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P&G is among the global marketers that has been pushing the purpose-driven agenda for a while now. In India, the company’s brands such as Ariel and Whisper have been creating purpose-led advertising and launching several marketing initiatives that tie into that higher-order purpose. Menstrual hygiene brand Whisper through its #KeepGirlsInSchool movement has been encouraging conversations that will help in normalize period talk.

To build on this, Leo Burnett India helped Whisper identify ‘The Missing Chapter’, a film to illustrate how a girl’s lack of period education contributes to her missing school days, a situation exacerbated by the glaring absence of period education in Indian textbooks.

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The campaign got India its first Grand Prix in the Sustainable Development Goals category at the recently concluded Cannes Lions Festival Of Creativity.

Beyond the film, the brand also looked for 28 art styles specific to the geography of each state and the agency worked with local artists to create custom hand-drawn paintings centred around ‘The Missing Chapter’ on periods. Hyper-localized in 28 different languages, slogans with catchy lines were crafted to bust period myths along with a 3-step visual aid on how to use a pad. These paintings have been put up on school and village walls – a place no girl can miss seeing them.

In a conversation with Storyboard18, Akhil Meshram, senior director and business head feminine care, Indian Subcontinent – Procter & Gamble, talks about why the campaign was a success, the results, and how brands can be a force for good and a force for growth. Read on:

<strong>What according to you made ‘The Missing Chapter’ a winning campaign at a global platform like Cannes Lions?</strong>

Before talking about The Missing Chapter, it is important to understand the context around menstrual hygiene in India. Surprisingly, out of a total of 40 crore menstruating women in India, less than 20 percent use sanitary pads. Even in urban areas, this number only goes up to 52 percent - which means, nearly half the women, even in urban India, are still using unhygienic methods of menstrual protection, such as dirty cloth pieces or even rags, husk, newspaper, and mud, amongst many others – all of which lead to a host of health issues.

This begs the question as to what it takes to improve this statistic. Awareness and acceptance of the right hygienic practices is the only way to help achieve menstrual hygiene and safeguard women’s health. One challenge to this that was always staring right in our faces, was a missing chapter in the curriculum of our school system across the country.

The way we see it, the campaign film and subsequent outreach sparked a conversation across the country on the need of a specific chapter on menstrual hygiene – in a country where periods are viewed as taboo and rarely spoken above hushed tones. The Missing Chapter was able to get people to think for how long the Chapter will be missing from the curriculum – a Chapter that could help girls be unstoppable even during their period days. The fact that the right stakeholders recognized the gap and questioned it as well was the turning point for the campaign.

With that in mind, we feel the campaign received recognition at a global platform like Cannes Lions simply because it went multiple steps beyond just a campaign film and helped change mindsets right at the grassroot. The wall paintings were an important aspect here to ensure people had a visual aid to relate to in their local culture – making the red paper a significant icon for people to link the need for The Missing Chapter in the curriculum.

<strong>What does this win mean for brand Whisper?</strong>

Whisper began the journey to normalize menstruation in India more than 25 years ago; at the time the number of women using hygienic sanitary protection was less than 1 crore. Today, this number is 10X that and continues to grow. When we started the #KeepGirlsInSchool movement in 2019, the aim was to normalise the conversation about menstrual health and address how young girls and their families don’t need to look at periods as taboo. This year, we scaled up the movement by introducing The Missing Chapter, which was focused on asking for mandatory inclusion of period education in the school curriculum.

This win is a testament to our vision of ensuring that 100% of all adolescent girls in the country are educated on menstrual hygiene so that no girl is forced to drop out of school due to her period. The recognition we have received just helps us push towards achieving our vision through innovative interventions like raising awareness about The Missing Chapter and attracting attention from the top bodies in India towards this pressing need.

<strong>What were the key results of the campaign?</strong>

With The Missing Chapter, we wanted to paint the nation red. Till date, this initiative has already reached 30 million people through various touchpoints from the outreach.

This time around for us, it was very important to reach the grass roots and drive this awareness in the most distinct and receptive manner. The wall arts, which replicated the red chapter from the campaign film, were spread across 28 Indian states, incorporating the unique language and art style possessed by each state. We put the chapter on rural school walls, and along school routes, so no girl could possibly miss it.

Along with the campaign, Whisper continues to work towards teaching as many girls as possible about periods, before they can drop out of school. By the end of this year, period education will reach over 80,000 partner schools. Till date, we have educated more than 5.5 crore girls on menstrual hygiene and have pledged to reach an additional 71 lakh girls by the end of this year, which will double our impact in the next two years.

<strong>Purpose is at the heart of P&G’s brands’ narrative. What’s the biggest learning from this strategy?</strong>

As P&G, we truly believe that our brands can be a force for good and a force for growth. As a brand, Whisper has always stood against taboos around periods – and that has been at the core of not just our previous campaigns like Touch The Pickle, Sit Improper, and Meri Life Mere Rules, but also in the previous iterations of the #KeepGirlsInSchool movement.

We feel it is important for a brand to stand for something – something that consumers relate to and where we can contribute to improve certain aspects of the socio-economic landscape . Therefore, purpose takes center-stage for us because it is important, we use our voice to help bring about change that consumer want to see in their life or in society. Our objective at Whisper is to ensure that young girls not only stay in school but work towards achieving their dreams without the limitation of periods.




The making of P&G's Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winner ‘The Missing Chapter’

India is shining at the Oscars of advertising. Dentsu Webchutney becomes the first Indian agency to win three Grand Prix in a single year at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The agency’s work - ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ for Vice has picked up a Grand Prix in Social and Influencer Lions. The agency also won a Grand Prix in Radio & Audio Lions and Brand Activation & Experience Lions. The campaign got a Silver Lion in Social & Influencer category and a Bronze Lion in PR Lions too.

The campaign is a guided tour for visitors at the British Museum, which houses some of the world’s most disputed artefacts. Through The Unfiltered Tour, visitors to the museum could scan the artefacts using Instagram filters and unlock an augmented reality (AR) experience that visually teleport the objects back to their homeland. Taking this further, The Unfiltered History Tour also extends into a ten-part podcast series featuring experts from the countries were the artefact was taken from and not from where it’s currently housed. This was done to provide a broader education on the artefacts, as well as the history and ongoing impact of colonialism.

In a recent interview with Storyboard18, PG Aditiya, former chief creative officer of Dentsu Webchutney, and now co-founder of Talented, said the idea for the campaign started  as a casual conversation between Gautam Reghunath, former CEO of Dentsu Webchutney and now co-founder at Talented, and him, about an episode from Empires of Dirt - a VICE original series on YouTube.

“Ever since, over a 100 people have stepped in to do the bravest work of their lives (yet), amidst a raging pandemic, across 10-plus countries - and some of us, for months even after moving on from our jobs officially...because this discourse matters. We’re already seeing its impact with smaller museums and private collectors around the world changing their stance on repatriation. The history buff in me is overjoyed,” he told Storyboard18. Aditiya and Reghunath left the agency after working on the campaign to set up their own creative shop Talented.

<strong>FCB India on a winning spree too</strong>

FCB India is the other Indian agency that’s bringing home a troop of Lions. In the Social & Influencer Lions, FCB India and Kinnect won three Lions (Gold, Silver and Bronze) for SOS Children’s Village India’s ‘Chatpat’ campaign. This piece of work picked up a Gold and Silver in Media Lions too.  A Bronze Direct Lion was also given to the campaign.

FCB India and FCB Chicago grabbed a Gold in Direct Lions for The Times Of India's ‘Nominate me Selfie’ campaign. The agency was also awarded a Silver Lion in Media Lions for the same campaign.

FCB India’s ‘Unbox Me UNAIDS' campaign for UNAIDS got a Bronze Lion. This campaign also scored two Bronze in PR Lions.

<strong>Ogilvy India strikes Gold </strong>

Ogilvy India won two Gold Lions for Cadbury Celebrations’ ‘Shah Rukh Khan - My Ad’. One in Creative Lions and the other in Direct Lions. They also got a Bronze Direct Lion. Wavemaker India was the media agency behind this campaign.

Ogilvy India also won a Media Lion for Cadbury Perk’s ‘Perk Disclaimer’ campaign. Both these brands are owned by Mondelez India.

BBDO India received a Media Bronze Lion for P&G India’s ‘See Equal #ShareTheLoad’ campaign.

Dentsu Webchutney gets a Grand Prix hat-trick; Ogilvy gets two Gold Lions

When TikTok was banned in India on June 29, 2020, it left close to 200 million users orphaned. In four years, the 15-second video platform owned by the Chinese technology company, ByteDance, had changed the way Bharat made and consumed content. With the accessibility of 15 regional languages on the app, there was a TikToker born out of narrow alleyways, ghats, river banks, and forests of the country. From Jhumri Telaiya to Tirunelveli, TikTok gave a confidence booster to users across ages, regions, classes and genders. Though for many urban Indian internet inhabitants TikTok’s videos were “cringe-inducing”, it gave wings to millions to fly and breathe the air of success and fame.

After two years of TikTok ban and several other apps and formats such as Instagram’s Reels, YouTube’s Shorts, Josh, and Moj, among a few others, getting popular, the space may seem cluttered. However, it looks like TikTok believes it can still find its ground here again.

According to a report in The Economic Times, Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, is looking to strike a new partnership in India and hire former and new employees as it seeks to re-enter one of the world's largest internet markets.

Digital experts that Storyboard18 spoke to think this could change the content game, again, in India.

<strong>The first-mover advantage
</strong>
According to a report by management consulting firm Bain &amp; Company, three in four Internet users - or 600 to 650 million Indians - will consume short-form videos by 2025, with active users spending up to 55 to 60 minutes per day. More than 200 million Indians watched short-form videos at least once in 2020, with daily active users spending up to 45 minutes a day on these platforms.
Since TikTok was one of the ﬁrst movers in the short-format content market, it has an advantage, as people are familiar with its interface, says Aarushi Sethi, business head, Pollen, the influencer marketing agency of Zoo Media. She believes this might encourage original TikTokers who were on the platform to revive their proﬁles. Interestingly, millions of creators are still called ‘TikTokers’ even though they have migrated to other platforms.

Multiple media reports indicate that home-grown apps managed to absorb 97% of TikTok creators. Sethi says a lot of them might go back on the platform that gave them fame and, in some cases, money.

Omkar Joshi, founder and chief creative officer of the digital-first consulting shop, hybrid&gt;, agrees with Sethi. However, he thinks creators will play smart and not make the mistake of putting all their eggs in one basket. He further states, “TikTok made it possible for so many Indians to escape an elitist gaze. And because the base was so broad and varied, it was free of any of the biases that are seen in everyday society. None of the alternatives today have been able to successfully achieve this at the scale that TikTok did.”

However, brands will be cautious to make a move, say experts.

<strong>Building Trust
</strong>

The biggest challenge for TikTok, if it makes a comeback, is winning the trust of users, creators, and brands, says Rohit Raj, co-founder &amp; chief creative officer, The Glitch. He explains, “We have heard stories of people who quit their jobs to become content creators. When TikTok was banned, people who built their content on the platform lost whatever they created overnight. Now, what is it for them to say that history would not repeat again? So, the trust factor would be a definite question mark.” He also observes that much like the pressure that Chinese brands have been taking on in India for a while, TikTok too will face the heat.

The advantage TikTok has, in the markets it still operates such as the US, UK, and Brazil, among others, is its algorithm of virality. Other global social platforms that have short formats don’t come close to that, says Raj. According to him, “Reels made a mall, and TikTok made a DMart”, a comparison that sums up the diversity of users and creators on these platforms.

<strong>Time for brands to think like creators
</strong>

Brands stayed away from TikTok for the longest time. Mainly because it was too ‘massy’. “They came on the platform because they realised that the audience they were targeting spent a lot of time on the platform. Brands will go where people are spending time. If TikTok regains popularity, they would go. But, as of now, I don’t see brands going straight up and jumping onto the platform,” opines Raj.

In 2019, when TikTok’s popularity was at its height, brands like Myntra, Zara, ShopClues, and Snapdeal; entertainment companies and OTT platforms, Dharma Productions, Hungama Music, and Viu; and personal care brand Clean &amp; Clear, among others, engaged on the platform. Some large legacy brands also experimented on TikTok, Pepsi was one of them that generated billions of views for its then #SwagStepChallenge.

“If a brand wants to be on TikTok again, they have to don the hat of a creator and not of an advertiser. Otherwise, it is like buying ad space,” says Raj candidly. hybrid&gt;’s Joshi also says that brands will flock to TikTok if users will. “They (marketers) are just going to wait and watch (as usual) and the moment something becomes a thing, they'll splurge money (sometimes thoughtfully too),” he adds.

On the other hand, Pollen’s Sethi says, TikTok gave advertisers a sneak peek into what Bharat was consuming.

With regional inﬂuencers coming to the forefront, the possible re-launch of TikTok will give them access to a newer platform and may bring back the loyalists. The other thing she says is even though TikTok is still operational internationally, however, for a comeback in India, local innovation, user retention, and stickiness, will be critical. Of course, providing assurance to creators and other stakeholders that they will be adhering to Indian data privacy laws and guidelines, will be important too, she says before signing off.

What TikTok’s possible comeback means for brands & creators