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Ariel India’s Share the Load Campaign: Influencing Husband-Wife Decision-Making?

CASE STUDY, CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
ET Cases, 9 pages
AUTHOR(S) : Kumar Gambhiraopet and Dr. Nagendra V. Chowdary

Case Preview

Ariel India’s Share the Load Campaign: Influencing Husband-Wife Decision-Making?

 

You always worked hard to impress your boss at office it’s time to impress the boss of house…help her in laundry1
There is an old saying that washing your wife’s clothes makes your wife more beautiful and lovable2
Oh I didn’t know that my dad brought me up to do laundry at your home3


* * * * * * *

Always a woman frowns over the dirty collars and struggles with the task of washing clothes…if it’s a detergent commercial in India. She is shown to search for a new soap to get the sparkling white shirt that the man could beam at work.4

Instead of tom-tomming the superior qualities of its product or promising to reduce the woman’s burden, an FMCG brand put forward a pertinent question to the consumers “Is laundry only a woman’s job?”5

What happens if the brand reiterates the same and ask men pledge to “share the load?” and asked them to take up “Wash Bucket Challenge”?

The tweets featured above bear the testimony of the consumer responses to these questions…

 

In November 2014 AC Nielsen, supported by Ariel India (from P&G) conducted a research on Indian Households (with a total of 1000 respondents) among men and women in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore (Exhibit I). One of the attention-grabbing findings of this research was that generally men believed that laundry is a woman’s job!6 The agency, BBDO (India) in this case, was tasked with a brief to lead the conversation around laundry by starting a movement for Ariel so as to raise the emotional equity of the brand. Then an ad was conceptualized from that logic, as Josy Paul (Paul), Chairman and National Creative Director, BBDO, says, “Great brands like Ariel—with its heritage of perfect wash................

The Campaign Execution

Ariel India launched its “Share the Load” campaign in January 2015 with the TVC which starts with two elderly women (Exhibit II) talking about how life has changed for Indian women. They reminisce that when they were young, they earned a pittance. One of them also acknowledges with pride that her daughter-inlaw earns more than her son. The daughter-in-law is shown getting ready for work in the background, when suddenly they overhear her husband admonish her for not washing his green shirt.........

Share the Load – Converting Chores into Conversations?

One of the most pressing issues with the family sections in India is that of gender inequality. According to the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report 2013, India ranks 132nd among 187 countries on the gender inequality index – much below Pakistan (123rd). The report said all countries in
South Asia, with the exception of Afghanistan, were a better place for women than India, with SriLanka (75th) topping them all.............

Celebrating Consumer Communication: Celebrities’ Pledge and Ariel’s Edge

To translate some of these findings, and connecting to one of its product line’s brand, P&G (Ariel India) joined hands with three acclaimed Bollywood celebrities Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Neha Dhupia & Mandira Bedi along with ‘Dabbawalas’ (India’s most famous medium of communicating love from a wife to her husband) – to translate the communication campaign into a more engaging conversation with a focused call for action (Exhibit IV). In this sense, many industry pundits opined that Ariel’s call-for-action campaigns would build a better connect with the consumers. However, there were several skeptics who questioned the selection of these (either failed or fading) celebrities...........

Call to Action vs Building a Conviction

The campaign defies the status quo by keeping away from stereotypes like the mother-in-law enforcing subservience on her daughter-in-law or the brand showcasing its cleaning powers and raises its voice towards the shaming tactic of a traditional attitude. Industry experts were quite skeptical about the success of this campaign as earlier there were plethora of campaigns which have explored these social issues and bore the brunt of the critics...............

Assignment Questions

I. What’s your assessment of gender inequities in India and the progress made by Indian women through dismantling of societal, cultural and economical taboos? Is that state of Indian women in 2015 a sign of emancipated Indian women compared to Indian women in 1980 and 2000? What were some of the social, political and economic changes that contributed to Indian women freedom and independence?

II. What are the research findings of AC Nielsen and how did Ariel convert those insights into engaging consumer communications? What is the relationship between Ariel’s campaigns and (Indian) Consumer Behavior?

III. .....................

Exhibits

Exhibit I: AC Nielsen’s Research Findings

Exhibit II: Snapshot of – Ariel ‘Share the Load’ TVC

Exhibit III: AC Nielsen’s Research Findings and Ariel’s Consumer Connect

Exhibit IV: Celebrities Taking Up the Cause and Dabbawalas@Mumbai Promoting ‘Share the Load’ Campaign

Exhibit V: Ariel’s Wash Bucket Challenge Ad

Exhibit VI: Celebrity Husbands Pledge Support ‘Share the Load’ Movement

Exhibit VII: Men Taking Up the “Wash Bucket Challenge”


 

Teaching Note Preview

Ariel India’s Share the Load Campaign: Influencing Husband-Wife Decision-Making?

 

Synopsis

The premise of this case study is to enable a discussion on the framework of family relations and the dynamics of Husband-Wife relations and the impact of the same on their buying decisions, in the light of Ariel’s ‘Share the Load’ campaign. The discussion highlights the way the campaign leveraged the potential of the research findings brought out by AC Nielsen (on sizeable Indian households – role of women at home and how men & women look at household chores their opinions, etc.) and integrated the same seamlessly in devising and executing the entire campaign on different communication platforms. With these insights, the case study argues that by differentiating itself from the conventional advertising strategy by focusing on a ‘call for action’ module (involving both men and women) whether the brand had fostered the desired change? Had the communication strategy been successful in changing the mind-set of the consumers with respect to a family household?

Prerequisite Conceptual Understanding (PCU)/Before the Classroom Discussion

The students/participants should be encouraged to read the following mandatory readings bereft of which a meaningful discussion and adequate analysis of this case study wouldn’t be possible:

  • • Leon G. Schiffman, et al., “The Family and Social Class”, Consumer Behavior, 10th Edition, Pearson Publications, 2010 – To understand the efficacy of Family Socialization Process and Dynamics of Husband-Wife Decision-Making
  • • Leon G. Schiffman, et al., “Structural Model of Attitudes – The Tricomponent Attitude Model – Consumer Attitude Formation and Change”, Consumer Behavior, 10th Edition, Pearson Publications, 2010 – To understand the basic tenets of attitudes and the circularity relationship between cognition, conation and affect

 

The following videos must be watched for a detailed analysis of this case study:

  • • “#IsLaundryOnlyAWomansJob?”, Ariel India, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L1cHHNHrYg, January 10th 2015
  • • “Respect For Women”, Havells Appliances Coffee Maker Ad, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaJf0mNMqos, May 16th 2014
  • • “Respect For Women”, Havells Appliances Coffee Mixer Grinder Ad, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2YKFG7u7ZA, April 25th 2014
  • • “Respect For Women”, Havells Appliances Steam Iron Ad, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN_mGzEP6RM, April 26th 2014
  • • “#HerLifeHerChoices”, Titan The Raga Woman of Today, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXRobOjVI9s, December 10th 2014
  • • “Airtel ‘Boss’”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U55oYqhgT4, July 25th 2014

 

Case Positioning and Setting

This case study can be used in MBA, Executive MBA or Executive Development Programs, for the following course:

  • • Consumer Behavior: ‘Dynamics of Husband Wife Decision Making’ – To examine the dynamics of Husband-Wife decision making in the entire family buying  process in the light of Ariel’s ‘Share the Load’ multi-channel campaigns

 

Assignment Questions

  • I. What’s your assessment of gender inequities in India and the progress made by Indian women through dismantling of societal, cultural and economical taboos? Is that state of Indian women in 2015 a sign of emancipated Indian women compared to Indian women in 1980 and 2000? What were some of the social, political and economic changes that contributed to Indian women freedom and independence?
  • II. What are the research findings of AC Nielsen and how did Ariel convert those insights into engaging consumer communications? What is the relationship between Ariel’s campaigns and (Indian) Consumer Behavior?
  • III. ......................

 

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Abstract


Positioned for Consumer Behavior course, this case study can be a demonstrating tool for sensitizing participants to the emerging dimensions of Husband-Wife decision-making. This case study enables an interesting discussion on the ever-changing relationship dynamics of Husband-Wife decision-making in the Indian context. Based on AC Nielsen survey's findings/insights, P&G devised multi-channel consumer engagement initiatives, which included TVCs (Share the Load), Social Network/Digital Market (#Is Laundry Only a Woman's Job? On Twitter), marketing promotions with celebrities and celebrity couples with a call for action and pledge support to "Share the Load" campaign. While the campaigns have attracted widespread recognition the industry veterans are skeptical about the desired results of this campaign - would it also go down the memory lane as a great campaign with no pronounced behavioral modifications.



Pedagogical Objectives

  • To understand the changing/emerging dynamics of Husband-Wife decision-making in the light of Ariel (P&G India) 'Share the Load' campaign
  • To examine the background, the design and canvassing of Ariel's 'Share the Load' campaign
  • To discuss and debate on the efficacy and efficiency of 'Share the Load' campaign's ability to be a societal norm changer, i.e., would it be a true catalyst or would it just be a cacophonic attempt to increase the brand penetration?

Case Positioning and Setting
This case study can be used in MBA, Executive MBA or Executive Development Programs, for the following course:

  • Consumer Behavior: 'Dynamics of Husband Wife Decision Making' - To examine the dynamics of Husband-Wife decision making in the entire family buying process in the light of Ariel's 'Share the Load' multi-channel campaigns



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- Teaching Note (**ONLY for Academicians)


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