Why is this work relevant for Media?

India is home to the world’s largest blind population – still they struggle to be part of mainstream. Leading brand Savlon took an initiative to include them by re-launching its products in Braille. This gesture made the pack accessible to visually-impaired. Whilst media is accessible to visually challenged, they are dependent on others to consume it. We wanted to include them without glossing over their weakness or limitation. So, we made media accessible to them, and turned Mass Media into Braille. Post-campaign, meaningful initiatives emerged - Incumbent Finance Minister, India donated 25 Million INR to leading publication for the initiative.

Background

India is home to 40% of the world’s blind population. In spite of such a large community they are excluded from many products, media and entertainment, that seeing Indian population are able to enjoy. Intentionally or otherwise ignoring them has become a way of life. Savlon, a leading anti-septic brand stands as a protective guard against all hurt. The insight –the visually impaired get hurt more easily – prompted Savlon to introduce all its products with braille packaging – to enable easy access to the product when in need. Our media objective was two pronged: 1. Spread awareness that Savlon packs are now available in Braille 2. Provide an equal treatment to the visually challenged - without glossing over their weakness or limitation

Describe the creative idea/insights (30% of vote)

Taking a leaf out of Savlon’s initiative we decided to make mass media inclusive to the visually impaired. On World Sight Day we transformed mass media into Braille Media. We chose World Sight Day strategically as it is a day that brings global attention to blindness and vision impairment. Mass media had the potential to be both the vehicle to transmit our message of inclusivity, as well as the message itself. Mainstay Mass Media enabled with Braille script, made the visually impaired realise that someone was thinking about them. It also made those with normal vision sit up and notice and think about the need to do more for the visually impaired.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

We could not restrict media choice to something that only visually impaired consumed, but those consumed by people with normal vision and out of reach to the visually impaired. We chose mediums where there is an active sense of reading, each touch-point was chosen to add a dimension of inclusivity. Print was an important pivot– because of its ability for touch-and-feel of the Braille script. For the first time, • A visually impaired person woke up in the morning and read a full newspaper - in Braille • A leading magazine changed its masthead and cover story to Braille On key TV news channels a visually impaired News Anchor used a Braille teleprompter to lead with the headlines throughout the day. On-ground we shared the Braille newspapers among blind schools. We ran special Braille advertising in the Indian magazine for the visually impaired.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Newspaper: We partnered with 2 leading newspapers – Dainik Savera and Vijaywani, who -Worked around their tight logistical deadlines to create the Braille newspapers -Right from closing the final edits earlier to ensuring braille translation to outsourcing their printing - as Braille script required special dye and printing capabilities. -They went on to extend their newspaper distribution to blind schools also that day Magazine: A leading General-Interest magazine, Outlook – for the first time recreated their masthead and cover story in Braille. The newsstand sale for each issue is around 40%. With newsstand sale heavily reliant on the issues cover appeal – if not accepted well, they ran the risk of losing out on the readers for that issue. Television: We partnered with 2 leading national news channels to anchor live headlines and renamed the segment as “World Sight Day Headlines” – Led by a visually impaired news anchor.

List the results (30% of vote)

-Incumbent Finance Minister ie Shri Arun Jaitely donated 25 Mn INR for this initiative. -Campaign reached o 549 Mn people, 40% of Indian population o 9800 children across 30 blind schools, -Newspaper houses partnered PRO BONO. Beyond campaign will: o Conduct reading sessions with blind school students every quarter o Print Braille newspaper every World Sight Day o Donated INR 2 Mn to blind schools - for advanced education material -Organic PR worth INR Mn 140.17 generated (70% of brand annual media budget) -Trust scores for Savlon up from 51 to 64 -Final verdict: “Thank you for making it possible.” - Madhu Sharma, Visually Impaired News Anchor Post campaign, real change emerging: o Constitution of India made available in Braille script o Prime Minister of India releases visually-impaired friendly coins o Visually impaired blind voters to get braille voter-slips in National Elections 2019