STORIES FROM THE OTHER SIDE

TitleSTORIES FROM THE OTHER SIDE
BrandMTV
Product / ServiceCSR
CategoryG04. Social Behaviour & Cultural Insight
EntrantLEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation LEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Media Placement MADISON MEDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Media Placement 2 VIACOM 18 MEDIA Mumbai, INDIA
PR LEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
PR 2 VIACOM 18 MEDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Production PRODIGIOUS INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Production 2 LEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Saurabh Varma Publicis Communications South Asia Chief Executive Officer
Rajdeepak Das Leo Burnett India Chief Creative Officer and Managing Director
Dheeraj Sinha Leo Burnett India Chief Strategy Officer & Managing Director
Prashanth Challapalli Leo Burnett India Chief Operating Officer
Sonal Chhajerh , Neel Roy Leo Burnett India Executive Creative Director
Malek Ghorayeb Leo Burnett Beirut Regional Executive Creative Director
Gaurav Kumar , Tinna Rajput Leo Burnett India Creative Director
Vinod Perumbidi Leo Burnett India Art Director
Manav Rai Ahuja Leo Burnett India Branch Head and Vice President
Imran Quraishi , Nupur Ranade Leo Burnett India Account Manager
Gaurav Joshi , Gursimran Singh Leo Burnett India Planning
Ferzad Palia Viacom18 Media Private Limited Senior Executive Vice President & Head
Navin Shenoy MTV Head of Marketing
Utsav Chaudhuri MTV Marketing Head
Varun Shah, Rudra Mawani, Srinidhi Shetty Prodigious India Producers
Jad Rahme, Enos Olik, Jaesuk Huh, Mukti Krishnan Prodigious India Directors

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

While the government, other brands and celebrities were sharing generic messages about the value of voting, MTV focused on influencing its viewer base, as the first time and youth voters in India, were to play a key role in the most crucial elections of 2019. We picked up the issue of indifference and apathy in the youth towards their vote, and used this insight to build a massive campaign that got #VoteBecauseYouCan into organic conversation with the youth. “Stories from the Other Side” was picked up by National Publications, aiding the campaign to open dialogues and change youth sentiment positively.

Background

In April 2019 as India undertook the largest election exercise in the world with 900 million eligible voters, its large youth population would determine the results of the elections. But 47% of the 356 million young people in India were not interested in politics, and 33 million eligible voters had not even registered to vote. That’s like the whole of Australia not voting. This large demographic of the world’s largest democracy was opting out. MTV decided to pick up the issue and make politics and elections relevant. Once the biggest youth brand in India, MTV had been losing relevance amongst the youth. The big question now was could MTV reestablish its position as a youth influencer and make elections relevant to them? For this we decided to change youth’s sentiments about democracy, politics and elections.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

We got youth from countries with failing democracies and no power to vote, to share their everyday struggles with the Indian youth. Urging them, to vote because you can. These hard-hitting stories from the other side, featuring young people from Sudan, Somalia, North Korea, Iraq and Syria held up a mirror to the youth of India, reminding them to exercise their privilege to vote and not take their democracy for granted. The freedom and rights that the youth of India enjoy can only be protected under democracy, and voting in the elections is the way to do so. It’s a privilege the Indian youth have, unlike many around the world. The campaign was launched with 5 hard-hitting films, hyper-targeted and released on election dates according to phases. It was then driven through social media and supported by television, outdoor and ambient media.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Making democracy relevant to the youth of India – the world’s largest democracy - was only possible if we could change their mindset and influence them in a positive direction. The conventional methods of pop-culture related content would not create that disruption. The youth in India were cynical about political processes. MTV had to fight this apathy, and at the same time be distinct from multiple by-the-book election campaigns done by every other brand. The breakthrough came when we realized the best way to speak to the youth, is through the youth. Within days, we traveled around the world to get stories of young people from countries like Sudan, Somalia, North Korea, Iraq and Syria where democracies were failing. Their everyday struggles reminded the Indian youth that their right to vote is a privilege.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We got youth from countries with failing democracies and no power to vote, to share their everyday struggles with the Indian youth. Urging them, to vote because you can. Five hard-hitting films were hyper-targeted and released on election dates according to phases. The campaign was driven through social media and supported by television, outdoor and ambient media. Our biggest engagements come from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. These were telecast on all youth TV channels and majorly on MTV. Key hangouts of the youth were targeted to create engagement in various cities through outdoor and ambient media. People signed up in huge numbers and took the pledge to vote through ‘Pledge-o-meters’ set up at various touch-points across locations. Unlike other election campaigns, #VoteBecauseYouCan grew organically into youth conversation and “Stories from the other side” gained the attention of the National Publications. The campaign gained momentum and opened dialogues around the elections.

List the results (30% of vote)

“Stories from the other side” took the youth’s negative sentiment about democracy and elections, head-on and created an open dialogue around the elections by increasing the pro-voting sentiment to 21% and saw 3.6 million more youth votes than the national average. Receiving more than 30+ million views across social channels and the brand’s own media channel. At the same time, gaining 50+ million media reach across social and contextual ambient media, which made conversations of #VoteBecauseYouCan highest among first-time voters. With National Publications such as The Times of India, The Drum and Scroll.in highlighting the campaign as “moves hearts to exercise the ballot”, #VoteBecauseYouCan created 40% more brand engagement with the target audience and trended on election dates across constituencies.

Please tell us about the social behaviour and/or cultural insights that inspired your campaign

Leading up to the 2019 Indian elections, the sense of apathy among the youth of the country was palpable. They formed the largest segment of the population, and almost 50% of them had no interest in voting. Their votes could decide the future of the country, and yet they were disinterested. This growing apathy was because they see no significant change with respect to issues of unemployment, lack of development, corruption, and safety of women. This is what led us to find a compelling voice that would have the power to break through this deep-seated cynicism and inspire the youth of India to exercise their right to vote. This was the genesis of the campaign '#VoteBecauseYouCan'.

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