Results and Effectiveness

Acknowledging and engaging rural Indian women as influencers of brand choice and purchase was an approach that delivered unparalleled results, by P&G's evaluation; these results greatly exceeded their own benchmarks. AC Nielsen conducted research across the villages and measured pre & post awareness; spontaneous and top-of-mind recall; in-home penetration and sales over 6 months. All measures out performed expectations. Targeted trials delivered sustained growth in sales of 300% for Tide and 200% for H&S. Penetration and awareness increased by 140% & 88% for Tide and 115% & 38% for H&S.

Creative Execution

Using a unique storytelling platform, we created a trustworthy character to be welcomed into India’s rural village homes.The story of Sangeeta Bhabi (my sister-in-law Sangeeta) – an educated woman recently married into a nearby village family–was brought to life one village at a time. A pair of male communicators, armed with a kit that included games, signage and product traveled to 100 villages, engaging rural homemakers group by group.These messengers were trained to engage women in their language and dialect, armed with a deep understanding of the cultural considerations for success.Groups of 20-30 households were gathered, and entertaining lucky prizes/draws maximized involvement. These communicators identified the group’s leader to leverage her strong influence in the village, and focused on involving her in all product demonstrations and fun competitions.Flipcharts and pictures illustrated the product benefit and introduced the villagers to Tide and Head & Shoulders through storytelling.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

P&G, a late entrant to the 800 million rural Indian consumer market (12.2% of the world’s population across 600,000 villages) faced aggressive goals to grow beyond 9% & 10% share for Tide and Head & Shoulders (H&S) respectively,within a category already 90% penetrated. Despite compelling brand propositions, P&G’s ability to reach mostly illiterate women (18+) in a scalable manner was limited,particularly given the “media dark” reality of rural India. Being confined to her home and immediate vicinity for most of her life resulted in a limited exposure to brands; these practices of social restriction meant that most shopping was done by male members of the family.Recognition and attention is a huge aspiration for women in these villages. P&G needed to create an efficient channel to reach and engage both consumers, inspiring her and instilling a conviction strong enough to help her influence male-shopper acceptance of her choice.