OLX Launches Online Safety Campaign to Increase User Awareness
OLX launched a new consumer safety campaign to promote digital literacy with a special focus on cyber safety. Based on real life scenarios, the campaign is aimed at educating users about how they can avoid falling prey to frauds while transacting online, and be careful of fraudsters who try to dupe them by asking for advance money, meeting at isolated locations, or asking for UPI details.
Launched in Hinglish and 4 languages – Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, the campaign will run across social media and digital platforms.
The campaign highlights OLX’s commitment to managing online risks and security, backed by insights on how netizens ignore cyber safety while transacting online. The campaign videos are a humorous representation of frauds that can impact the experience of users online. It showcases how easy it is to fall prey to a good offer and urges users to be careful while transacting. The video concludes with a message for online buyers and sellers, on how to differentiate between a real and a fake buyer/seller.
Sapna Arora, CMO, OLX India, on the new consumer safety campaign, said, “As market leaders in the classifieds and internet ecosystem, our aim is to educate users about the nuances of cybersafety while accessing online platforms, and using the internet responsibly”. She further added, “The safety of our users is of extreme importance to us. To ensure that our users transact safely, we invest heavily in sensitizing them through various channels both on and off the platform. This reflected in our rebranding efforts earlier this year as well and we will continue to bolster our focus in 2019 on user safety on OLX.”
Lavanya Chandan, General Counsel, OLX India said, “Keeping user experience at the heart of the platform, OLX has been working towards building a safe and secure platform. The recently launched campaign is yet another move in that direction. Using the videos we have addressed some of the prominent issues faced by users and are urging them to follow simple tips such as – avoid making advance payments, meet at public places to buy/ sell and avoid travelling to remote areas, make transactions face-to-face and verify product before buying. By addressing these issues, OLX wants to nudge users to wisely take actions to safeguard themselves online.”
This initiative will add to OLX’s existing campaigns and guide users to buy and sell safely. OLX has run campaigns on Internet Safety Day and Global Parents Day to discover internet habits and perceptions – both online and in general. The surveys revealed that the majority of netizens tend to ignore cyber safety, and don’t actively monitor content their kids watch. More than 55% of parent respondents are under-informed about how to keep themselves safe online. Only 61% respondents feel that they are adequately informing their children about using the Internet safely.
Mukund Raina, Branch Head, Enormous Brands, said, “In these tech-fueled times, our homes, families, friends and almost every aspect of our lifestyle is impacted by the Internet. Added to this, the line between our online and offline lives is indistinguishable. Hence, it is imperative to raise awareness about safety and security while transacting on the internet. By the way of these ads we have recreated common scenarios of frauds and how it can be tackled. It aims to educate and equip users with Internet knowledge, and promote responsible online conduct.”
OLX is constantly working to raise awareness amongst users to be safe while transacting online and to educate them on cybersafety. In this regard, OLX promotes online safety in various ways, including product updates, user safety guidelines, and awareness campaigns on social media. Taking this endeavour offline, OLX has partnered with Cyber Peace Foundation, a leading think-tank and NGO to conduct cybersafety awareness workshops across the states of Rajasthan and Karnataka in the first phase. The workshops focused on educating users on various threats online such as frauds – financial, phishing, skimming, cyber defamation, cyber bullying, stalking, child pornography and to empower them with the tools along with technical and legal help.
Campaign details
The first ad campaign is about a character called Chaurasiya, someone who doesn’t fancy going out shopping but prefers to buy and sell products on OLX. He bought an LED TV and a guitar and met his seller at a “public space.” But one day, he gets a call from a guy impersonating a Colonel, who shows interest in purchasing his bike and invites him to an isolated godown. Chaurasiya, immediately blocks the user.
The second ad campaign shows a young chirpy Bubbly aunty, who is fond of shopping on OLX, and likes to stock up products in advance. She purchased a couch, and a house for her cat. But when she decides to buy a laptop, the seller shares a link on the OLX app, and asks for advance payment. Bubbly aunty blocks the seller.
The third campaign shows a lady buying a chandelier matching with the carpet and souvenirs. Later on, she posts an ad to sell her old car. A buyer interested in her car sends her a UPI link, and asks her to enter her pin in order to receive payment within 2 seconds. She promptly abandons the transaction and reports the fraud on the OLX app.
All 3 ads showcase how OLX is educating its users so that they avoid frauds while selling or buying products on the platform. The three crucial takeaways from the campaign for the users are – meet in public places, refrain from making advance payments, and do not share sensitive information such as UPI details.