How recently-acquired ShopClues built the brand through smart ad strategy

Singapore based e-commerce platform Qoo10 Pte Ltd has acquired the Indian startup ShopClues in an all stock deal. According to media reports, ShopClues was sold at a throwaway price compared to even the low estimated $250 million, when rival Snapchat considered buying earlier this year.

ShopClues was one of the fastest growing companies in the Indian startup space and had touched $1 billion valuation in 2016, a mere 5 years after it was founded. The company positioned itself as the marketplace for unbranded and affordable goods.

Only last year, ShopClues had roped in actor Gajraj Rao for their Diwali campaign, ‘Naya ye, naya wo. Iss Diwali, sab naya lo’, before his hit film ‘Badhai Ho’ was released in the theatres. At that time, the commerce portal claimed that 6 lakh merchants and around 2.8 crore products were available on their site.

Enormous Brands, who had been working on the creative mandate for ShopClues since 2014, had executed several campaigns for the brand.

Who can forget the hiccupping of ‘Bhai Saab’ character? In 2015, ShopClues’ ‘Oh Bhai Saab’ campaign for their most successful property, ‘Sunday Flea Market’, went viral on social media. The fictional account created by ShopClues for Bhai Saab garnered 1,000 followers on Twitter and 6,000 likes on Facebook within the first week of the campaign.

Products to wakai aflatooni hain, wo bhi aflatooni daam par #OhBhaisaab <hic> #SundayFleaMarket @ShopClues pic.twitter.com/8TQxirRGvB

— Bhaisaab (@O_Bhaisaab) December 6, 2015

ShopClues has remained consistent in their positioning after having a look at their campaigns. Post the acquisition, the question remains whether its brand identity, which has been geared towards the working-class consumer, will remain?