While the impact of Covid-19 has been massive, who thought that one could get married over a video call, from home without breaking social distancing rules.
Indian matrimonial portal Shaadi.com has come up with a unique way to conduct weddings during this lockdown period, the matrimonial site has come up with the concept of “weddings from home”.
In an exclusive conversation with Medianews4u, Adhish Zaveri, Director- Marketing, Shaadi.com spoke about this new initiative and the key insights to it and much more
How difficult is a concept called weddings from home to exist in a country like India where weddings are considered as one of the most awaited days of people’s lives?
Under normal circumstances, probably close to impossible. The big fat Indian wedding is going nowhere. But these are times like we’ve never seen before. And Weddings from Home is a concept for today’s times.
For many Indians, their wedding date is of immense importance. Not just the mahurat, but also the fact that so much planning has gone into it for so many months, all building up to this date. The point is, we will make it happen on that exact date and we’ll get you married regardless of the lockdown, just that it’ll be done virtually. We will do this while honouring all the norms of social distancing.
Weddings From Home allows people to celebrate their big day with as much fanfare, regardless of the lockdown. Who would have thought that you could have a sangeet performance and dhol-tasha in a virtual wedding?
Tell us about the need for creating weddings for home… I mean we understand that it’s happening because of the lockdown but I’m sure all weddings would be postponed until then and not get cancelled because of the lockdown…
Sure, weddings won’t get cancelled. The problem that looms large is, when will the lockdown be over? When will life get back to normal? Will we able to have a wedding with as many people? The uncertainty around it is what makes the Weddings from Home proposition worth its while.
And in these times of social distancing and lockdowns, Shaadi.com along with our creative agency Leo Burnett launched this initiative to help couples get married, without even stepping out of their homes. Leo Burnett has been an integral partner in this right from ideation to execution.
At the root of its success are two critical factors. One, repurposing existing technology to drive discontinuous value and two, allowing people to celebrate their big day with as much fanfare, regardless of the lockdown, As a brand, we are committed to the value of togetherness, and in the times of social distancing this is our way of honoring this commitment.
What’s the strategy to market this initiative?
This initiative has been driven entirely on our social media platforms. With the entire country connected online, more so now than before, we decided to drive it via our social media channels. Apart from this, we’ve also started conducting weddings from home on Facebook live. This gives people a real-time glimpse into the wedding experience and has been immensely valuable in driving reach. What better way to drive participation than actually getting people to attend the wedding?
Does your media mix involve any traditional mediums of advertising?
No, it doesn’t. This is 100% digital.
What is your core TG for the campaign?
We see this more as an initiative and less as a campaign. It’s an audacious act with a good heart. This is principally designed for all couples and their families who were set to get married right now but had to delay it due to the lockdown.
How have you innovated with the revenue model for the campaign?
We aren’t monetizing this initiative at all and don’t intend to do so either. This is the time to be by people’s side.
How many weddings have taken so far? How many are there in the pipeline?
We have already done 2 weddings on 14th April and 19th April and there are about 9-10 others in the discussion, which we should close out soon. Apart from this, the interest shown by people for this has been overwhelming. We’ve got a bunch of people reaching out to us, thanking us for what we’re doing.
Do you plan to make this an option for couples post the lockdown opens?
Yes, we’re happy to help couples get married even post the lockdown. In fact, who knows, we might just make it a DIY service. With this people can plan and organize this on their own, without having to depend on anyone.
Weddings From Home must be a national affair right? Couples from different parts of the country must be getting married virtually?
Weddings From Home is straddling across demographics. The last wedding we conducted, the bride was in Bareilly, the groom in Mumbai, Panditji in Raipur, Dhol-tasha artist from Delhi and guests from all over the world. It was truly representative of India, cutting across all divides. Weddings From Home is a format that is for anyone and everyone who has access to the internet. In a sense, this has democratized the wedding fanfare by offering a similar level of experience to all, at a fraction of the cost of a venue based wedding.
