Finding a life partner is one of the most important decisions that one makes in one’s life. From neighborhood aunties, relatives, matrimonial brokers and ads in the newspaper classified, the search for the perfect match has evolved in the Digital era to the proliferation to online matrimony services. The comfort of clicking on a suitable match from the confines of one’s home has seen the online match making business grow significantly.
Founded in 1997, BharatMatrimony caters to Indian consumers and the diaspora, helping them make, possibly one of the most important decisions in their life. In an interaction with Pitch, Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder- CEO, Matrimony.com, tells us why cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the perfect match for the company, what differentiates BharatMatrimony from its competitors and why the company is focused on delivering better choices and enhanced experiences to its members.
EXCERPTS- What was the thought process behind having Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a brand ambassador? We feel it’s a good fit because he’s an inspiration for millions of youth because of what he’s achieved for the country through his admirable leadership qualities. MS Dhoni also inspires through his happy marriage, his caring dad and loving husband image. What are the synergies you see between Dhoni and BharatMatrimony? How are you going to leverage brand Dhoni? I see a strong brand connect between MS Dhoni and BharatMatrimony. There are plenty of similarities… be it like from his humble beginning to him becoming a highly successful brand, his values, trust, credibility, ability to withstand and overcome challenges and more. What are your expectations with this partnership? Good brand uplift. We think the partnership will enhance the credibility of our brand and ensure that more people come online to BharatMatrimony for finding their life partner. We look to leverage his iconic status. What is your media mix like? It’s going to be a 360-degree campaign – TV, digital and radio although our spend on mass media will be significantly higher. Are you looking to increase your ad spends this year? Definitely, we’re stepping up our marketing spends as we look for fastergrowth. All matrimony ads, particularly of the online matrimony service, look similar. How do you differentiate yourself from the competition? Our ads portray women very sensitively and progressively. Our commercials stand for what the women of today identifies with and that makes our ads refreshingly different. How would you describe Bharat Matrimony’s journey since its inception? It’s been a fantastic journey. From a mere $10 investment per month to Rs 335 crore revenue in FY18, we’ve come a long way. If we’re today the market leaders with 60% of India’s online matrimony market, it’s because we were always focused on delivery of better choices and enhanced experiences to millions of our members.
