Storyboard | Meesho signals its move into e-commerce big leagues with an ad

Meesho's ‘Sahi Sahi Lagaya Hai’ campaign was conceptualized by Mumbai-based advertising agency DDB Mudra.

In December 2020, social commerce startup Meesho released its first-ever advertising campaign to encourage entrepreneurship among women. Today, over 70% of entrepreneurs on Meesho are women. But, as the company migrated from being just an “income generation” app to becoming an e-commerce platform, it started targeting a greater number of value-seeking consumers in tier-2 and 3 cities and smaller towns.

‘Sahi Sahi Lagaya Hai’ is Meesho’s second direct-to-consumer (D2C) campaign and it signals the brand’s shift from the social commerce space to now playing in the e-commerce big leagues.

Changing the script

Founded by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal in December 2015, the Facebook-backed company is helping businesses reach out to consumers in more than 4,500 tier-2 plus cities. In April this year, the Bengaluru-based firm entered the unicorn club.

The new ad campaign targets “the next 500 million consumers on the platform who are curious about online shopping and are still on the journey of learning how to navigate the online space,” the company shared.

These customers are “curious”, but also “cautious” and value-conscious. Meesho’s putting its proposition front and centre - a large selection of products across Indian local markets that are available at right prices.

“Since the pandemic disrupted the Indian economy, most Indians are looking for ways to optimize their expenses without compromising their needs,” says Megha Agarwal, vice-president and general manager growth, Meesho. That holds true for this festive season as well.

Festive plans

For the first time since March 2020, “people across the country have an opportunity to celebrate a semblance of normalcy,” says Agarwal. The brand wants to reassure consumers “that their festive shopping plans won’t be tempered,” says Agarwal, as they will have access to “quality unbranded products from a range of local sellers.” That's the message Meesho wants to get through to customers in the campaign.

Conceptualized by Mumbai-based advertising agency DDB Mudra, ‘Sahi Sahi Lagaya Hai’ will air on major TV networks, in addition to YouTube and other video streaming platforms. It’s a multilingual campaign - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, and Assamese, with music composed by Sneha Kanwalk and a song by Benny Dayal.

Agarwal also hints at other changes. Meesho is calibrating its brand’s “tone of voice to be more peppy, quirky and energetic to resonate with the regional audience” as it unlocks more pin codes in the country.