy sell and get best prices for their products.

We at Adgully caught up with Manav Sethi, Head – Marketing & Digital Products, AskMe.com to know more about the whole commercial.

Concept:

The campaign is based on a simple insight – don’t just focus on dumb selling, focus on intelligent buying too!! We wanted to break the clutter by questioning the tall promises/brands created by deep pocketed incumbents in Indian online classified space.

Implementation:

Ignitee Digital Services is the agency behind this campaign. They have indeed taken a dig on Olx and Quikr without mentioning anything.

Sethi tells us that the brief to the agency was to communicate our unique value proposition which is ingenious and smooth experience of selling and then buying marked by special discounts and deals for people who have come on the platform to “post-an-ad". Also, we didn’t just want to acquire customers through short-term ploys but hold onto them for the longest time. In a world where customer loyalty is as lasting as ‘flash sales’ on e-commerce sites, we understand user experience and satisfaction are supreme and vital to customer retention.

One way to communicate all of that could have been to make a simplistic infomercial. But we wanted to say it in a casual yet engaging manner topped with lot of cheek! So, while the commercial takes humour as the central route to establish conversation, it also tries to shake the viewer out of a mob mentality of mindless selling.
The Production House which worked on the campaign is Rising Star and the Director is Narayan Shi.

Celebrity Appeal:

We thought that Kangana is the right face. Her youthful, aspirational, engaging and in-your-face qualities were the reasons why we really chose her.

Strategy:

AskMe.com has been launched as a new age consumer internet brand as “bapp-of-all-app”, A platform of choice which lends convenience in providing a serendipity experience across search (businesses/listing), classified, deal and commerce through a click/call. Till date around 5million customers have downloaded the app.

Markets Abroad:

We’re currently present in Malaysia and replicated our Indian business model there. Called FINDIT, it’s a future-forward brand that brings together local search and classified on one platform. It was soft launched in late 2014 and we’re excited to now formally launch it within next 60 days!

Sense of Competition:

With the ‘The BAPP of all Apps’ positioning, the campaign aimed at disrupting several categories vis-à-vis local search, classified, e-commerce and deals, thereby creating a new, superseding category which brings together all of these functions in one place. The idea was to create a unique, unparalleled proposition for the consumer and not end up as another me-too product in spaces which are already cluttered with multiple players. So, yes, although the competition is really stiff in these verticals, categorically, it’s not exactly a zero-sum game for us. Amazon reacted to ASKME by announcing to launch classifieds with Junglee, Justdial reacted by declaring: deals, coming soon!

Media Mix:

We’re very careful about selecting media. Target audiences’ affinity towards media, media reach and penetration are some of the important factors that help us determine the media mix. Apart from this, vernacularism of media is another essential parameter. We’ve a very strong regional marketing program which helps us reach out to people in cities apart from metros, in places where they are and in language that they speak. Right from putting up vernacular hoardings to placing standees outside shops and stores, we’ve endeavoured to connect with consumer to the last mile. All our TVCs were created in Tamil, Malyalam, Kannada & Telugu apart from Hinglish

Roadmap for 2015:

We intend to create un-paralleled consumer experience and ways of communicating to existing & prospective consumers. By Archit Ambekar | Twitter: @aambarchit