Mumbai: Zoomcar is the leading marketplace for car sharing in emerging markets, with over 20,000 cars on its technology-driven platform across India, Southeast Asia, and Egypt. Zoomcar empowers host entrepreneurs to safely and easily share their cars to earn additional passive income. Guests in the Zoomcar community enjoy a diverse, affordable selection of cars to unlock memorable driving experiences with friends and family. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Bengaluru, India, Zoomcar employs over 300 people and operates in 50 cities across India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Egypt.
Further, they have announced their first large-scale brand campaign #ApniHiSamjho that depicts the warmth of Host- Guest connect.
With this campaign Zoomcar expects to see users have a better understanding of the marketplace model while showcasing its true values from offering a wide variety of cars to keyless entry, the importance of ratings to a 2-way chat between Host & Guest and an opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to host their cars on Zoomcar & earn their second income.
Indiantelevision.com caught up with Zoomcar country head Naveen Gupta to get an in-depth knowledge about this campaign and more.
Edited excerpts
On strategy, media plan and idea behind this #ApniHiSamjho campaign
Our ApniHiSamjho campaign tells a powerful story about the guest-host connection on our platform. We aim to demonstrate the value we provide to guests and hosts alike. By treating rented cars like their own, guests can enjoy their journey and create memorable moments. Hosts can ensure a safe and wonderful experience for their guests. Our campaign is not limited to TV and has a strong presence across digital and outdoor platforms. Consistent repetition builds memorability and awareness.
Our ApniHiSamjho campaign is being promoted through different channels, including:
1. Digital: Our creative team has made sure that the visuals and copy convey the same guest-host story as our TV commercials.
2. Airports/outdoors: Our out-of-home partner has designed ads featuring guests and hosts together, sharing smiles, to convey the same message.
3. Influencer marketing: We're amplifying condensed versions of our TV commercials through hundreds of nano influencers.
Additionally, we're partnering with two major influencers to bring the guest-host story to audiences who may have missed it during the IPL.
On the inspiration behind this campaign
The campaign #ApniHiSamjho depicts the warmth of Host Guest connect. We wanted to announce our new marketplace business model to our existing base & potential customers via our campaign. While deciding on what will be the best way, after multiple iterations it was very clear that we have to capture the moment of car exchange from host to guests. This is the exact point in time where the magic of exploring your favourite car from a host nearby unbundles.
On the key values that Zoomcar aims to communicate through the campaign
As mentioned, whether you're a guest or a host, you come to the Zoomcar platform with the expectation that we can help serve your requirement. From offering a wide variety of cars to keyless entry, the importance of ratings to a two way chat between Host & Guest. We also wanted to appeal to the budding entrepreneurs to host their cars on Zoomcar & earn their second income.
On the evolution of India's car-sharing especially in the past two-three years
In the past two-three years, India's car-sharing has witnessed significant growth and transformation. The emergence of technology-driven platforms has made it easier for both guests and hosts to participate in the car-sharing economy. Increased urbanisation and the rising cost of car ownership have also driven demand for car-sharing services. The market has become more competitive, with new players entering and existing players expanding their offerings. Additionally, there has been a shift towards more sustainable modes of transportation, with a growing number of consumers opting for electric vehicles and other alternative fuel options. Overall, the future looks promising for India's car-sharing as it continues to evolve and innovate to meet the changing needs of consumers.
On the evolution of Zoomcar’s business model over the years
Zoomcar is the leading marketplace for car sharing in emerging markets, with over 20,000 cars on its technology-driven platform across India, Southeast Asia, and Egypt. Zoomcar empowers host entrepreneurs to safely and easily share their cars to earn additional passive income. Guests in the Zoomcar community enjoy a diverse, affordable selection of cars to unlock memorable driving experiences with friends and family.
On Zoomcar ensuring its users' and their vehicles' safety and security
At its core, Zoomcar’s primary advantage stems from its continuing focus, from inception, on investing across core technologies such as IoT and machine learning to create a seamless, frictionless user experience for guests and hosts. What sets the company apart is the intense focus on technology, product, and infusing data science to create a disproportionately robust customer experience, which helps create a very sticky customer cohort, both on the guest/demand side and host/supply side. We take great care to really invest behind the technology in the vehicle. We have our own custom hardware that we fit in all vehicles to allow for additional safety and security monitoring from remote digital entry through a keyless entry system through your smartphone which is very, very powerful along with having real time driver behaviour monitoring and also the ability to have a remote engine and mobilisation capability. This gives more peace of mind for that vehicle owner and host, and then also more seamlessness and more frictionless experiences for the guest.
On plans for the platform in the near future
We are working on a lot of new exciting features and product updates to strengthen our marketplace construct. In coming months, we will empower our hosts to set discounts, their own prices & also offer extra services like full tank, home delivery options. All these tools are a good conversion mover for our hosts & helps give the best experience to the guests. On the guest side, we are also working on creating a very seamless & personalised experience to generate repeat usage. Apart from India, we also have presence in Vietnam, Indonesia and Egypt. We are laser-focused on building out scale, density, and supply in these newer markets and continuing to build that network effect in each of these cities. Particularly in Indonesia, which is the biggest of the newer markets because of its size and scale of footprint in the country. We expect to target future expansion opportunities in markets which include SE Asia, Latin America, MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and Sub-Saharan Africa. As Zoomcar takes both early-mover advantage for car sharing in emerging markets, and strong user engagement and growth upside in new and existing markets.
