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<ul><li>Home-grown platform Meesho is the latest start-up to join the unicorn club after raising $300 million from Softbank Vision Fund 2.</li><li>Founded in 2015, Meesho launched its first TVC in 2020 that aimed to celebrate financial independence of Indian women. It is now planning to go bullish on marketing with new campaigns and collaborations to expand its reseller user base.</li><li>Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO, Meesho walks us through the company’s journey from scratch, marketing goals for the year and shares his vision.</li></ul>It was in 2015 that Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO of Meesho decided to quit InMobi and start his own business. He and his partner Sanjeev Barnwal, Founder and CTO of Meesho came up with an idea to build a platform to help micro and small businesses shift online and leverage the power of digital technologies. So, as social commerce was struggling to make inroads in India, Meesho led the way and revolutionized the industry. “Social commerce was already a popular concept at that time but the challenges such as limited access to supply, lack of logistics/ payment options, customer friendly policies etc, were also on the rise,” shared Aatrey. Months went into experimenting with the idea, researching the market and getting the logistics right. They juggled between ideas until they perfected the core business proposition. Cut to today, Meesho has just raised $300 million in a new round of funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 on April 02. The startup has already joined the unicorn club. As per media reports, the new Series E round gives the five-year-old Bangalore-based company a valuation of $2.1 billion, up from about $600 million-$700 million in the 2019 Series D investment. The social commerce platform claims to have over 13 million entrepreneurs, a majority of whom are women. It has helped them start their own online businesses with zero investment, bringing the benefits of e-commerce to over 45 million customers across the country. Sharing why Aatrey started Meesho, he said, “‘Meesho’ stands for ‘meri shop’ or apni dukaan. Almost 9 out of every 10 individuals in India have a dream of starting his/her small business. Given the increasing number of self-employed, small business owners, gig workers in India it is no surprise that Indians have an enterprising mind. However, starting a business requires a lot of capital. India is not such a rich country. Most people do not have access to capital. These people who never had the opportunity to start a store came onto our platform and became entrepreneurs for the first time. One can come here, start his/her shop on WhatsApp, access anything from our supplier marketplace, and as per consumer orders, purchase is made from the marketplace.” Meesho primarily connects sellers with customers through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. It supervises logistics, online payment and provides real-time updates. Till date, the company has delivered orders from 100K+ registered suppliers to over 26,000 pin codes in more than 4,800 cities, helping generate over Rs 500 crore in income for entrepreneurs and serving customers in more than 4,500 Tier 2+ cities -- bringing e-commerce to Bharat. As per a recent report by Deloitte, India’s e-commerce is expected to grow from $24 billion in 2017 to $84 billion in 2021. Considering that India has about 60 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) currently, Meesho is just getting started. Aatrey said, “We have ~9M women entrepreneurs and India is roughly going to have more than 250M women who will be online by 2025. Given this understanding, we are just scratching the surfaces of enabling women to start their own business. With the growth that we have seen over the last year, we want to bring our value proposition to many aspiring women, and we see a lot of value in further communicating our value proposition. That said, we will consistently be communicating how Meesho can empower and enable women entrepreneurs in starting their home businesses.” According to Aatrey, the social reselling market in India is estimated to be $6-7 billion (GMV) in size as of 2020. By 2025, the social commerce is expected to be ~$70B and total ecommerce to be $200 Bn as the number of online shoppers, especially from tier II cities and beyond, continues to rise. After the pandemic, Meesho has also seen an increased adoption rate in Bharat. “Overall, more than 70% of our orders come from tier II+ towns. We have seen very good adoption in tier II+ towns during the pandemic: we have served 2000+ new tier 2+ towns since June and our order share from these towns has also increased from 67% earlier to 72% between July and December 2020,” said he. Aatrey believes that the future of online shopping is social commerce and more and more retail outlets have started exploring this medium after the pandemic. “I believe evolving technology is a wakeup call for everyone in business. It is imperative for all to realize the huge potential that digital has and ways to leverage it. The lockdown period came as a lesson for many of us. Many retailers in India resorted to selling products over WhatsApp and that shows how the retail market is also changing and moving towards digital. In fact, according to a retail website, today 85% of sellers using social commerce are small, offline retailers giving sharp competition to large organized sellers on e-commerce platforms. As per Bain Analysis, India has the highest number of internet users (572 million) globally, with substantial room for growth. So, the retail market has enough potential to leverage social commerce and bloom,” elaborated Aatrey. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Carving a niche beyond social commerce" text="Carving a niche beyond social commerce">Carving a niche beyond social commerce</cmsannotation> Since a majority of its sellers and buyers are women, Meesho’s communication also centers around women empowerment. Its mission is to help women achieve financial independence. Its first TVC, conceptualised by DDB Mudra, focused on an unstated need of a woman, which is to claim what she rightfully deserves – her own identity. The film celebrated the unstoppable spirit of women who overcome all social and economic barriers with the line that captures the sentiment of 'Not just a homemaker, a Meesho Entrepreneur.' <div type="Youtube" id="Y0nSzxtiShA" title="Many Names, One Identity #MyStoreMyStory" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y0nSzxtiShA/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Telling us more about the company's marketing proposition, Aatrey said, “We have more than 9 million resellers on our platform spread across 100 cities out of which 80% of them being women from smaller towns and cities. Social and cultural factors for years have kept this section of the society away from employment. Our strategy has always been to empower more and more people to fulfil their dream of becoming an entrepreneur, especially women, who due to social obligations sacrifice their dreams and fall behind in terms of financial independence. We wish to give them all a sense of self and accomplishment through our platform. Social media is our backbone and these entrepreneurs, our pillars of strength.” Meesho is also fighting against e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart, who are ploughing billions of dollars and have been around for a while. Meesho’s rivals have on-boarded Bollywood celebrities and have a huge media presence. “In the era of Amazon and Flipkart, we at Meesho are trying to build trust through social commerce. Our strategy has always been to empower more and more people to fulfil their dream. Our communication will remain around our USP- to help build entrepreneurs with zero capital. We will also find more channels this year to penetrate our value proposition further,” said Aatrey. Vision After the recent funding round, Meesho is aiming to build a single ecosystem that will enable all small businesses to grow faster. “With the new round of funding, we are now focused on expanding our vision — from helping aspiring women entrepreneurs to creating Meesho as a single ecosystem that will enable all small businesses in India to succeed online. In the last one year, we have seen tremendous growth across small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to move their businesses online. And with our new vision we will enable 100 million small businesses to start, succeed and lead their operations online with Meesho as their partner in their journey,” said Aatrey. The introduction of smartphones and penetration of the internet and WhatsApp in particular has made the market size for social commerce grow larger, which is estimated to reach $70B USD in 2025. Meesho aims to leverage this demand and go bullish on marketing with new campaigns and collaborations with different partners to accelerate its user base of resellers on the platform. “2021 has come with a new set of possibilities, opportunities, and challenges to tackle. We, at Meesho, are committed to our goal of letting anyone start a digital business with zero capital. Major focus area would be to enable increased adoption of Meesho’s platform across multiple categories which would be possible only when we are able to structurally reduce our prices for our customers. We also plan to leverage the digital ecosystem and unravel more benefits that it can offer for the betterment of our entrepreneurs and Meeho’s growth. We aim at surpassing all our achievements and recognitions from previous years and reach newer milestones. We are also looking at transforming the Meesho app for better experience for our entrepreneurs. With new built in features, we hope to enhance the look and feel of the app. ‘Meeshoites’ are looking at the year with great hope, plans and execution methods,” shared Aatrey.

Meesho's marketing strategy has been to empower women who lack financial independence, says CEO Vidit Aatrey

<ul><li>Connecting with consumers and other stakeholders requires building multiple bridges, and experience tells us that the strongest bridges are those that resonate on an emotional level.</li><li><keyword id="10027641" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="kaushal-satam">Kaushal Satam</keyword>, SVP, Airline Partnerships, Product, Loyalty &amp; Operations at <keyword id="8329814" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="InterMiles">InterMiles</keyword> writes about a few things that can help brands build an affinity for themselves in the minds of consumers.</li></ul>Brand loyalty is a paradox in itself – it is infinitely complex, yet seemingly simple. There are multiple factors and innumerable moving pieces at play when it comes to driving a simple goal: consideration for one brand over another, even when the value proposition is equal. Connecting with consumers and other stakeholders requires building multiple bridges, and experience tells us that the strongest bridges are those that resonate on an emotional level. Driven by emotional chords, brand loyalty is maintained outside of the product value through the gravitational pull of <keyword id="92066" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Empathy">empathy</keyword>. <keyword id="2946259" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="challenging-times">Challenging times</keyword> call for a double dose of empathy and compassion towards evolved consumer needs. The consumer and their immediate needs, as well as other stakeholders and partners in the ecosystem, must be at the center of all business decisions; understanding them is the first step to earning and retaining their trust. Content is key Content is a powerful tool. Empathetic brand content, communicated sensitively during times of crisis, evokes and inspires. It is, hence, more likely to be shared, draws greater engagement and can even spark a change of thought or belief amongst local communities. A recent report by Think with Google stated that in the last one year, 39% of millennials felt that an online YouTube video helped change their perspective while 45% agreed that a YouTuber has inspired them to make a personal change in their life. These findings amplify how generations today are proactively seeking out content that prompts change, as opposed to passively consuming content. Through challenging times, consumers naturally seek out and engage with content that sends across positive messaging and resonates with them, in a particular environment &amp; context. Among FMCG brands, P&amp;G leads with an excellent example; the brand has repeatedly demonstrated how simply empathizing with customers, followed by practical solutions, can speak louder than endorsements glorifying brand features. Their 'Share the Load' campaign targeting the unequal division of household chores, especially relevant during the lockdown, has become a point of discussion in households, youth-communities and workplaces E-commerce major Amazon India’s ‘Aapki Apni Dukaan’ and ‘Apno ka Saath’ are other key examples of successful communication campaigns that have not only acknowledged but also addressed the importance of having a dependable vendor to meet the needs of India’s aspiring entrepreneurs. The campaigns not only reassure the viewer but also empathize with common grievances faced by them. Leveraging genuine emotions, these campaigns have been successful in driving long-lasting fulfilling relationships. Pragmatically innovating At times, the core business takes a backseat, while immediate needs are catered to and communicated. Travel was one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic – especially during the initial months, however brands like South African Tourism used this opportunity to guide consumers with campaigns that said ‘Don’t travel now, so you can travel later’ and ‘Sacrifice now, celebrate later’. The travel industry has evolved to look beyond instantaneous profits, and has taken small steps to instill confidence and build trust. For example, lodges and hotels now provide flexible bookings – allowing trips to be postponed even up to a year – along with low cost cancellations. Hotels now give consumers the option of having their rooms to be completely disinfected one day before their stay, without letting anyone else use the room in the interim. There are also additional visual representations of health and sanitization measures. Many destination brands have also been offering free virtual tours, to engage and inspire – be it a walk around The Louvre in Paris, real-time guided safaris in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, or 360-degree views of the ruins of Inca settlements in Machu Picchu. This displays brand commitment to consumers and society, as well as the drive to provide meaningful solutions for company growth. Getting it right with customer-centricity Consumers show an active interest in content that is reflective of their own personal values and belief system. For a brand to be able to strike the right chord with their consumers, they need to form strong foundations by continually investing time and effort in getting to know their consumers. Brands must explore diverse areas of consumer personas to gain an understanding of habits, influences, emotions, and behaviours. These findings can be leveraged to construct a solid narrative that offers value, is relevant and insightful enough to evoke an emotion and prompt change. Big gestures are non-mandatory; simple, timely and consistent methods of displaying care and concern establishes long-term trust and affinity. It could be as simple as offering free-of-cost contact-less deliveries during t he lockdown, loyalty points for staying safe at home during the pandemic, or sharing a relevant message of hope and harmony amongst consumers. The entire ecosystem matters Brand values and sensitivity must expand past the consumer base to encompass other stakeholders in the ecosystem as well. Partnerships and associations forged during challenging times help brands meet the needs of all employees, vendors and associates – right across the supply chain. Amidst stringent lockdowns, Marico partnered with Zomato and Swiggy for straight-to-home delivery of their products and all essential food items under the Marico portfolio. This ensured jobs for delivery persons at a time when restaurants were shut, while also bringing convenience to the customers’ doorstep. To help the food industry, Zomato recently made takeaway services available at zero commission to its restaurant partners, while also foregoing the payment gateway charges they incur on all takeaway orders. There is strength in togetherness and immense power in empathy. It is what makes leaders and brands stand out from the herd.

Embracing empathy: The key to driving brand loyalty

<ul><li>The Reliance Industries AGM saw chairman <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> announce multiple plans across e-commerce, cloud and content. </li><li>In all three categories, <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> has been ramping up its operations in India. </li><li>This will put Ambani and Bezos in direct competition, as both try to garner a bigger market share in India – one of the fastest growing internet economies in the world.</li></ul>It’s a fight for the finish in India’s internet industry and the two competitors are the world’s richest company Amazon and India’s richest conglomerate Reliance Industries. Brewing the fight are two masterminds – <keyword id="191583" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jeff-Bezos">Jeff Bezos</keyword> and Mukesh Ambani – both of whom want a piece of the large pie that can arise from engaging India’s 500 million internet users. Globally, Amazon has managed to thwart every competitor – traditional or new in every other market. But, Bezos who calls Amazon “India’s apni dukaan” (India’s own shop), might not have it so easy. Indian billionaire Ambani is leaving no stone unturned to claim the Indian internet space. Amazon’s customer acquisition strategy runs across three verticals – e-commerce for the fast growing number of online shoppers, cloud for business owners and content platform for entertainment and video. And now, Jio has fired a salvo in every vertical that Amazon operates in. At the annual general meeting of Reliance Industries, Ambani demonstrated how he wants to take over each one of Amazon’s segments. Shopping for India’s internet users Ambani has interesting ammunition. For one, he has over 340 million customers for his telecom service. Added to that, he is planning to get more...around 500 million by providing fixed broadband service at every nook and corner of the country. Reliance Retail which is expected to launch its e-commerce offering by October, also showed a sneak peak into what they have in store for shoppers. Reliance's fibre customers will offer an immersive shopping experience using mixed reality (augmented reality and virtual reality combined). Ambani’s children Isha and Akash also demonstrated a shopping experience with Jio’s augmented reality advancements, where a 3D hologram of the user will help the shopper try on different colours of the garment. This is not good news for Amazon which holds 30% of the Indian e-commerce market, and has plans to grow. Amazon too has been experimenting with virtual reality. During the Prime Day sale, Amazon had set up virtual reality experience zones for consumers. But looks like Reliance will lure its existing fibre customers into its own shopping zones. Ambani also said that Reliance will offer end-to-end digital stack to "enable and empower" small merchants. Today, Amazon too launched The Amazon Marketplace Appstore in India, a platform created for sellers to discover trusted third-party applications that can help them automate, grow and manage their business. Building businesses on cloud One of Amazon’s biggest businesses is its Amazon Web Service finds clients with the bigwigs of the tech industry in the country who use its cloud services to build their businesses. AWS has also partnered with Wipro to set up co-innovation centres in India. Ambani has entered this business too. He joined hands with Microsoft. Satya Nadella made a surprise cameo at the AGM via video feed to announce Jio’s partnership with Microsoft Azure. “Jio will build new custom solutions on Microsoft Azure for large enterprises who have already benefited from our technology platforms. Companies will also have easy and affordable access to best-in-class technologies like data analytics, AI, cognitive services, blockchain, IoT and edge computing to accelerate India’s digital transformation and enable grassroots innovation,” said Microsoft. Prime vs Jio, Indian OTT’s new war Amazon’s content platform Prime Video launched in 2016 and has since then stirred up the OTT competition in India, moving up against Netflix, Hotstar among others. Prime Video has seen multiple original web content series from India like Made in Heaven, Inside Edge which have become big hits. And now, Jio has a strong strategy to disrupt the OTT space in India. Jio Fibre services will come bundled with ‘most-premium OTT applications’. Not only that, premium subscribers of Reliance Fibre will also be able to watch movies on the very same day they release in theatres, taking away Amazon Prime’s sweet spot. It is known to bring movies to its platform within a few weeks of release. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/highlights-of-mukesh-ambani-speech-at-reliance-industries-agm/articleshow/70638299.cms">Mukesh Ambani's speech at the Reliance Industries AGM had ten big takeaways</a>

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio is taking on Jeff Bezos’ Amazon in e-commerce, cloud, and content

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Meesho's marketing strategy has been to empower women who lack financial independence, says CEO Vidit Aatrey

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Embracing empathy: The key to driving brand loyalty

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Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio is taking on Jeff Bezos’ Amazon in e-commerce, cloud, and content

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