We onboard celebrities who do justice to ad's storytelling, beyond just looking at their stature: Sunder Balasubramanian of Myntra

Fashion and lifestyle brand Myntra’s marketing strategy is three-fold, it continues to rely big on influencers and social commerce, and meanwhile, it also bets big on celebrities. This combination has made it one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in the country. 

Speaking to BestMediaInfo.com about the platform’s strategy, Sunder Balasubramanian, CMO, Myntra, said that summarising India’s fashion choices is difficult and that is what they aim to decode from time to time.

“The way people buy fashion in India is very complex, everyone has a unique fashion journey so how do you make sure that you are talking to each one of them and explain to them that Myntra caters to their requirements as far as selection and service goes. Keeping up with trends and seeing how people are accepting them is relatively easier, but how do you continuously win the consumer’s heart and mind is something that is very interesting,” Balasubramanian stated. 

He said the brand’s growth ambitions are getting stronger each year, something which is reflected in their campaigns and marketing. Speaking about the brand’s media plans for 2023, he said, “As our growth agenda increases year-on-year, we want to understand what are the other opportunities that the brand can tap into the consumer’s lives. For us as a business, when you look at making any kind of investment it has to be alongside your growth ambition. Our growth ambition continues to get stronger every day.” 

“All types of investments are important and as we look at different cohorts in the country,” he added further about the media plans.

On Social commerce 

Myntra bets big on social commerce and has IPs like Style Squad, Myntra Studio and M-live in the space. According to Balasubramanian, Myntra’s social commerce journey has been an interesting one.

“I’d like to believe that we are the pioneers at that in the country. This (social commerce) plays a significant role for the Gen-Z cohort and becomes an important part of navigating and discovering what our offerings are. The way people engage with influencers on social media platforms, in the same way, they interact with influencers on our app,” he said. 

“Overall, we have seen a 20% increase in demand from our social commerce platforms,” said Balasubramanian. 

Expectations ahead 

According to Balasubramanian, their brand offerings have been increasing year-on-year and they aim to revolutionise India’s demands for brands. 

“We are very excited about the growth opportunities that exist in the country. We have a very long way to go in terms of enabling the country to go from non-branded to branded and we are just kicking off that process,” he said.

“Myntra has historically been a very strong consumer brand, we are a leading destination as far as fashion and beauty go. As our growth agenda increases year-on-year, we want to understand what are the other opportunities that the brand can tap into the consumer’s lives,” he added. 

New campaign 

The brand has rolled out a star-studded series of films featuring actors like Ranbir Kapoor and Kiara Advani. They have also roped in Tamannaah Bhatia and Vijay Devarakonda for the campaign. 

Speaking about the genesis of the campaign, Balasubramanian shared that it is based on the insight that most people want to look great and look like celebrities.

“We wanted to talk about the different product offerings with 6,000 brands and millions of styles. We also wanted to highlight that we have a strong delivery mechanism in place. The mix of celebrities is something interesting here. We look at celebrities beyond stature, we look for people who can do justice to the kind of story-telling and the narrative the brand requires,” he said. 

Upon being asked about how the brand balances between celebrity campaigns and influencers, he said, “For the fashion category, celebrities have a much stronger connection than any other category and that is because when people look at fashion, they look at what brands do their favourite celebrities wear.”

“From a larger advertising perspective, Myntra has always tapped into celebrities. When we do things from a television or YouTube perspective, we use celebrities. However, if you look at some other cohorts, like the GenZ, their idea of a celebrity or how they look at them is different. This is where influencers come into play,” he said on a concluding note.

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