The Campaign

India has come under the radar for being one of the most unsafe countries for women, especially the capital, New Delhi. But surprisingly, instead of solving the issue to make it a safer place, the authorities (and everyone who has a say) find the easier way out by restricting women’s freedom. Women are told a lot of don’ts in the name of safety. These don’ts hold them back from living the life they want for themselves. Our idea was to unite the society by bringing the issue to light and starting conversations, so that we, as a society, can put our heads together and create viable solutions for the safety of women. Who knows? One day, we just might be able to create an environment where women don’t have to hear another don’t again.

Creative Execution

We initiated the conversation on social media through twitter and facebook and got women to talk about the don’ts they were told. The conversation spread to popular listicles, blogs and websites such as scoopwhoop, storypick, idiva. Full page print ads in newspapers across the country, like the Times of India and Hindustan Times, an outdoor campaign and a microsite then pushed the message wider. Soon all of India joined the conversation. To ensure that the authorities took notice we organised a public event called the Don’t Party, in the most unsafe locality, in New Delhi in the middle of the night. We encouraged women to step out in solidarity and take their first steps towards a don’t-free world. 4000 people (and tens of thousands online) pledged to find alternative safety measures for women event, where we staged a Digital Bonfire that burned every single message with a ‘don’t’ against women.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The results were incredible. The campaign immediately struck a chord with women online. Twitter and facebook were flooded with responses from them. In fact, all of India joined in the conversation. As did some celebrities. We got free PR worth over 9 million and a reach of over 15 million or 43%, with over 41 million social media impressions. We received 3,93,225 clicks with a CTR which was 0.94% of the impressions (the industry standard is 0.3%). In addition to this, there were 6096 registrations on the microsite and our live stream of the event also attracted 8193 views. Our web rating point clocked in at 111. Our retail sales grew by 7% and online sales reported a high double digit growth. But most importantly, 4000 people on ground and tens of thousands online pledged to find alternative safety measures for women that don’t start with a ‘don’t’.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The #UnitedByDon'ts campaign had its biggest leg in Activation - Live Event. The Don't Party in New Delhi on the 9th of April, was the culmination of the entire 1-month campaign that started around Women's Day in March. The Don't Party was held in one of the most unsafe places for women and in the middle of the night as a sign of disregard for all the Don'ts women are told by family, friends and the authorities every single day in the name of safety. The Don't Party had 4000 participants, mostly women, and was a huge success.

United Colors of Benetton’s primary audience consists of independent and creative young adults belonging to the upper middle class. These individuals strongly resonate with the brand’s identity of being both fashion and socially conscious. But of late, the brand has been facing severe competition from international fashion labels such as Zara, Forever 21 and H&M. Therefore in order to increase the brand’s recall, we decided to reconnect with our audience using the one thing that resonated with them the most – the brand’s belief. UCB has always stood for being much more than just a clothing brand and has a strong legacy of being a brand that creates social awareness through its clutter-breaking advertising campaigns. We used this as an opportunity to start conversations on the issues that faced the society and more importantly, unite the audience against social evils by bringing them together.