Cleartrip.com: Clearly trying to be everybody’s favourite

Superman can give his flying abilities a rest now because alternate modes of transport beckon him.

In an ad for travel website Cleartrip.com, Beehive Communications has created a TVC that revolves around the central idea that even superheroes cannot resist the offers and deals on the portal. When Cleartrip was launched in July 2006, it entered a market cluttered with established players such as Makemytrip and Travelguru. So, it was quite clear that Cleartrip’s communication had to stand out.

Initially, Cleartrip had tactical ads on its various offerings in print across all key cities as well as aggressive online advertising. “But we needed to have a TVC to bring in the branding element and also to generate awareness on our value added products,” says Noel Swain, vice-president, marketing, Cleartrip. A SWOT analysis followed. While Cleartrip doesn’t offer international tie-ups and services, its strength lies in its value added deals (such as hassle free combination flights) and in its non-intrusive, quick and user-friendly interface. “The entire flight booking procedure is only four steps,” says Swain. “Without talking of these benefits individually, our TVC had to portray how these value added services are so compelling that everyone wants to lap them up.”

Beehive then decided to follow the ‘too good to resist’ idea by using superheroes, who wouldn’t ordinarily be caught dead on a flight, in the film.

“We have tried to bring out the thought that even people who aren’t regulars on flights will end up flying as the booking process is so simple with Cleartrip,” says Shayamashree D’Mello, creative head, Beehive Communications. Certainly, using superheroes is a novel way of bringing that out. But there’s a reason for it.

According to D’Mello, as a website, Cleartrip has its own sense of humour. For instance, if the site hangs, or the server is unavailable, then the site throws up some wacko messages such as ‘Like most children, even this site is acting up’.

“As one can observe, this is an engaging sort of humour, which one wouldn’t expect,” D’Mello says. “So, our ad had to be a bit humorous, too, to be in line with the brand.” But while one can understand Superman on the flight, how does she explain the presence of the others, who don’t possess the power to fly?

“Advertising can never be literal,” says D’Mello. She explains that in the ad, the focus is not on flying skills versus non-flying ones. The concept is about watching superheroes indulging in normal human behaviour (wanting the best of service), as opposed to watching them in their regular ‘save the world’ act.

“We want to say that a website can actually have that incredible impact on even the most unusual kind of people when it comes to travelling,” says Swain of Cleartrip.

The film was shot over a day in Riverdale Studio, Mumbai, by Anand Iyer of Ramesh Deo Productions. The costumes and styling were taken care of by freelance stylist Shreya Anand. In order to avoid legal hassles, care was taken to avoid the costumes being an exact replica of what the actual superheroes wear. For example, the Krrish mask was slightly uneven, the inside of Spiderman’s hand doesn’t have any webbing on it, and Batman’s ears are shown in the ad. Some shots, such as the airhostess adjusting Batman’s pillow, were added by Iyer to give the ad a natural, real-life feel.

According to Swain, within a week of the ad’s airing on television, the number of visitors on the site has shot up from 25,000 per day to around 60,000 per day. From Cleartrip’s launch in July 2006 till June 2007, Swain expects the number of online transactions on the site to touch four lakhs.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!