India’s ecommerce giants set fire to TV with Diwali ads

India’s ecommerce giants are reaching out of their seamless virtual world to lure in new online shoppers using the realm of old media – advertisements in newspapers and magazine, and lively ads on TV and radio. This huge blitz by the likes of Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Jabong, and Urban Ladder comes ahead of people celebrating Diwali next week.

This is one festival that Indians wait for the whole year through, and the one time when they loosen their purse strings. From jewelry to clothes to cooking utensils to consumer durables, they are willing to splurge on anything.

To catch that generous Diwali shopping spirit, many ecommerce startups and titans alike have rolled out glittering print and TV ads that pack the power of celebrities and seasonal sentimentality. India has 350 million active web users out of a population of nearly 1.3 billion, so the festive ads on traditional media like TV are a way to lure in brand-new online shoppers – as well as a chance to dazzle ecommerce converts.

Stars and sentiments

The Snapdeal Diwali ad has Bollywood actor Aamir Khan poking fun at his girth – rather poetically too – and telling the viewer, “This Diwali, make a deal to please your heart!”

Another ad has Indian classical dancers, clad in their crisp traditional costumes, flashing Amazon on their smartphones with the catchphrase “The great Indian Diwali sale.”

Celebrated on a moonless night, homes twinkle with millions of earthen lamps, candles and now, increasingly, electric lights. Fireworks go off, making it a joyous festival.

Traditionally on Diwali – it falls on November 11 this year – Hindus worship Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of prosperity. Many consider it auspicious to buy at this time.

Diwali is also a time when, much like Christmas, families bond.

Playing on the theme of togetherness is an ad by online furniture store Urban Ladder that stars actor Piyush Mishra. It shows how a startup entrepreneur re-furnishes his house to make his aged parents feel at home.

Driving ad growth

The ad splash comes as no surprise as ecommerce has been driving India’s growing advertiser base.

Ads, ads everywhere