Background

Background: Only 1 in every 5 girls who enter 1st grade complete their 10th grade 50% of girls drop out before secondary school. (Source: NanhiKali.org) Project Nanhi Kali (established by KC Mahindra Education Trust) has been enabling girl child education for over 20 years, a cause that's a big part of the Mahindra brand purpose. With their relentless efforts, they had already reached out to 2,50,000 girls and reduced drop-outs to 10%. But when the national average of girl-child drop outs from school is still at 63.5% today, we realized that Nanhi Kali had a long way to go. Our brief was simple, leverage communication to help Nanhi Kali in their efforts to change mindsets and improve the lives of more and more girls. The campaign objectives set were as follows: • Get the consumers to ask for a change • Increase share of mind for Nanhi Kali and girl child education

Describe the cultural/social/political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

Reuters stated that India was the most dangerous country for women in 2018. Female foeticide is still rampant in the country. In many parts, girls are denied basic nutrition. The World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report ranked India 108 out of 149 countries, identifying it as one of the worst countries on gender parity in 2018. This is a grim situation for women, because India is still severely rooted in patriarchy. Most women are expected to be housewives. Girls are denied a proper education in the name of religion and socio-cultural practices. Successive governments have appointed themselves as moral guardians of women, but done little to improve their condition and protect their rights. The need of the hour is education for girls. It’s through education that she will become an independent thinker and take control of her life. It’s also the only way for women to truly become an equal part of the society- by knowing their rights and being able to stand up for themselves. And education alone offers them an opportunity to be financially

Describe the creative idea

In India’s deeply patriarchal society, a woman is still expected to take care of the home. The belief is that education will make her too independent. She will get swayed by modern ideas and walk away from age-old traditions and practices. She might be emboldened to marry outside the caste, dress as she pleases, and even socialize with the opposite sex before marriage. In short, she could go ‘’astray.’’ There is an age-old Indian phrase to warn parents against this. “Ladki haath se nikal jayegi” which literally means, “the girl will slip out of your hands.” Mahindra, a champion of girl child education for 30 years, recognized that this kind of thinking had to be challenged. So, we flipped the meaning of the phrase around, telling people that only when a girl slips out of your hands, will she succeed.

Describe the strategy

To build momentum for Nanhi Kali, we went to an audience that was most receptive to calling for a change – The Indian youth. Time and again they had proven themselves as people who will take on the world to right a wrong. Social Listening showed that 45% of online conversations on social change were on girl-child education. So, our approach was to get them on our side to spark a change in the country. And by taking up arms against the phrase ‘Ladki haath se nikal jayegi’ - a blatant manifestation of a girl’s oppression, that even they have come across in their everyday lives but have not questioned, we hoped to infuse enough vigor in their voice that the country will listen. Our Intention: Change the meaning of “Ladki Haath Se Nikal Jayegi” from “A girl gets out of control” to “A girl finds freedom and success."

Describe the execution

The phrase “Ladki haath se nikal jayegi” (the girl will slip out of your hands) is a phrase that is very commonly used across India, to warn parents against giving their daughters too much freedom. To turn this statement of oppression into a slogan for women empowerment, we created an endearing film to bring alive our idea. The campaign Launched on Youtube on 1st August, 2018 and was promoted on social media platforms for one month. It was also subsequently released on television.

Describe the results/impact

GOT CONSUMERS TO ASK FOR CHANGE: •97% of the conversations on social media were positive conversations •Over 50% of the total conversations (12,000+) were user generated posts •13% (1170) of the authors were influencers. •Conversations on social media showed that people wanted to bring about a Change for the Girl child REINVIGORATED INTEREST FOR NANHI KALI: • 3520% increase in new users to Nanhi Kali website • 1572% lift in searches for key words related to Nanhi Kali HIGH ENGAGEMENT AND LIKEABILITY OF THE CAMPAIGN: • 47 million+ views • Half a million organic views on YouTube • 225,000+ likes, 3000 comments and 70,000+ shares on Facebook • Popular content partners like First Post, Terribly Tiny Tales and The Better India shared our content. We received: 5.2 million+ Impressions | 280,000+ shares and likes | 215,000+ story page views