Amazon India says, "Shop for everything you love"

Amazon India has recently launched a promotional film on the digital medium. Made around Valentine's Day, the film ends with the thought of 'Shop for everything you love'.

At various intervals, Amazon India has come up with different initiatives to engage with consumers online. The idea is to create interesting conversations that resonate with consumers who are online.

"Come February and the mood for Valentine's Day sets in. We wanted to be part of this mood but in our own unique way. We wanted to connect with the youth with the message of love but in all its different avatars. The video was a result of this," says Kishore Thota, senior manager, marketing, platform development, Amazon India.

The brief given to the agency was to create a video that showcases Amazon.in's vast selection, convey subtly how shopping on Amazon.in is fun and full of surprises. The video needed to have the flavour of Valentine's Day, be relevant and break the clutter.

With the video, Amazon India wanted to engage with the youth who are very active online. "The video has a very fresh feel about it, the background score is extremely catchy and there's a lot of energy in it," Thota says.

The video was promoted through Amazon.in's social media properties. Additionally, the employees of the company also shared it on their respective Facebook pages and that's how the video went viral.

"We love the video for its vibrancy, for its visual appeal and for establishing how shopping on Amazon.in is a completely enjoyable experience," Thota adds.

The film, though shot in India, has a very international look and feel to it. Priya Jayaraman, MD, Propaganda India, explains, "It is important to know here that the film was conceived central to a complete digital idea, which was 'Celebrate Every Love' that enabled amazon.in to leave behind a feel-good message for the season and yet connect it to the core of what the company is into in India - online shopping. That said, I don't think there is any such thing as an 'international look and feel' to the film. It was scripted and conceived differently, which lent itself to the output being the way it is. Also, it was very critical for us not to get carried away by overtly using products or showing shopping and that I believe helped keep it true and real."

Speaking about the creative challenges the agency faced while executing the idea, Jayaraman says that maintaining the balance of brand recall, yet keeping it simple and feel-good was extremely critical. "The use of something like Amazon.in boxes or tying the film together with a simple phrase like 'Shop for everything you love' actually is the outcome of the creative challenge itself! More importantly, I think it was any client's faith in what they perceive an agency to deliver and their approach to marketing, which made it actually very easy," she adds.

Buzzy does it?

Divyapratap Mehta, national planning director at Publicis Capital, says, "I think, 'Shop for everything you love' is an interesting idea. At a human level it gives sanction to shopping, makes it an act of love. At a brand level it elevates Amazon to a brand that celebrates love for things and makes it just a means to an end. It also elevates Amazon to a retail brand rather than an e-retailer. I think the execution is international; however, the idea is universal and will appeal to young urban Indians. Amazon is clearly taking a high-ground and a more long-term approach to brand building while e-Bay is operating at a level that is only solving current e-retail problems or promoting its line up. Amazon can also do that through peripheral programmes. The brand operates at a heart level."

For the record, though these films are being specially created for the digital medium, the e-commerce brand has never launched any full-fledged television campaign. While Amazon launched its India operations early last year, the brand was already present in this market since February, 2012 through Junglee.com, an online shopping service that helps customers find products from online and offline retailers and compare prices.