Lately, a clutch of brands has dared to go when many still fear. With campaigns bold and beautiful, they are trying to break social dogmas. Tanishq’s remarriage commercial, Fastrack’s ‘Move On’, P&G’s Ariel Matic’s ‘Share the Load’ that questioned if laundry is only a woman’s job and Myntra’s in-house women’s wear brand Anouk’s ‘Bold is Beautiful’ on homosexuality and women’s independence are a few examples that stand out.
Riding on a similar thought, Indian ethnic womenswear brand Biba launched a new digital film #ChangeIsBeautiful addressing the societal biases of arranged marriages in India. The film that has garnered over a million views on YouTube, showcases a typical arranged-marriage proposal scenario. But there’s a interesting twist. Instead of the boy’s parents running the interrogation, the girl’s father unapologetically grills the boy about his culinary skills and ability to manage the house. The ad shows a change in the traditional approach towards arranged marriage — from ‘ladki-dekhna’ to ‘ladka-dekhna’.
Siddharth Bindra, managing director, BIBA says the digital campaign is a personification of the brand’s deep rooted foundations which make it the face of today’s modern woman. “Change is the only constant thing and it is indeed beautiful when it aims at the betterment of an individual or even society at large. This campaign is all about embracing and celebrating that change,” he adds.
Suva Ghosh, founder and chief creative officer of Brandmovers, the creative agency behind the #ChangeIsBeautiful campaign, says, “This film is a commentary on arranged marriages in India, where it’s almost always on the woman to prove her merit. This is Biba’s stand on changing ideologies for a more progressive society.”
With this ad, the ethnic wear brand, which is more than just tradition silhouettes, is personifying its core philosophy about the woman of substance. The brand is basically trying to push the need for a change in the mindset of the existing patriarchal society. Can we say that brands that we mentioned before such as Tanishq, Anouk, Arial Matic and Fastrack have been able to sensitise the public and make them welcome ‘change’? Well, may be not. But change is coming. As is visible in Biba’s campaign which gained quick popularity since its release only a few days before the New Year .
(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 25-01-2016)
BW Reporters
The author is principal correspondent at BW Businessworld and Digital Market Asia. He writes on marketing & advertising.
