Is e-commerce ad ambush really working?
The mega e-tail sale of the festive season was driven by e-commerce players attempting to ambush each other on advertising mediums. What were the lessons learnt?

It all began with the Indian Black Friday sale hoopla created by Flipkart in the first week of this month. The mega sale of the festive season was driven by e-commerce players attempting to ambush each other on advertising mediums, especially by attempting personal gags at each other on print and digital mediums. The most apparent ambush was witnessed in The Times of India ads that began to flow since October 6. And, since then, each week, the mainstream paper has jacket ads with e-commerce ads sprawled all over—with one brand attempting to downplay the other.
The trigger
Flipkart had been on an advertising and promotional high since last week of September announcing its ‘Big Billion Day’. It was a move to race ahead of all other e-commerce websites, and establish who the “Big Daddy” of the Indian e-commerce space is.
However, the plan wasn’t as effective as Flipkart wanted it to be. Snapdeal, had a counter ad that was up, close and personal. The Full-page ad in TOI said “For others it’s a big day, for us, today is no different. Check Snapdeal.com before you buy”.
Come evening, and Amazon pulled a personal trick on Flipkart too. This one gave Snapdeal’s ambush on Flipkart a run for its money. When buyers went to bigbillionday.com, the browser took them straight to amazon.in. Ouch!
The day saw e-commerce players declaring open war against Flipkart.
What followed
Although e-commerce accounts for less than 1 per cent of the total retail market in India, it is by far the fastest growing retail channel. It is estimated to grow to as much as $22 billion (excluding travel) in five years from $3.1 billion currently, according to a November 2013 report by CLSA.
The war triggered by Flipkart is set to continue with a host of companies looking to woo consumers with big discounts. Both Snapdeal and Amazon have expanded their offerings in coming weeks including a host of products that are top on Indian consumers' list, while Flipkart itself is launched at a bigger version of its day -long sale with a week-long offering starting the first weekend of this month.
Amazon, which also ran a three-day discount campaign, Mission to Mars, between October 4-6, launched its next big sale, Diwali Dhamaka, between October 10-16. The brand again advertised heavily on all mediums. Flipkart also did a week-long programme during the same period. However, this week did not witness any cheeky advertising or personal gags against the rival brands. Snapdeal is expected to continue its ongoing scheme where discounts would be on offer on top of the line products on each day running up to Diwali.
The impact
Despite the negative buzz, Flipkart’s Billion Day sale’s significance in starting the e-commerce fire in the country cannot be negated. The so-called ‘never-before’ marketing campaign drove lakhs of first-time users to log into e-commerce sites.
This sector has been on a fast-forward mode since the past two weeks. The Flipkart ‘fiasco’ also gave a chance to all market players to step back and evaluate their strategy for the future.
Flipkart claims to have clocked $100 million gross merchandise value in 10 hours on October 6.
Snapdeal said it made a sale of Rs 1 crore a minute - which makes it Rs 600 crore in 10 hours. Flipkart led the marketing campaign pouring in crores followed by Snapdeal. But Amazon with much less fanfare, capitalised well on the occasion.
However, the online retail champions came under fire from offline rival Future Group as well as vendors using online marketplaces for selling products at below cost price. The Future Group has accused Flipkart of adopting anti-competitive strategy by selling products below cost price, backed by foreign funding.
E-commerce companies in India are locked in a fierce fight to get the lion's share of India's growing e-tail market. The kind of cash they has raised from investors clearly shows in the ad spends throughout this season. It, however, remains to be seen how these ad spends on ambushing rival players progresses during this season, and how effective it proves to be on the overall sales.
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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