In the last 5 years we have witnessed a sudden rise in the number of internet companies that have appeared and flourished. These dot com companies from ecommerce, classifieds, travel commerce industries have received a lot of funding from investors and venture capitalists. This was majorly used for procuring talent, building product and marketing. We wont be surprised if in the next decade the Indian internet industry start spending as much as the FMCGs do today.
This brings me to the difference and transition that dot com ads on TV have undergone recently. The transition is majorly seen from focusing on the brand, consumer, insight to more functional and product showcase driven messaging.

Take for example the very first ads in the dot com space of Naukri, JustDial, Flipkart or Monster. I understand that Naukri, Monster and other brands like Jeevansathi and Shaadi solve high involvement needs of the consumer and hence are required to connect more on insight level than on product functionality level. However, if you see the new flurry of dot com ads, you will strikingly observe the change in communication from focusing on brand to focusing on product.

Let’s look at some of the old and new dot com ads on traditional media that have undergone the above mentioned change

Flipkart went the “no kidding. no worries” way where they made child actors talk as adults, exaggerating how ridiculously simple and child’s work it is to shop online.

Flipkart Before

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX1C9C71vD8

However, with the recent smartphone penetration and looking at how consumption is moving from desktop to mobile, flipkart very shrewdly envisioned following the Olx and Quikr route to surround all their communication around the simplicity of a mobile app.

Flipkart After

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy6ir-NIUWY

Now, let’s closely observe the recent indian dot com brands and their offline TV ads and see how product and the simplicity with which you can use the product has been highlighted more than anything else to drive the point home.

Lenskart Before

The focus was more on the variety, options and category development.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVvu6xRqSS4

 

Lenskart After

The focus now is more on how “simple” it is, as much as shopping any other thing online. The product is the hero besides Purab Kohli ofcourse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lctuQ7FKp_4

 

Although the lenskart ad looks highly “inspired” from Trivago.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCXyYaudkGM

However, both the ads above showcase features that are actually on the website. May be to increase familiarity and build trust. That’s the simplest way in which you can make the users sample the product without actually having them to sample it and it is important for the users to experience the product to witness it’s simplicity however since that is not always possible make ads that show them a live experience of how the product performs.

Goibibo.com Before

The before ad played on fear, getting back stabbed by hotels, being safe than sorry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDi2TefF-0Q

Goibibo.com After

The after ad is more feature focused, more simplicity, more product showcase, again changing the way dot com ads are being show as mentioned multiple times above in the post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO0BLCRcdUM

As we go forward, I feel all internet companies will follow the same route and center their ads around how simple and easy it is to avail their service on mobile.

Mobile will definitely ride the next big internet wave in Indian and it only makes sense for internet companies to focus their communication strategy around it’s usability on a mobile app.

Redbus.in along with Quikr and OLX are a case in point.

The ad is trying to drive app downloads so that it becomes the preferred bus booking destination in the coming future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsM8yqs3X3k

Olx.in and quikr.com have been at it, since a while now. Olx with their latest “Phone ko banao. Sell Phone” and a female protagonist clearly wants to drive it’s mobile app with housewives who are obsessed with not “selling” household goods till they are used and reused to death.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg69MDtyMVs

 

Dotcom riding big on mobile is probably also the reason that brands with offline properties have also come up with their ads focusing their online property with mobile as the center.

Kanna, Keep Calm?

This is probably one of the best dot com ads to have ever come out in India which aces at all the levels from insight to product to execution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrI2UXW9icA

Final Words

It has only been recently that dot com properties have started advertising very heavily on traditional media and already there are so many cases of trends changing and it’s uncanny how almost every company is following the same route. It is no doubt that mobile is going to drive revenue as things move from desktop to smartphone and more and more mobile driven communication and usage will become the center of dotcom ads more than the brand itself.

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