A couple of new ads are out from Flipkart. To me, they reinforce the ease of use (a continuation of the ‘no kidding’ ads) of the brand and take forward the visual identity of ‘kids as adults’.
Agency: Happy Creative Services. View the other ad here.
The ads are enjoyable and you notice a lot of little, cute nuances with every viewing: Mr. Impatient in the lift, him on the ironing board, the school quiz sequence and so on. Spot on casting and acting ups the enjoyability quotient.
What set me thinking was the last line: ‘I don’t shop anymore, I just Flipkart it’. Now here’s something every marketer dreams of: his brand becomes synonymous with the category, a generic use of the name. In the US, all tissues are Kleenex. And people urge you to ‘just Fedex a document’ or ‘take a Xerox’. Of late ‘why don’t you Google it’ has become part of everyday use. However, it is not always good for a brand to be known after the category. If the brand’s trademark is not protected and its usage become’s so common that its unable to differentiate from competition it could become an issue. Aspirin was originally trademarked by Bayer but has become generic. Bikini was invented by French engineer LouisRéard in 1946 but has again become a generic term. ‘Escalator’ too is attributed by some to an invention by Otis.
Flipkart is not in danger of the latter happening, but its interesting to see the approach to ‘own the category’. But does this happen via the user’s own experience? That is, do consumers make or break it? I guess consumers began to use ‘let’s Google it’ or ‘Fedex it’ on their own first. Or do marketers help them along the way by giving them a nudge through marketing stimulus? Why don’t you think about it and comment as you relax in your La-Z-Boy?
18 Comments
Flipkart attempts to go generic http://t.co/i3tXS2Pt
RT @bhatnaturally: Flipkart attempts to go generic [blog plug] @FlipKart http://t.co/zXE2GE73
Flipkart attempts to go generic http://t.co/a3uSuFRY
Flipkart attempts to go generic http://t.co/ALDul1iB via @bhatnaturally
Informative one. I liked it.
RT @bhatnaturally
So what do you think of the new @flipkart ads? #advertising http://t.co/4X42GTFb
Flipkart attempts to go generic http://t.co/i3tXS2Pt
RT @bhatnaturally: So what do you think of the new @flipkart ads? #advertising http://t.co/zXE2GE73
I enjoyed the new ads! For what an ad can be expected to do, these ads deliver. And in a fun way! And interesting to know that ‘bikini’ was invented by a French engineer!
On another note, would be good to have your twitter profile somewhere on this page here – so that I have an option of following your profile. Prefer to get tweets rather than email. Just saying.
Thanks!
Thanks for the comment, Arjun. I have added links to my Social Media profiles in the sidebar.
RT @bhatnaturally: Flipkart attempts to go generic [blog plug] @FlipKart http://t.co/zXE2GE73
Flipkart attempts to go generic http://t.co/a3uSuFRY
Flipkart attempts to go generic http://t.co/ALDul1iB via @bhatnaturally
Informative one. I liked it.
RT @bhatnaturally
So what do you think of the new @flipkart ads? #advertising http://t.co/4X42GTFb
RT @bhatnaturally: So what do you think of the new @flipkart ads? #advertising http://t.co/zXE2GE73
I enjoyed the new ads! For what an ad can be expected to do, these ads deliver. And in a fun way! And interesting to know that 'bikini' was invented by a French engineer!
On another note, would be good to have your twitter profile somewhere on this page here – so that I have an option of following your profile. Prefer to get tweets rather than email. Just saying.
Thanks!
Thanks for the comment, Arjun. I have added links to my Social Media profiles in the sidebar.