Background

Considering that India has the highest population in the world, COVID-19 was bound to pose a huge threat. A nation-wide lockdown was announced on 25th March 2020, with just a 4 hours’ notice. Social distancing and staying home became the need of the hour but would be helpful only if every citizen abided by it. It was physically impossible to ensure that every single one of the 1.3 bn citizen stayed home, especially since India had one of the most understaffed police forces in the world- 1 policeman per 1000 people. Thus it was imperative to create a behavior change and awareness campaign. The objective was to build a system of self-policing, wherein citizens were made accountable for their own safety and health, as well as that of their families.

Describe the strategy

COVID-19 posed a threat to everybody and does not differentiate between people be it strata of society, age or gender. The objective of the campaign was to create widespread awareness and accountability, the target audience was also kept broad, reaching out to citizens of Urban India. India is a country with over a billion mobile phone users. To ensure we reach the maximum number of people we choose to talk to them with a digital first approach. And to make the campaign more relatable and shareable, all the communication assets of the entire campaign were shot exclusively on phones. The campaign encouraged participation from people through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and amplified the message using WhatsApp. Given how relatable the message was, the campaign fueled a constant stream of user generated content, with citizens participating by holding up placards supporting the # making a strong resolves of their own.

Describe the execution

The campaign idea began with #MainBhiMumbaiPolice (#IAmAlsoMumbaiPolice), to signal that each citizen voluntarily assumes the role of the Police, instilling a sense of accountability within each citizen, for their safety and wellbeing. As the Mumbai Police campaign took off, it inspired the police forces of India like Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bangalore and Haryana also to join the movement. Creating the umbrella campaign thought of #IAmAlsoIndianPolice. Post this, an unfortunate incident took place in Punjab, wherein a police officer`s arm was chopped off by a group of lockdown violators. This sparked off a wildfire of support, making the campaign not just about self-policing, but also about solidarity. The entire campaign was executed pro-bono. The creatives were launched on Police’s Twitter handle and then launched across other social media handles. PR helped rope in famous celebrities who supported the cause by posting on their social media handles.

List the results

The primary objective of the campaign was to spread awareness and ensure that people maintain lockdown norms, the campaign received tremendous support from the citizens of India, including celebrities like Bollywood actors and sportspersons, across social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter. The posts on social media generated a cumulative reach of 248 mn. The campaign received media traction as well, be it print, digital or radio. The cumulative media outreach was 779 mn. Citizens also posted images of themselves holding up the sign of # and also took it on themselves to report cases where violation of lockdown norms were spotted. To think that, back in 2018 only about 29.9 percent of Indians expressed a “lot of trust” in the police, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 this figure has significantly shot up to an overwhelming 70 percent Indians expressing the same feeling. (As per IANS-CVoter tracking survey, 2020).