Snapdeal gets new logo, rebrands itself with new campaign

With the heat of competition rising in Indian e-commerce, online marketplace Snapdeal has rebranded itself with a new logo and campaign named Unbox Zindagi. Throwing their red-and-blue logo out, the six year old company has moved on to a new logo- a red box.

The effort, which has been put together by Prasoon Joshi’s McCann Ericsson, Famous Innovations, and Design Studio, is aimed at building an emotional connect with the customer base. Snapdeal claims that users can now experience the new identity across brand communication, browsing, discovery, right up to delivery.

Rohit Bansal, Co-founder, said in a statement:

Our new logo is visualized from the perspective of the happiest moment for an online buyer i.e. when she receives her ‘box’. We understand that every box that we deliver contains not just a product but represents a new opportunity, an aspiration or the start of a journey for our consumers. Our entire new brand identity right from the brand mark to its extensions, reflects the box – a representation of untold potential and possibilities.

Kunal Bahl, Co-founder and CEO, said that with this new positioning, Snapdeal will focus on the next phase of growth, while seeking to engage with the next 100 million online shoppers from all parts of India.

New identity

In an interaction with YourStory, Kanika Kalra, Vice President of Marketing at Snapdeal, said:

For an aspirational consumer base like that of India, the products they buy mark the difference between yesterday and today and tomorrow. For the Indian middle class, progress is marked by buying an air conditioner or computer at home. For them, the boxes we deliver are milestones of such progress. By unboxing them, they are opening the potential for exploring life.

The new brand identity has been rolled out on the app, website, and mobile site. Snapdeal’s delivery boxes will now be in a shade of red, called Vermello. Kanika said that all shipments from Snapdeal’s fulfilment centres and most of those from sellers will be delivered in red boxes. The delivery boys will wear red shirt too.

Long term effort

According to the statement from Snapdeal, key members of their leadership team traveled across the country earlier this year, meeting both existing and prospective users in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Guwahati, Bhopal, Rajkot, Nagpur, and Madurai. The new positioning and identity is based on insights drawn from these interactions.

Kanika told YourStory that the backend processes took three months, as the user interface has changed substantially. “But there have been many more months of preparation on every single aspect: design, feel, look, advertising etc. – all perfectly timed for Diwali,” she added. 

Focus areas

In February 2010, Kunal Bahl along with Rohit Bansal, started Snapdeal as a coupons site. After pivoting to a marketplace in late 2011, this is the first time the brand is being revised in such a large scale. Kanika says:

We have reached a certain stage and size now. In the last five years, we were educating people to buy online. Now the industry has about 50 million users. Now is the time to build the brand. It is about finding what would be more appealing and relevant to the customers, and position ourselves for the next 200 million users to come onboard.

She added that their fundamental goals remain unchanged- customer experience and efficient margins.

Competition

The rebranding is sure to give a boost to Snapdeal in its on-going race against Amazon and Flipkart , both which claim to be market leaders. But Kanika says that it is not just among online players, but all retailers, that Snapdeal competes. “It’s not just in the mind of people thinking of buying online that we need to be present. Online retail after all is hardly two per cent of total retail in India. The market is in a maturing phase. The next stage of adoption is with a very different set of consumers. We need to work harder to get the next 100 million buyers coming online for different reasons that the first 50 million came in for,” she says.