OLX.in: Dwelling on desire

Free online classifieds website OLX.in's new television commercial tries to assure viewers that what they see on the website is what they will get.

House hunting is a serious and often frustrating business punctuated by many punctured hopes. Free online classifieds website OLX.in's new television commercial (TVC) brings out this sentiment and attempts to translate the portal's tagline, 'Where buyers meet sellers'.

The campaign has been conceptualised by Saatchi & Saatchi. The TVC starts with the prospective tenants, a three-member family, checking out a house which apparently perfectly matches their requirements. The owners, too, are happy as they have been looking to let out the house to a small family. When it comes to finalising the rent, the house owner says 'wohi paachis hazaar' (the same Rs 25,000). A voiceover then states 'wohi milega joh mann me hai' (you will get what your heart desires). The TVC targets urban, affluent, middle and upper middle class consumers.

Ramanuj Shastry
, chief creative officer, Saatchi & Saatchi India says that the campaign's idea is to emphasise the core philosophy of the brand, 'What you see is what you get'. "People are used to real estate ads showing something totally different from the actual property. So, when you get something that is promised, you are almost in a state of shock. And, this is what we have captured in the ad, when buyers/tenants actually find a property as it appeared on the website," he explains.

Shastry adds that the rent part was an additional creative that the agency included in the ad, to indicate how both the parties agree to the rental amount, which is a 'wonder of wonders'. "The only insight was that while we didn't want to alienate the brokers, the whole premise was that house owners usually do not exaggerate about the house; brokers do. Therefore, in the absence of middle men, the chances of finding what you want are higher in OLX," he explains.

OLX seems to be on a communication overdrive, considering its recent 'Badi badi batein' campaign that focused on the website's wide platform. Before that, it had launched the 'Bech de' campaign that highlighted great deals on products. For the current campaign, the agency is in the midst of making two more TVCs portraying different aspects of OLX.

OLX was founded in 2006. Besides buying and selling, the portal also offers channels for trading, organising and discussing. Late last year, OLX entered into an annual advertising partnership with Yahoo! India, where the latter's homepage would display OLX.in's link under featured partners section.

Interestingly, the brand's competitor Quikr.com also launched a new TVC recently that focused on real estate. In the Quikr ad, the communication emphasised how people who are unfamiliarwith the internet can give a missed call to enlist their posts on Quikr.

Realty check?

Dhiren Amin, group planning director, McCann Erickson, opines that while the TVC tries to deliver OLX's core proposition, 'Where buyers meet sellers', the execution seems to be a bit of a dampener. "The problem with focusing on real estate is that a viewer immediately thinks the website only deals with real estate, when that is not the case. Also, people who are not looking for a house may switch off or lose attention," Amin adds. He also feels that the ad gives a complex message.

Talha Bin Mohsin, executive creative director, DDB Mudra believes that the ad has successfully conveyed the message. However, he says that this communications falls short of the earlier 'Bech de' campaign. "The 'Bech de' campaign has a quirk, a hook to it that stuck with the viewers. The communication, cast and performance reminded viewers of the brand. However, that hook is missing in this one," Mohsin says.

In fact, people may confuse the ad with the Quickr ad, he feels. "I think OLX.in should get back to its earlier ad, which was original and charming and stayed with the consumer for long," he concludes.