Swiggy Instamart New Ad Campaign

At Strategy Partner my colleague and fellow consultant, Jishnu Changkakoti and I love advertising. Specially the kind that tickles our funny bone or jerks us out of our lethargy with some stunning new technology or solution.

One such campaign that has recently gone live is for Swiggy Instamart. ?We’ve spotted two delightful ads that we can’t stop watching over and over. That doesn’t happen often, take it from me.

So here is our take on the campaign and why it works for us.

The shopping landscape has changed endlessly since large, modern format chains like Big Bazaar, D-Mart and Reliance came in and became household names. Then online market places began popping up in cyberspace and now the plot has thickened with the birth of quick commerce. This market is growing and getting hyper competitive with new players and some early entrants upping the stakes.

So, how does one stand apart when the basic business idea is the same: To deliver the goods to your doorstep double quick, whenever you need them. ASAP.

No bread in the house? No problem. Run out of toothpaste? Relax. Thirsty and don’t fancy water? One chilled beverage coming up.

Let’s see what Swiggy Instamart has to say.

Communication Objectives:

This brand aims to establish that it can deliver whatever you need, however absurd, in ten minutes.

One ad starts with the name “Chawla” being typed across a mobile shopping screen of Swiggy Instamart. Needless to say, the delivery team swings into action and grabs India’s best known Chawla a.k.a Juhi Chawla. After overpowering her staff and collecting her from her studio while getting ready for a shoot, the team rushes to deliver Juhi. But our intrepid shopper changes his order from “Chawla” to “Chawal”. A call from H.O. redirects the team, who return a miffed Juhi to her studio and then complete their revised mission of delivering “Chawal” (rice for the benefit of all you Hindi non-speakers!!).

Another ad follows a similar pattern. This time it is a mix up between ordering a Groom and a Broom. The passionate Swiggy team, capture an about to be married groom from a mandap, then return him in good time to complete the rituals, leaving guests and relatives in a tizzy.

The ads end with the sign off line “Name it, we’ll get it. Swiggy Instamart, get chawal/brooms and more. In ten minutes.”

Target Audience:

This campaign is actually targeting anyone who is shopping online, not necessarily someone who is in a rush. Clever, since it may spur any and all online shoppers to opt for this quick option. However, if the firm’s profit margins are lower in quick commerce than in the regular commerce option, which seems likely, then this shift, if it happens, would erode the bottom line.

By choosing a male in one ad and a female in the other, the brand broadens its appeal, rather than restricting it to one segment. Smart thinking. Very basic too.

Proposition:

Swiggy is playing a smart game, appealing to shoppers in a hurry as well as shoppers who have absurd demands. It is throwing down a challenge to their competitors, to match the benchmark of meeting unreasonable demands, double quick. The bar is raised high, and won’t be easy to match. Of course, this could rebound on Swiggy if they fail to meet the demands of unreasonable shoppers, an issue that is tackled by listing only the “possible to deliver” items on their app.

Creative Idea:

The ads use exaggerated humour effectively, which makes them eminently watchable, however often they appear (we think). We all make spelling mistakes which often times get auto-corrected with disastrous results. Swiggy has relied on this basic error prone typing to set up some impossible and ridiculous scenarios. The acting is snappy, facial expressions and mannerisms of the protagonist’s are borderline slapstick and the action is fast-paced.

Brand Integration:

We are in two minds about the strength of the brand integration and how this campaign will be associated with Swiggy alone and not become a generic for quick commerce as a whole. Everyone knows that in real life, people like you and me don’t watch ads with rapt and undivided attention. There is too much going on in our homes, offices, actually in life in general, to watch a campaign mindfully.

People may come away having been entertained though not entirely certain about which brand this represented.

Campaign or one off: ?

This is a campaign, no doubt, and the theme is so open and flexible, that Swiggy could indefinitely make pool outs of this idea to keep the campaign fresh and exciting. Full marks to the creative team on this account.

To conclude:

If we were cast in the unlikely role of Swiggy’s Professor of Marketing and Advertising, the ad would have got a 9.0 on 10 in the final exam. We deducted one mark to give the agency and brand team a challenge to improve the brand integration and make this a Swiggy only brand ad, with no confusion in people’s minds.

So, what are you ordering next?