Quikr has a sharper focus on cars, jobs, services, homes & C2C: Vineet Sehgal

Indian classifieds advertising platform Quikr has been intensifying its marketing and advertising efforts to strengthen its presence as an online market for pre-owned goods. Quikr’s recently released campaign for QuikrBazaar, its C2C vertical, is themed around buying high quality pre-owned smartphones at affordable prices from QuikrBazaar. The aim of the ad campaign is to drive pre-owned smart phone purchase intent among people through the assurance of a high quality product from Quikr. 

The first ad film launched as part of the campaign was titled ‘Have you seen Rajesh’s new phone?’ The second ad film asks ‘Where Priya got her new headphones?’ The ad highlights the ease in buying and selling pre-owned products and also having them delivered at one’s doorstep. 

Quikr has set the stage for easy purchase made viable for one and all through its latest ad campaign, which highlights QuikrBazaar’s resonating service of providing pre-owned products for its buyers from any corner of the country without any additional or hidden costs. This feature has been the highlighted of the ad campaign, as logistics is also taken care of by the company itself. 

In an interaction with Adgully, Vineet Sehgal, CMO, Quikr, sheds more light on the brand campaign for QuikrBazaar, maintaining competitive advantage, focus areas, tapping the festive season and more. Excerpts: 

What is the creative thought process behind the recently launched ad campaign for QuikrBazaar?
The goal of our brand campaign was to create awareness for QuikrBazaar as a destination to buy pre-owned andcertified goods from across India. Quikr was among the first players to roll out online payments and logistics capabilities within the online classifieds space back in 2015 in India. Today, our logistics capabilities allow delivery across 1,200+ cities for consumers who want to buy or sell anything. Historically, buyers were restricted to buying pre-owned goods within their locality or city because they would have to physically go and inspect the product, then make cash payment to the seller and also arrange a truck for delivery if the item were white goods like Fridge, Washing Machines, etc. QuikrBazaar has eliminated this entire hassle and opened the market for Buyers to purchase pre-owned goods from across India, pay online and get the goods home delivered. This means that consumers can get the products they want, at great pricing, delivered right at their doorstep. We wanted to play on the aspirations of the emerging India, who have an appetite to own the latest electronics, mobiles, stylish furniture, etc. 

Quikr’s previous communication has highlighted that ease of doing business and speed on the Quikr platform. What is the communication strategy for the latest communication effort?
With this campaign we wanted to highlight the joy of ownership/ fulfillment of aspirations for emerging India with regard to pre-owned goods. Because of the fact that pre-owned goods are available for purchase from across India on QuikrBazaar, Indian’s can now afford the things they’ve always wanted, without worrying about procuring the product. Aspirational items like electric guitars, DSLR cameras, tablets, etc., where availability in the same city becomes the biggest obstacle, can easily be found in other cities on QuikrBazaar. 

Now, if one wants to buy something from anywhere in the country, Quikr gets it for you. Why should geography be a barrier to people? Just like there is e-commerce for new products, now you have e-commerce for used products. This is one of the biggest innovations from Quikr and it opens up a huge market for the company. 

Which creative agency has conceptualised the ad campaign? What was the creative brief given to the ad agency?
The creative agency on this campaign is Phantom Ideas and the production house is Miramar Films. The brief was written with a single agenda – to highlight the consumer benefits that come with QuikrBazaar’s intercity delivery and online payment features as well as wide choice of products available on it. The fact that consumers can now access pre-owned goods like antiques, sofa sets, flat screen LED TVs, home décor, appliances and more such items, without worrying about its availability nearby. They can now own the things they’ve always desired & shop from the comfort of their home. 

Given the stiff and growing competition from various e-commerce players, how does Quikr plan to maintain the competitive advantage?
We have always taken a larger view of the market and looked at solving specific consumer pain points by brining meaningful innovations to the market. Innovations such as Missed Call service, Quikr Nxt chat for number privacy, doorstep delivery, online payments and Inter-city purchases, etc. All of these are firsts that Quikr has brought to the market in the online classifieds space. 

How are you tapping into the ongoing festival season?
Every year, we see organic demand picking up during the festive season and that’s understandable since consumers open up their wallet and buy things that they aspire for. This Diwali, with the launch of QuikrBazaar, there is even wider choice for consumers to choose from pre-owned goods from across the country. We are already seeing great demand on our platform for QuikrBazaar. 

What would be Quikr’s focus areas in the coming years in general and the festive season in particular?
While horizontal is at the core of what Quikr does, we have a sharper focus on select categories such as cars, jobs, homes, services and C2C that are key to our overall growth. Our pioneering verticalisation strategy in the classifieds space has only allowed consumers to focus on their specific needs when they come to Quikr. Our plan is to continue to scale them along with tapping into our cross- vertical synergies. 

View the ad campaign here:

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