ASIA-PACIFIC – BEIJING, CHINA, MARCH 2012: With a reported increase of 555% in online transactions in 2011, and with more smartphone users expected to inflate the statistics, Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce website and brand, geared up to put its e-commerce mobile application under the spotlight to boost usage and increase awareness.
Ogilvy & Mather Advertising/Beijing has created a web video series called “Taobao Never Leaves the Palm of Your Hand” to educate the hundreds of million Taobao users about the existence of the app and its functionalities. The app aims to fulfill the customer demand of being able to ask questions online and compare prices, anywhere, anytime, before actually buying a product.
Ogilvy Advertising used incorporated original characters made of hands and miniature sets based on real locations such as the subway (where shoppers could really use the app), live scenes, and 3D compositing. The creative concept ties in with Taobao’s brand image as it shows how mobile devices serve as a viable alternative to personal computers.
Taobao’s vice president and general manager of the company’s wireless business unit Qiu Changheng said: “Taobao’s mobile app is becoming a key portal for e-commerce. In 2012 we expect an explosive increase in revenue of more than 50 percent. Our mobile app really offers limitless potential for growth.”
“As China’s biggest e-commerce platform, Taobao has shown that creative, fun, quirky advertising can be deployed very successfully in China to achieve tangible business results,” added Raymond Tao, president of O&M Advertising/China.
The videos target white-collar workers between the ages of 18 and 35 and students in tier 1 and 2 cities in China. They were launched in early March and will be broadcast through April 2012, and will also be shown on major Chinese video sharing sites and on TV sets in office buildings.
