After Mizoram, Myntra chronicles e-comm journey of shopper from Bihar

Myntra has done it again; the Bengaluru-based brand has handpicked another obsessive online shopaholic (just like many of us...?) and narrated her 'Myntra' story in a two-minute-plus long digital film. The video, which follows the life of a Patna girl, Shristi, is a part of the 'Myntra Unforgettables' series.

Myntra's new ad titled, 'Myntra Unforgettables - Meet Shristi'

A quick recap of the series brings to mind Myntra's digital film from last year where viewers were introduced to Novi, a fashion enthusiast from Mizoram. The new video in this campaign is a follow-up on the brand's larger strategy of targeting tier two and three cities. While speaking to a specific market occasionally is one thing, dedicating a full-fledged campaign definitely calls attention. Gunjan Soni, head, Jabong and chief marketing officer, Myntra, tells us that one would be wrong to assume that the e-commerce phenomenon is predominantly a metro one. "We actually have 50 per cent of our consumers from tier two and three cities," she says. However, Soni is quick to clarify that despite the tier two and three bias, the idea was to cover real-life stories of loyal users and bring out the customer diversity Myntra enjoys. "It's not that we'll not cover stories from tier one cities, but, of course, there is an effort to make sure that this part of India (tier two and three) gets due recognition," informs Soni.

Myntra's old ad in the series titled, 'Myntra Unforgettables With Novi'

The video, crafted by the brand's in-house agency, captures the change in Shristi's outlook towards fashion and looking good in general. While the previous film in the series communicated the brand's door-to-door delivery feature in the far-flung towns of the northeast, the new video talks about mindset change. So how is the overall theme selected? Gunjan explains, "The central idea comes from their (user's) journey. We specifically ask them what the turning point was; what made them a true loyalist. Since we are looking for diversity, we look for different parameters to highlight. But it has to be authentic and should also fit in with our existing aspirations of what we want to share."

Gunjan Soni

But wouldn't the task of selecting that one person, around whom the video is crafted, be daunting? What is the process followed and how does one know if they are in the running to star in future videos in the series? Soni elaborates, "It's a fairly data-driven process. We look for people who have been with Myntra for a long part of the brand's journey. So, a minimum of two to three years of association with the platform is essential. Then we see how big they are in terms of their shopping spends; their percentage of repeat purchases. Basically, we are looking for various aspects of loyalty with the platform and that gives us a shortlist of consumers. Next, we check to see if an external profile of the user is available; if there is an interesting pattern."

Soni adds, "In the first video, when the campaign was being released alongside our 'End of Reason Sale' (EORS), we particularly looked for someone who is participating in every EORS. In Novi's case, she was not only in every EORS, she had also increased her spends almost ten times. After reaching out to her, we realized that this was a beautiful story from the northeast which added a little extra charm. In the second phase, we decided to look at different criterion and therefore, we had somebody who was using the maximum number of categories on our platform. In Shristi's case, she was actually touching close to seven-plus categories. Hence, the key criteria remain the same, but we keep introducing interesting ideas each time."

Soni shares that she had apprehensions about the campaign. "In the age where everyone talks about privacy, we were actually reluctant to reach out. So, we first reached out through call centres as a service query and then checked on their address, since we didn't want to be intrusive. Surprisingly, everyone welcomed it and the fact that we are only reaching out to the loyalists probably made the difference. In Novi's case, they insisted that the crew stay with them in their family home during the shoot," says Soni.

Speaking about the challenges while shooting with non-actors and in real locations, Soni says, "In a normal shoot you choose locations which are fairly controlled, but in real life you don't have a choice. The first film was planned as a two-day shoot, but then it kept pouring. So, the shoot had to be extended. Some of the scenes were actually shot in the rain. Even the final scene of the family partying was supposed to be outdoors, but since it was raining it had to be shot indoors and the team had to adjust to the natural lighting of the house. Also, since these people are not actors, it takes longer to shoot. We didn't even provide them with any training since we wanted the stories to come out as is".

Experts Speak

Devin Kewlani

Jagdish Acharya

In the recent past, digital films narrating real stories of individuals have become a common practice in ad land. So, is the new Myntra video striking enough to break free from the clutter? Devin Kewlani, national creative director, FoxyMoron, says, "Real stories about struggling individuals has definitely been a trend over the past eighteen months or so, but very few brands manage to tell an authentic story and plug themselves in at the same time. Myntra, on the other hand, has dropped the levels in an already cluttered space. Genuinely, I don't see this video doing anything effective for the brand."

Jagdish Acharya, founder and creative head, Cut The Crap, states, "Everyday conversation is not dialogue and every true story is not a story. The Myntra campaign does not provoke any reaction, positive or negative. That's because it's more like a montage of scenes from real life than a story."

However, the brand gets a 'thumbs up' for the perfect video execution. Acharya says, "The execution with real people, a real location and a natural rhythm is quite on point though." Kewlani shares similar sentiments too, "It is shot well and nicely structured around breaking into tier two and three markets."

Speaking about the dos and don'ts of crafting a video that chronicles real-life stories, Kewlani says, "One should aim at telling a genuine and/ or real good story. Research for interesting stories and break the brand's proposition down into one core message and showcase that. Do not hard sell!"

Acharya adds, "Specifically in the context of advertising, a true story ought to have two things going for it - it must at least be in the realms of make-believe if not authentic; two, it has to evoke empathy. The execution of 'Myntra Unforgettables' give us pretence of real life, but its narrative is brand-convenient. Therefore, it could work as an endorsement by real people in a typical thirty second ad version. The digital video format, however, is too long for the purpose."

With inputs from Suraj Ramnath