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Get it started in here, says the new Shoppers Stop
Wanting consumers to stop and smell the flowers, Shoppers Stop has adopted the philosophical route. The latest campaign doesn’t push you out of your home and ask you to go shopping, but urges you to start something altogether new
Shoppers Stop has undergone a rejuvenation: a new logo, a new base line, new uniforms for its staff, an anthem and a whole new philosophy.
Shoppers Stop as a brand has been growing since its inception in 1991. The kind of merchandise that is on sale, too, has seen change. Starting with Indian brands, they brought in international brands, now they’ve even pulled in luxury brands. The changes were brought about because it was felt that the Shoppers Stop consumer has changed drastically, and so it was necessary to change the way the brand is perceived.
Ravi Deshpande, chief creative officer, Contract Advertising, which is the brand’s creative agency, says, “The time has come to cut down the age of the brand, start connecting with the youth, look more contemporary, and start looking more relevant to the times.” He continues, “We thought it required a brand idea that has a good and strong philosophical bent, where the idea goes beyond the rationale.”
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The TV commercial for the first campaign for Shoppers Stop, ‘Feel the Experience while You Shop’, was shot by Deshpande himself. He couldn’t shoot the latest TVC because of other commitments. The brand has largely depended upon print and outdoor to carry forward this premise and this campaign, with its two TVCs, is coming out around nine years after the first TVC for the brand was aired.
In the context of the TVC, Contract has tried to look at simple things. “When you remind people about the nicer things in life, they feel grateful towards the brand,” says Deshpande. The idea was to take those insights and make them part of the film. In the print ad, the brand looks at a planet friendly idea while still endorsing high fashion. The print and TV campaigns are in black ad white as is the tradition at Shoppers Stop.
Of the two TVCs, the first one, shot in and around Bangkok by Australian director Jeff Balsmeyer, relives the moments of childhood that we let go of once we’re adults. Moments like running after a butterfly; tossing flat stones in a lake; climbing trees and dancing on a crowded road without embarrassment. The shot ends by asking the viewer, ‘When was the last time you were a child?’
The second TVC, which has an original composition written and sung by Malobi Dasgupta, writer at Contract, has a family enjoying themselves on a beach. Without a worry, without a care in the world. Living the beautiful things in life, doing nothing. The ad ends saying, ‘Enjoy Doing Nothing’.
The ads don’t exactly tell you to go out and shop, but they have an underlying subtle message. “Shoppers Stop can now afford to say something big and powerful that will grow to become a philosophy, much like Nike and how it is much beyond just shoes,” says Deshpande.
The print ads, too, take the ‘Start Something New’ baseline a little further. Saving the environment and yet being stylish is the underlying theme. One of the print ads says, ‘Wear a short skirt. Hitchhike. Conserve fuel.’ The print ads were shot in Cape Town, South Africa, with seems to be a favourite destination these days with the ad fraternity.
The TVCs have been produced by MAD Films. The creative team involved in the copywriting and art direction include Malobi Dasgupta, Kapil Sawant, Raj Nair and Mangesh Rane, along with Deshpande. The music has been scored by Zubin.