Nithin Kamath Reveals Why Zerodha Stays Away From Ads

In today’s fast paced world, maintaining customer trust is crucial for brands. While lots of brands these days invest huge amounts on intriguing and engaging advertisements, Nithin Kamath, Co-Founder of Zerodha, thinks differently. The entrepreneur recently shared his perspective on X (Formerly Twitter), in which he explained why his brand doesn’t use advertising as a strategy to grow business and attract new customers like others do. In his social media post, the entrepreneur mentioned that while watching a cricket match recently, he noticed that every fourth advertisement during breaks was about some stock broking company. Although Kamath believes that it is a good sign for the markets, for him customers are not just acquisition costs and lifetime value.

Sharing his thoughts on X, Kamath wrote, “I watched a cricket match after a long time and damn. Every fourth ad is that of a brokerage firm. Sign of good times for the markets. I often get asked both internally and externally, why we don’t advertise. It is a good place to be when you don’t have to look at customers in terms of acquisition costs (CAC) and lifetime value (LTV). This way, we don’t have to push customers to take a trade, we can stay spam-free, not have to sell life insurance as an investment, and more.”

Since Nithin Kamath shared the post on social media, his opinion garnered mixed reactions. While some agree with Kamath’s decision, others suggested that Zerodha should consider advertising in the future.

In response to Nithin Kamath’s post, one user suggested that Zerodha might need to advertise in the future due to increasing competition and to stay relevant.

Another praised Nithin Kamath’s thinking and claimed Zerodha focuses on quality instead of loud advertisements.

A user warned against being overconfident and shared past successful brands that failed due not adapting the trend.

An individual compared Zerodha with Nokia’s destiny, who missed out the opportunity to become leaders when the smartphones were booming and urged Nithin Kamath to review their strategy.

Another appreciated Zerodha’s approach but raised concerns about technical issues and service disruptions. They pointed out that while it’s good not to focus on attracting new customers, keeping current customers happy could be difficult. Despite this, the user still showed loyalty to the platform and looked forward to seeing new features introduced.

Another added, “These days 7 out of 10 spam calls I am getting are from a brokerage firm.”

Since Nithin Kamath shared his post on X, it has gone viral and garnered over 1 lakh views.