Myntra inks biggest content marketing deal on television with Zoom

Indian fashion e-commerce brand Myntra has embarked on its biggest content marketing association on the television platform. Myntra has inked a long-term deal with Zoom, the Indian glamour and entertainment television channel from Times Network, where the brand will feature in the channel’s tagline as ‘styled by Myntra’.

Under the new partnership, all the shows and anchors of Zoom will be styled by Myntra, which will also help in co-creating content for the channel. At a basic level, it is a monetisation partnership deal.

Nikhil Gandhi

Nikhil Gandhi, President, Times Network, said, “Myntra will add value in terms of styling and fashion on everything on Zoom. There will also be a few separate segments, exclusively for fashion, which will be done by Myntra, but it makes sense for us to get into that segment too.”

Zoom is available in 60 countries but the US and Canada have different feeds. Most of the markets get the India feed. The Styled by Myntra feed will implicitly go to these markets, though the partnership is for the India market only.

Gunjan Soni

On why Myntra thought of this association, Gunjan Soni, Head of Jabong and the Chief Marketing Officer, Myntra, said, “Video content consumption is going through the roof in India. In future, it will increase across formats. Another trend we are observing is that people want to watch more of Bollywood/ fashion, which is among the top content. That's the kind of content we wanted to offer them back.”

The Zoom and Myntra partnership is orchestrated by Wavemaker. Pooja Verma, Head of Content, Entertainment and Sports Partnerships, Wavemaker, said, “At Wavemaker, we pride ourselves in crafting effective and engaging collaborations which enable brands to spark relevant conversations. The task at hand for us was to leverage and strengthen Myntra’s position as an e-commerce fashion leader through dynamic and meaningful brand associations. As the leading content destination for Bollywood and glamour, Zoom was the perfect partner. Given the brand synergies, we have created multiple pieces of content, tailored for various platforms, which can be consumed at different occasions. And we do hope the audience enjoys it as much as the fun we have had in bringing this to life.”

While there have been a lot of content marketing associations on digital platform, there hasn’t been much on television. This is claimed to be the biggest content marketing association happening on television. Soni explained, “We are going to be involved in actual creation of content. We will co-create content in fashion and entertainment, which will be available across platforms. The format of the programming will be all shoppable videos. All the content ‘styled by Myntra’ will be shoppable, which we believe is how shopping is going to happen, invoking and satisfying the aspirations that the viewer has.”

Speaking more about the benefits of the association, Soni added, “This will help us capture the broader content consumption intent around fashion, thereby giving us an opportunity to convert the consumer's intent into consumption and transaction. We want to engage with them from the very beginning.”

Through an overlap study, it was found out that about 25% of viewers on Zoom are actually already consuming fashion content. All the shoppable videos will be available on Myntra’s online platforms, including the Myntra app. “Whatever you have seen on TV, if you go look for that on our online platforms, we will ensure those products are available on the app since we are styling beforehand,” she added.

It is a long-time partnership, which is expected to last for over three years. The refreshed logo and look and feel of the channel is styled, packaged and designed by the in-house team of Zoom. The new logo of Zoom is inspired by Myntra’s latest musical logo.

MK Anand

MK Anand, MD and CEO, Times Network, said, “We have changed the rules of stereotype partnership deals in the industry with our unique association with Myntra. The refresh to ‘Zoom styled by Myntra’ reflects the kind of real, conversational and multi-lingual entertainment that viewers in India are looking for. With an objective to beat viewer fatigue, we are innovating with content and triggering new conversations to find relevance with the changing consuming pattern of the youth."

Ananth Narayanan, CEO, Myntra and Jabong, said, “As the nation’s leading destination for fashion, Myntra is constantly looking to innovate and make fashion more accessible to consumers in India. There are a few fundamental beliefs that make the Zoom partnership very exciting. One of our research shows that by 2020, 75% of the content consumed will be videos and Made for India original content will grow substantially. Secondly, fashion as a category lends itself well to the video format, much more than any other category. With the Zoom TV association, our aim is not only to make fashion more accessible, but to make “buy it as you see it” a reality.”

If Myntra is present across the channel, wouldn’t it create a conflict of interest with other fashion and e-commerce brands? Gandhi answered, “All fashion brands are available on Myntra. So, there is no conflict of interest. In fact Louis Phillipe is partnering for styling the men in The Reunion. The e-commerce category is certainly blocked for sponsorship or promotion of anything on Zoom. However, the FPC and spot buys will still be open for the category.”

After this, there would not be any more partnerships on a channel level but there can be in specific shows.