'Don't shop, Flipkart it', is new mantra of Flipkart.com

In an attempt to popularise the brand name as a verb, Flipkart.com has rolled out a new campaign that propagates, 'Don't shop, Flipkart it!'

The plot for the TVCs stems from Flipkart's annals of customer feedback stories.

In the first film, a man (played by a boy, along the same lines as previous Flipkart commercials) tells the viewers how Flipkart saved his life when on one occasion he had forgotten his wife's birthday. When his wife subtly reminded him, he managed to get the right gift for her from Flipkart at the last minute. After announcing Flipkart as his saviour, the man says he doesn't shop anymore. He claims to just Flipkart now.

WATCH the second film from the campaign

The second film shows the story of an impatient man (again played by a boy) who demanded something from Flipkart but asked for a delivery well in advance of the usual time taken to deliver an order. To his surprise, his order was delivered just when he wanted it. The man says he has sworn by Flipkart ever since.

In total, nine films have been shot. These are the first two of the three films in this campaign. The other six films are category films meant to throw light on the new categories that Flipkart deals in.

Ravi Vora, vice president - marketing, Flipkart.com, said, "'Flipkart it' is the logical next step for the brand that has managed to delight online shoppers with its impeccable service."

Kartik Iyer, chief executive officer, Happy Creative Services, said, "The brief was to create something specifically for people who were already used to shopping on Flipkart. The idea was to bring alive the seriousness with which Flipkart takes every customer's order.When we went through the actual testimonials sent to Flipkart, we found that Flipkart had indeed gone beyond the call of duty to deliver not just the products, but happiness as well."

When asked why the brand has still stuck to portraying kids as adults, Iyer answered, "Firstly we thought the treatment of using kids still had life and that we didnt need to do away with something that has nearly developed as a brand language and delivers instant recognition. Also, since it was a testimonial campaign, the use of kids only makes the advertising all the more endearing with the communication being so straight forward."

MEC is the media agency for this campaign and the media mix involves niche channels like HBO, Star Movies, MTV, Star World, MTV, Discovery India, AXN, CNN IBN, Sony Pix, CNBC TV 18, History TV 18, Zoom, Movies Now, and Times Now. The campaign's duration is set for 30 days but it could be extended based on the response the brand receives for the films.

Unplugged moments:

Iyer spoke about the funny incidents that happened during the shoot for the nine films that took place in Mumbai over a span of five days. "In the 'Mr. Forgetful' film, the kid was supposed to lie in bed acting as if he was asleep as his 'wife' was to feed him 'idlis' just as he woke up. Now, we had all had our lunch just before the shot and naturally, the kid found the bed too cosy! He slipped in to deep slumber while trying to act. Needless to say, beyond a minute of trying to wake him up, everybody was in splits, including his parents. The wife tried to feed him too, but he just stayed put for a good ten minutes before waking up to the roars of 'How cute!' and laughter," he said.

Iyer added that the art team played a critical role in creating the sets. Each shot required a set created specifically for that particular shot. "With every campaign, the sets got more and more real and just amazing," he stated.

Credits:

Client: Flipkart
Agency: Happy Creative Services
Creative directors: Kartik Iyer, Praveen Das
Copywriter: Naren Kaushik M
Art director: Kedar Chauhan
Account management: Ruchika Chaudhry, Bharat Venkatesh
Strategic planning: Ravi Bhat
Production house: Footcandles Films
Director: Ayappa
Executive producer: Anand Menon
Producer: Amarjeet Phukan
Director of photography: Tassuduq Hussain
Music: Sameer Uddin 
Media agency: MEC