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”