Stories
Zepto's 'Culture Hacking': Chandan Mendiratta on Brand Building Beyond Traditional Ads
- •Zepto's Chief Brand Officer, Chandan Mendiratta, defines brand management as "culture hacking," aligning the brand with consumer cultural trends and behaviors.
- •The quick-commerce platform engages in experiential marketing like "Fake Shadi," "New Year Bash," and "Seoul Street" to integrate the brand into cultural conversations.
- •Zepto aims to make its app celebrate with consumers during festivals, creating a "brand consumer handshake" through culturally relevant games and product assortments.
- •The brand leverages cultural phenomena, such as the rise of Korean entertainment, to drive commerce by connecting content consumption with purchase intent for related products.
- •Zepto's strategy extends beyond quick delivery to expanding categories like electronics and beauty, focusing on increasing category breadth and buying frequency through cultural relevance.
Key Questions Answered
Zepto's Chief Brand Officer Chandan Mendiratta defines brand management as culture hacking, where the platform identifies emerging consumer behaviours, trends, and celebrations—such as Fake Shadi, New Year Bash, and Seoul Street—to make the brand part of those organic conversations rather than relying solely on conventional advertising. Raghav Mendiratta notes this approach helps create a brand-consumer handshake that reflects native festival and cultural experiences.
Zepto launched experiential properties like Seoul Street to tap into the growing popularity of Korean entertainment, food, beauty, and skincare trends in India. By recognizing that content marketing creates purchase intent for items like Buldak ramen and K-beauty glass-skin products, Zepto successfully translated cultural curiosity into direct commerce opportunities across its app.
Zepto views quick delivery as table stakes and is now focusing its growth on category breadth and buying frequency. The platform is actively scaling non-grocery categories such as electronics, jewellery, toys, beauty, skincare, haircare, footwear, and apparel to unlock higher wallet share and become part of the consumer's everyday life.
