Tokopedia's Digital Marketing Strategy: A Case Study

• Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

• Sales & Marketing

Tokopedia, Indonesia's largest online mall, was facing a significant challenge in communicating its core offerings despite being a robust and well-funded marketplace platform. Established in 2010, the company had recently secured USD 100 million in funding from Sequoia and SoftBank. However, the company was struggling to effectively convey its value proposition to its two primary target groups: buyers and sellers. The challenge was to develop a marketing communication plan that would effectively target these two distinct groups independently, each with their unique needs and expectations from the platform.

Tokopedia is Indonesia's largest online mall, connecting buyers and sellers across the country. The platform was established in 2010 and has since grown to become a robust and well-funded marketplace. Despite its success, the company was struggling to effectively communicate its core offerings to its customers. The platform serves two primary customer groups: buyers, who are looking for a wide variety of products, and sellers, who are looking to start or grow their own online businesses. The company's challenge was to develop a marketing strategy that would effectively target these two distinct groups independently.

To address this challenge, a two-pronged marketing communication plan was developed. For buyers, an irreverent, humorous awareness campaign was designed to communicate the simple idea that Tokopedia has a wide variety of products that cater to their needs. This was achieved through the development of four TV commercials in the first phase of the buyer's campaign. For sellers, a thematic campaign was developed that communicated Tokopedia's core mission: to improve the lives of ordinary Indonesians. The tagline 'ciptakan peluangmu' (create your own opportunity) was created and promoted through TV, Outdoor and Radio, encouraging sellers to start their own business online. The first phase of this campaign surpassed all expectations for new business registration.

• The implementation of the two-pronged marketing communication plan resulted in significant operational improvements for Tokopedia. The humorous awareness campaign for buyers effectively communicated the wide variety of products available on the platform, leading to increased engagement. On the other hand, the thematic campaign for sellers, which communicated Tokopedia's core mission, resulted in a surge in new business registrations, surpassing all expectations. This not only expanded the platform's seller base but also reinforced its mission to improve the lives of ordinary Indonesians by providing them with opportunities to start their own online businesses.

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