How Tata Group quietly pushed Zudio as the affordable fashion brand as the answer to all millennial and GenZ shopping needs.
Trent Limited, a retail subsidiary of Tata Group launched an affordable fashion brand Zudio, first in 2016. Nearly six years later, Zudio is now footing a massive B2B and B2C influencer marketing campaign, rather quietly I’d say.
Who is Brand Zudio?
If you’re someone living under a rock or even someone like me who doesn’t have a lot of social media scrolls left in you, most likely you don’t know about Zudio. I am rather embarrassed to say that my first encounter with a Zudio outlet was in Phoenix Market City in Kurla, Mumbai. It was only the social media search (mind you not a Google search, for their SEO results are as scattered as their history) that followed revealed the massive influencer outreach campaign that is afoot.
So, coming to the question at hand. Who is Zudio? Trent, the fashion retail arm of Tata Group, which houses known brands such as Westside and Landmark Book Stores, launched an affordable fashion brand - Zudio. The brand saw its first outlet in Bengaluru in 2016. It entered Hyderabad in 2018 and in the last few years, has expanded consistently.
However, in the last few weeks, Zudio has initiated an extensive influencer outreach campaign. The campaign relies on three content pillars, all of which are evidently the base of creator content.
The Price Factor
Zudio is positioned as the affordable arm with products starting at as low as INR 29 and INR 49. The upper limit of prices is INR 999. The brand seems to be getting ahead of the usual question - how can they afford to sell things at such low prices through education content.
This pillar sees content creators talk about how Trent is saving money by not taking the traditional advertising route including television spots and celebrity brand ambassadors. Creators are also seen talking about their self manufacturing set up which helps them save on supply chain costs. These posts are seen on both LinkedIn and Instagram and have common keywords where a couple of creators call Zudio the affordable competition to brands like H&M, Zaara, and UNIQLO.
The Trust Factor
How do you trust a new brand that has suddenly cropped up on the spectrum with a promise of low prices? The tried and tested Tata Group trust factor plays right into this.
Several influencers talk about how Zudio comes with the implied Tata guarantee. Tata Group and especially Ratan Tata has been perceived as people friendly, the Robin Hood that is always there to meet the daily needs of the average citizen. This content pillar by default entrends the Tata brand to Zudio.
The Regional Factor
Hyperlocal influencers are seen talking about Zudio. This includes the fashion hauls and the why is Zudio affordable buckets. A simple Instagram search will lead you to creators talking about the brand in Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi, Malyali, Telugu, and more.
The Fashion Factor
The staple for any fashion brand, many micro and nano influencers are seen doing fashion hauls and Zudio finds.
The tactic at play here gives a sharp reminder of Meesho’s early days where creators from Tier II, III, and below spoke about this new marketplace that enabled them to find good products at affordable prices. #MesshoFinds continues to be a strong content bucket for the brand.
On a macro level, Zudio hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary, however the scale of the campaign and the backhanded approach are commendable. To me as a marketing writer, it reminds me of Pulse candy. I couldn’t remember seeing a single ad, but there we were ordering a massive jar of Pulse candy orange flavour from Amazon.
What pule tapris did for Pulse with word of mouth, influencers are doing for Zudio. But in this case, it is digital word of mouth.
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