When Amazon entered India for the first time ever, it was not a stellar brand or a Louis Vuitton of the industry in the minds of the local people. Since the beginning it’s been all about a seamless integration into the lives, cultures, thoughts, emotions of the people, their mentality, the way they think & most importantly the way they connect, Emotions!
Taking a cue from the success of such messaging is what is key for a new entrant in our markets.
India is considered by some to be one of the most diverse countries in the world; with over 122 languages spoken by billions of people across the country, topography that ranges from the Himalayan mountain range to the Great Indian Desert to the beautiful southern waters, and the world’s largest film industry – there is something for everyone in India!
When we talk about modernisation & how the youth is proactively savvy towards using smart-phones, smart-tv’s, apps, consuming hoards of content online & spending 1\3rd of their lives being active on social media, there is still something which cannot change in their hearts. It’s the Indian values, the Indian culture, traditions.
A few social facts to look upon: (You may not like some of them, but they are true & prevail)
- Family values are highly respected throughout India and are fundamental in daily life
- The structure of the family pre-dominantly is patriarchal; a woman must listen to her father, her husband, her son.(Still exists across India except a few metros which are displaying modernisation)
- Arranged marriages are a commonplace even though they’re gradually reducing.
- Families often live with three or four generations in the same household
These are certain fundamentals of being Indian which have existed since decades & will continue to do, maybe at a declining rate, but they always will, cause thats what characterises an Indian, dosen’t it?
If Amazon Prime Video were to be present as a high-heel brand of the industry, targeting the modern youth\couples only, it would be difficult to strike a chord with majority of our people. It would just be another fancy online showroom, with minimal footfalls. But they’re not that. Similarly Netflix is many times considered competition for Amazon Prime Video, but it’s not. They’re niche content & TG limit them to a certain threshold which is clearly not present for a brand like Amazon, which is the greatest opportunity it has.
Amazon India is for the masses. In just a few years, it’s presence has been engraved in their hearts across the globe.
Taking a cue from it’s successful penetration in our markets, Amazon Prime Video needs to strike a similar chord with it’s Indian TG. Connect with the culture.
Let’s look at some economical facts of our country.
The Indian economy is one of the fastest growing in the world
Indian labour force is estimated at 509.3 million
60% are employed in agriculture or related industries
The numbers speak for themselves, that however modernised our metros may seem, a majority of our people are part of the 509.3 million labour workforce in India for whom entertainment is their main source of enjoying life. Movies, sports, soaps, they consume it all. Housewives while being at home, working women, men, children, in villages, small towns, everywhere!
With an increasing spending capacity & willingness to pay, they still seem disconnected from such services cause of the mindset of it being too premium or difficult to use. (Difficulty to download\subscribe is the biggest confusion yet for any APV user)
These are the barriers which need to be broken & targeted effectively to build massive popularity among people who can truly build a gigantic brand. Old movies, regional movies, hindi-tv shows, dubbed hindi-english tv shows & of-course Bollywood movies.
A cute ad where a couple is fighting or arguing or speaking a few witty lines is not a solution, is not unique, it’s done to death & it has no connect to the brand. If you pick that ad & place any competitive brand in it’s place, it will perfectly fit! That’s not the solution! The communication needs to be tailor made if barriers are to be broken! I can bet that the couple in the APV TVC commercial personally in their lives watch more of Netflix than APV. Why is that? Cause they’re not the real TG.
If you have the best regional content, why are you targeting a english speaking, highly educated couple sitting in a swanky apartment watching movies on their iPad’s? Striking the right chords is the key here with the right people. And with a price point of Rs.500 per year, the value of the service needs to be brought out to the masses, because in today’s day & age Rs.500 is not considered expensive or even remotely expensive, it’s the value of what one is getting which needs to be clearly stated & engraved in the mind’s of people. A person pulling out a salary of Rs.15,000 a month is not going to remorse paying Rs.500 for an entire year.
The lack of sync between the target audience & APV’s communication is what is hampering it’s true growth in the market.
Just a few instances of grabbing your TG’s attention.
Example 1: gifting your grandmother the power of nostalgia through old Bollywood movies via the APV app, while she’s missing her Husband & the times they shared.
Example 2: A Bengali boy travelling to another city who dosen’t speak english very well. A cute Bengali girl sits next to him who too dosen’t understand any other language but some just broken Hindi, looking bored. She’s surprised to see he’s watching a local film & there is a brief dialogue between them & he offers her one headphone & they both embark on an emotional journey of togetherness thanks to the power of APV.
It’s all about building a story & not just some random slap-stick, high-end humour. It’s about reaching out to people where it matters to them the most. Amazon Prime Video is not just an app, it’s an enabler to strike an emotional chord with the people of India through it’s beautiful content & journey, the same way they have managed to do with the shopping platform.
As ogilvy once said ““A brand is longer what we tell the consumer it is, it is what the consumers tell each other”
And if you can’t be brilliant at-least be memorable. That’s the memory that we need to create in the minds of our consumers through a journey, a story of a lifetime that will remain engraved in their hearts.