SHARE THE LOAD

Bronze Spike
TitleSHARE THE LOAD
BrandP&G INDIA
Product / ServiceARIEL MATIC
EntrantBBDO INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Entrant Company BBDO INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Advertising Agency BBDO INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Production Company RED ICE FILMS Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Josy Paul BBDO India Chief Creative Officer
Hemant Shringy BBDO India Senior Creative Director - Copy
Sandeep Sawant BBDO India Senior Creative Director and Head of Art
Umma Saini BBDO India Group Head - Copy
Balakrishna Gajelli BBDO India Creative Director - Art
Ajai Jhala BBDO India Chief Executive Officer
Rajat Mendhi BBDO India Vice President - Planning
Sidheshwar Sharma BBDO India Vice President - Account Management
Vikram Thurakhia BBDO India Account Director
Dimple Shetty BBDO India Planner
Kunal Matta BBDO India Account Executive
Hitesh Shah BBDO India Studio Manager
Abbas-Joy BBDO India Creative Copy
Venkatesh-Shankar BBDO India Graphic Artist
Rajeev-Sameet BBDO India Graphic Artist
Shimit Amin RED ICE Films Film Director
Gary Grewal RED ICE Films Film Producer
Karan Sharma Ustudios Video Director
Ajay Tiwari Ustudios Video Producer

The Campaign

Ariel is the most expensive detergent in India. The problem it was facing was loss of emotional equity and relevance. The client brief was clear – get the attention of and engage our consumers around Ariel’s promise of ‘best stain removal in one wash so that anyone can do laundry’ to make the brand more relevant. Research unearthed an interesting statistic: ‘87% of Indian men believe laundry is a woman's job’. This pointed to the inequality embedded culturally in each and every Indian home… where women can be equal contributors to the family income, but the burden of household chores still lies on their shoulders. With this insight Ariel decided to stand up for women’s equality at home with #ShareTheLoad – a provocative social movement that exposed the inequality embedded culturally in each and every Indian home.

Success of the Campaign

The Ariel #ShareTheLoad wash care label immediately grabbed the attention of people and media. • Leading clothing brands, manufacturers, retailers and designers embraced the label. • Influential Indians came out in support of the new wash care label and the message of equality at home behind it. • Not just that, it grabbed the attention of the media and people on social media. • Unaided Brand Awareness increased by 132% within the first month. • The campaign generated free-media worth USD 9.5 million • Millions of men pledged to ‘Share the Load’ across the country • On Facebook, engagement-rate went up a record 225%. • On Twitter #ShareTheLoad trended nationally with over 8 million impressions. • Sales went up by 60%.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

#ShareTheLoad – was a social movement that sparked off conversations across homes and the media about gender inequality at home. We kicked off the movement with an ad that asked an important question – ‘why is laundry a woman’s job?’ This provocative message sparked a national conversation. We immediately saw influential Indians step forward to spread the message. In response, Ariel launched the 'His and Her' pack – the first in the world. In addition to that, an unexplored everyday medium – clothing labels – were turned into advocates for gender equality. The biggest clothing brands and designers embraced it. In a landmark move, Ariel tied up with matrimonial websites where marriages are arranged. Here the willingness to share the load was made mandatory in the matchmaking profiles.

The objective for us was… 1. To get the attention of and engage with our TG: this was important because our TG saw the brand as ‘not for people like me’. 2. To drive sales of Ariel. The insight behind #ShareTheLoad came from a research statistic: ‘87% of Indian men believe laundry is a woman's job’. What it pointed us towards was the inequality embedded culturally in each and every Indian home… where women can be equal contributors to the family income, but the burden of household chores still lies on their shoulders. This insight was relevant for both the TG and the brand because the Indian male mind-set that laundry is a woman’s job represented inequality at home. In turning laundry into a shared job and affecting a mind-set shift through #ShareTheLoad, Ariel found its purpose and relevance that helped it achieve its objectives.