Lenskart’s Peyush Bansal: I'm not a celebrity entrepreneur and I don't have aspirations to be one

Lenskart’s co-founder Peyush Bansal is among the few new-generation business founders and CEOs who have appeared in their own brands' commercials as themselves. In a short series of ad films, Bansal, who is also chief executive and people officer at Lenskart, features with Bollywood producer and fashion icon Karan Johar. Casting Johar, who has an enviable collection of eye-wear and is known to even travel with a bag full of glasses, was a strategic decision, Bansal says in a conversation with Storyboard18’s editor Delshad Irani. In the exclusive interaction, the founder and Shark Tank India judge tells us more about the campaign's genesis, how and why he ended up featuring in it with Johar and why he doesn't consider himself a celebrity founder.

Edited for length and clarity.

What was the genesis of the new campaign and what was the brief to the agency?

Firstly, I just want to clarify that the brief to the agency wasn’t to cast me in the ad. A lot of people may assume that to be the case but I don’t have any celebrity goals and nor am I a celebrity entrepreneur.

Over the past ten years or so, I’ve always felt that some of the things we do at Lenskart are differentiated from what you get in the market and we wanted to communicate that. Then there was the affordable tag challenge. Usually, when things are more affordable, consumers feel that the quality is not the best.

In the ads, I am being myself. I shot four ads in four hours. I wanted them to be relevant for today's audience. The ads look natural except maybe for the part where I am seen watering plants. It is a little exaggerated.

Once I was at a gathering and one of my friends who had bought a pair of glasses from us said “I bought these glasses, and I faced some problem after two to three months. But what more can you expect at that price?” That kind of stuck with me. Why don’t you expect more at that price? That could happen with a more expensive product too. The brief to the agency was about communicating the reasons why Lenskart is affordable but the glasses are not cheap. There is a lot of aspiration in the brand.

Koffee With Karan signifies luxury aspiration in a lot of ways. Karan loves eyeglasses and carries a suitcase of glasses. The idea behind this ad was that if Karan Johar can wear Lenskart, then so can you.

I'm not a celebrity entrepreneur and I don't have aspirations to be one. Therefore, initially I was hesitant. They tried to convince me to be a part of the ad and after consulting a friend – the director of Shark Tank, I considered the risks and decided to do it. I saw the film for the first time when I was on vacation in New York with my family. I was sitting with a few people, and I played the ad. Everyone there unanimously rated me 11 out of 10. So then I thought ‘okay we can air this now’.

How was the experience?

These advertisements are not the typical ones. In there, I am being myself. I shot four ads in literally four hours. I wanted the ads to be relevant for today's audience. The ads look natural except maybe for the part where I am seen watering plants. It is a little bit exaggerated. But it could be the plants look exaggerated and not me watering them.

You said you don't have aspirations to be a celebrity founder. But you are a celebrity founder.

I am not denying the fact that there is an element of people knowing who's behind the brand, and who are some of the people helping the brand. People knew about Apple too and were in the loop about what Steve Jobs was doing. It’s the same for Bill Gates and Microsoft; Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

I don't have celebrity goals, but at the same time my priority is to make Lenskart the Amazon of eyewear and a global brand. In that process, some of this is a new form of communication with a new age audience.

I did Shark Tank season one purely for my love for Shark Tank. I have watched the international version multiple times and was almost inspired to become an entrepreneur because of that. I'm doing Season 2 because now it is the entrepreneurs that have gotten inspired. It is creating a never-seen before impact in India with not just VC investments. Five to fifteen year-old kids are now talking about entrepreneurship.

I have learnt more from listening to the pitches and becoming aware about all that is happening in India. There is definitely some personal incentive here in terms of helping Lenskart grow and stay relevant.

I still don't have celebrity goals, but at the same time my priority is to make Lenskart the Amazon of eyewear, to make it synonymous with eyewear in India and make it a global brand. In that process, some of this is a new form of communication with a new age audience since traditional advertising is not relevant anymore. Today’s audiences relate to brands, they’re smarter. You can’t do or communicate something you don’t really believe in.

I haven’t yet mastered it but knowing the context and why of the brand helps consumers associate more than ever in today's environment. I am able to deliver the why and the purpose to the people. But I see it as a transient phase in the journey of Lenskart.

Markets have sentiments, and they may not always be rational... It’s a great opportunity for businesses to really accelerate, bet on the bigger bets and hire the best talent in the market.

What's coming up next, in terms of some of the key marketing activities?

Lenskart doesn’t have a problem with reach. What we really need to do in our advertising is talk to communities and segments of people in a very personalized way so that they can relate to us. The idea is to really get down to the real micro communities, understand their behavior, and develop eyewear for their needs.

Secondly, I do feel the internal and external brand cannot be different in today’s environment. For us it's important to document what we are and what we do internally and let the world know in a transparent fashion.

We are investing in Augmented Reality (AR) technology, so that customers can try millions of frames within seconds. And that's like living the brand internally.

Our logo is about infinity and infinite possibilities.

It’s a honeymoon period for us. All the talent that we would keep calling to try and get them on the table is on the table today. If you are building for the long-term, it's just a cycle you have to get past.

Given the current climate and mood we’re witnessing with inflationary headwinds, a global economic slowdown and mass layoffs in certain sectors, what is your outlook going forward?

Somehow every time such phases come around people get emotional about it. But you need to look past it.

As entrepreneurs, we are here to create impact in the long term. You need to look past this phase and see what's ahead. Entrepreneurship is at its peak, consumption is at its peak, tech is at its peak and talent density is improving, and per capita GDP is improving.

Yes, markets have sentiments, and they may not always be rational, and sometimes, one company may affect many others. Therefore, these are great opportunities for businesses to really accelerate, bet on the bigger bets and hire the best talent in the market.

It’s a honeymoon period for us. All the talent that we would keep calling to try and get them on the table is on the table today. If you are building for the long-term, it's just a cycle you have to get past.