While start-ups are changing the way the next generation works, most of these e-commerce platforms are also dedicating themselves to various social issues. It could be termed as a PR strategy but the e-commerce ecosystem is attaching itself to plethora of issues ranging from environment, animal rights to LGBT issues, bringing in their quirky ideas to solve them or engage in a dialogue.
However, experts believe that these campaigns are seldom based on any market research and do not yield a concrete profit.
New entrepreneurs are focusing on issues that concern the urban youth and are targeted at the audience of young professionals.
Last week, UrbanClap’s campaign to support the LGBT community hit the right buttons with its users, and the service provider application was praised for picking up the issue. Speaking to this newspaper, Suhail Vadagaokar, 'Vice President - Customer and Brand Experience.' Of UrbanClap, explained that most of these attempts are market research-driven, ”Startups are full of people in their early twenties, so we pick up issues about which the startup generation thinks. This is not the first time we are doing a campaign on social issues. In fact, this short film and other efforts are a part of the ‘Umbrella Campaign’ that we have for other issues, like women’s empowerment, and our attempts in these field are a very small step towards bringing about a change.”
Market experts feel that the only mileage the entrepreneurs can get from picking up these issues could be generating a buzz on the social media.
Marketing and advertising expert Santosh Desai said that these activities are hardly supported by any substantial market research, “For both offline and online marketing activities, it is unlikely that there is a specified study. These activities are a way in which the entrepreneurs mark their position on social media platforms. This does give them visibility and it also creates a debate on various platforms. However, it hardly creates an impact in the long run.
Another young entrepreneur, Yatin Thakur, founder of CoworkIn, explained that most of the green activities within his ambit are a way to give back to the society, “Our endeavours in the environment arena are just simple desires to make a difference. We have organised several meet-ups to come up with ideas to utilise spaces. None of these activities are towards generating mileage.”
In some cases, picking up issues is a part of damage control, like in the case of Uber. After being in the news for all the wrong reasons, it has strengthened its PR activities. Their tie-up with dogspot.in — an animal supply platform — has generated enough buzz for the service provider.
