Yepme’s ‘Go Fresh, Go Bold’ Has No Takers On Social Media

Yepme's latest campaign features Rhea Chakroborty in a series of ads that offer a fresh take on shopaholics, social media addicts, etc, Here we look at how social media was leveraged in the promotions

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Ecommerce funding news is most often closely followed by brand commercials. As the industry sees growth with fresh funds being poured in, consumers are being treated to a variety of ads and new brand faces. The more the star power, the more popular is the portal and its ability to attract fresh funding. Fashion portal Yepme has been in the news ever since it roped in Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador late last year.

The Bollywood-laced TVCs did work their magic; the founder told ET that sales tripled after associating with SRK. The deal lets the actor pick up a stake in Yepme going forward, a report stated. This was followed by news of funding this year, close to Rs 80 crores of fresh funding came from new investors TCS Capital and JS Capital and existing investors Helion Venture Partners and Capricorn Investment. The time was ripe for a big campaign and it also coincided with the ICC World Cup.

Yepme rolled out a new brand campaign – ‘Fresh Fashion, Fresh Look’ that comprised of 10 films going on air during the World Cup matches. Conceptualised and produced by Y-Films, Yash Raj Films’ Youth Films Division, the films sought to connect Yepme’s ‘fresh’ credentials with the ‘fresh new perspective’ on clichéd ways of doing things. It roped in the vivacious, Rhea Chakraborty, former MTV VJ and actor as the face of the campaign.

The minute-long films focus on stereotypes like shopaholics, social media addicts, fashion designers, models or moms of single girls, where Rhea comes in with her fresh take on them. As per the company press release, she is sporting the special ‘Rhea collection’ line of apparels and accessories in the films.

This film is a fresh look at social media addicts:

 

This one is a fresh look at shopaholics:

 

The films haven’t received a warm welcome though. People watching the world cup have labelled Yepme films as the most irritating ads. Listed below are a few reactions shared on Twitter during the cricket matches.

No fresh take on social media

Yepme let out a burst of films during the World cup matches to ensure maximum visibility but there seems to be no digital campaign in place. For an online fashion portal that is emphasizing on the fresh fashion it has to offer, this seems a bit weird to not leverage social media and miss out on reaching out to its target segment. Given the majority of negative responses received for the ad films, a lot of investor money has gone down the drain. The brand could have done a lot more around video marketing armed with the series of ad films.

Yepme’s Twitter and Facebook pages aren’t in sync either. Social buzz created around the hashtag #FreshFashion has been asking users about their definition of fresh fashion, and that’s about it. One of the film featuring Rhea has been shared by the brand’s Twitter handle, while SRK features in the cover page.

A young theme like #FreshFashion, a young face like Rhea and a brand ambassador like Shah Rukh Khan had loads of potential to be a breakthrough campaign on television as well as digital. It seems Yepme just wanted to push out campaigns minus an integrated approach, and that too at a time when it is competing with fashion giants like Myntra and Jabong.