MUMBAI: The recently-launched agency ITSA has conceptualised and executed Tradus.com‘s second series of film which offers the proposition ‘Remove the middleman and get wholesale prices.‘

The film is about a couple performing a transaction. A young girl representing the buyers tells a boy sitting across the table form her, "I‘d like to buy that phone". Right in the middle of them sitting on the table is the middleman who has been eagerly waiting, almost drooling at the prospect of making his cut. He snatches the phone and gives it to the girl. With the other hand he snatches the money, gives it to the guy, but not before taking out his own commission.

That‘s when a cursor comes and clicks the Middleman away and a voiceover completes the story, "Remove the Middleman. Log on to Tradus.com and buy directly from sellers and get wholesale prices at your doorstep."

IbiboGroup CEO Ashish Kashyap said, "This is the second series of Tradus creatives. We wanted to drive home our core differentiation of being a marketplace rather than an online retailer. As a marketplace, Tradus enable sellers to list on their own on the platform and sell directly to the Buyers thereby removing all the inefficiencies. This helps the buyers get wholesale prices. ITSA has been an excellent partner to create a crisp communication via this well produced film."

ITSA copywriter Emmanuel Upputuru said, "We co-created this spot with the client. Ashish Kashyap, CEO ibiboGroup was very clear in what he was looking for. It was a bold stance to take, to get rid of the middleman. We just had to find a plot that would demonstrate that proposition visually and effectively. So when you take one look at the film you know what the benefit is for the consumer. Manoj Pahwa came to my mind the moment I thought of the idea of putting the middleman on the table."

Daniel Upputuru who made his debut as a director with this film said, "I wanted to treat the film like a painting. The lighting has been borrowed from Caravaggio. When Emmanuel shared the script I saw the guy and the girl in a beautiful setting. But right in the middle of them is this Middleman who spoils the picture. So the only way to restore the picture is to remove the Middleman."

Anirban Mozumdar, chief - innovation, strategy and collaboration at ITSA, says, "The purpose of offline communication for any online website is to single-mindedly express its purpose of existence. For Tradus.com it is about telling the consumer that Tradus.com is here to offer a service that wasn‘t there. To buy directly from sellers, so you get wholesale prices at your doorstep."

ITSA is a three-month-old company and this is their very first television spot, which they have conceived, produced and directed.