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Dentsu Webchutney promotes mental health awareness
MUMBAI: Dentsu Webchutney has revealed Project Re-Search, an initiative started in November to measurably increase mental health awareness in India, starting with its first campaign, Beyond the Blue Whale.
The campaign turns a Google search for the Blue Whale Challenge and its associated terms to a search for mental health difficulties in children, instead. This undercover search campaign has been active since November 2017, attempting to divert traffic from all ‘Blue Whale Challenge’ related searches, to relevant topics around mental health.
https://www.facebook.com/projresearch/videos/714411878763040/
Late 2017, the Blue Whale phenomenon had become a media sensation and misinformation about it was everywhere. And even by the time the challenge faded, few were aware that the challenge’s vitality was linked to poor mental health in children.
But India’s adults were still contributing to 57 per cent of the overall search volumes for all ‘Blue Whale Challenge’ keywords on Google, searching for it about 1.4 million times per month. And because its news was so sensationalised, page 1 of search results barely showed content about its links to mental health.
Project Re-search began as an initiative to use the attention that the Blue Whale Challenge was receiving, and direct it to mental wellness (which as per Google data- Indians search little for), where it really belongs. It’s doing this by identifying the top 22 Blue Whale keywords and targeting ads only to users above 18 years, searching Google with these keywords.
Color of Grey Cells founder Anushma Kshetrapal says, “Project Re-search uses the Blue Whale Challenge as a wake-up call and aims to direct an adult’s invested concern in it towards some of the oft ignored mental health difficulties that could have made our children vulnerable to it. The hope is that adults ‘re-searching’ through this initiative take their first step towards learning about issues we’ve ignored as a society for far too long”.
The ads led users to a landing page which introduced them to these mental health stressors that the Blue Whale Challenge could have been feeding off. Along with another ‘Google Search’ for each of those conditions built into it as a CTA (Call to Action) turning every Google search around ‘Blue Whale’ to a search for mental health instead.
Considering these were complex mental stressors (Anxiety in Children, Depersonalisation, Social Engineering and Bullying), they hadn’t organically received a high volume of queries, despite having several credible results. The ads have received an 8 per cent CTR (Click Through Rates) — almost triple of the Google average. And Google’s data shows searches for 6 out of 7 mental health related keywords have gone up at least by 15 percent and up to 100 per cent.
Commenting on the initiative, Webchutney senior creative director PG Aditya adds, “Post the Blue Whale Challenge, we had to ask ourselves: where now from here? What is the right takeaway for parents and adults from this? And how do we equip ourselves when say, the next avatar of a Blue Whale surfaces? The masses hadn’t received that information from the large institutions that drove the sensation around Blue Whale. And we decided to take it upon ourselves to change that.”
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Lessons from global media markets on building enduring content franchises
Rose Audio Visuals COO and CFO Mitesh Patel.
MUMBAI: The global media landscape has undergone a fundamental shift. Success today is no longer defined by a single hit show. It is defined by the ability to build intellectual property (IP) that travels, evolves, and compounds over time.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this shift is central to how we think about content pitching and creation. We are no longer in the business of just making shows. We are in the business of building IP ecosystems.
From Hits to Franchises
Globally, the most successful content is designed to extend beyond its first outing. It travels across: Seasons, Platforms (TV → OTT → Digital), Formats (series → spin-offs) Shows like Stranger Things and Money Heist are not just successful series they are multi-layered franchises with global recall, fan engagement, and long-term monetisation. The key learning is simple: If content cannot scale beyond one season or one platform, it remains a project not a franchise.
Local Stories, Global Impact
One of the most powerful global trends is the rise of culturally rooted storytelling. Platforms today reward local authenticity combined with universal emotion. Stories that are deeply regional are no longer limited by geography they are amplified by it. Consider the global impact of Squid Game or India’s own Sacred Games. The takeaway is clear: The more authentic the story, the greater its potential to travel if the emotion resonates universally.
Monetisation Begins After the First Window
A critical global learning is that the true value of content is not realised at launch, it is realised over time.
Strong franchises unlock multiple revenue streams: Licensing, International remakes, Brand integrations, Digital extensions , Events and immersive experiences
Global players like The Walt Disney Company have mastered this approach, turning content into long-term ecosystems that extend far beyond the screen.
The first window is just the beginning. The real value lies in what follows.
At Rose Audio Visuals, we increasingly evaluate projects not just on commissioning value, but on their long-term franchise potential.
The Rise of Creator-Led Franchises
An important global shift is the emergence of creator-led IP ecosystems.
Creators today are not just content producers they are building full-scale franchises across platforms, formats, and businesses.
A powerful example is MrBeast. What started as YouTube videos has evolved into: Multiple content formats, Global audience scale , Brand extensions and businesses, High-impact experiential content This is a fundamentally different model digital-first, audience-owned, and infinitely scalable.
This model is still in its early stages in Indian but it represents a massive opportunity.
The next wave of Indian content franchises may not come from traditional studios alone but from creators who think like media companies.
Balancing Data with Creative Instinct
Streaming platforms today are deeply data-driven. Data helps Identify emerging genres, Predict audience behaviour , Inform commissioning decisions However, global experience shows that data alone does not create hits. Data informs scale, but storytelling creates impact.
Talent is the Foundation of Franchises
Enduring franchises are rarely accidental they are built through long-term creative partnerships. Globally, there is a clear focus on nurturing Actors, Writter, Show runner and director. Franchises are not built on scripts alone they are built on creators. This is an area where we continue to invest deeply building long-term relationships with talent rather than project-based collaborations.
Multi-Platform Thinking from Day One
Content consumption today is inherently multi-platform. A successful show must be designed not just for its primary platform, but for: Short-form extensions, Social media amplification, Digital-first engagement. Every show today needs a second life beyond its original format.
India: A Market at an Inflection Point
India today stands at a unique moment in its content journey.
We are seeing significant opportunity in Regional markets (Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and others) Emerging formats such as micro-dramas, Scalable, franchise-driven fiction IP
India does not lack stories. What we have historically lacked is structured franchise thinking something that is now beginning to evolve.
The Way Forward
The biggest lesson from global markets is this: The future belongs to companies that do not chase hits, but systematically build franchises. Because while hits may deliver immediate success, franchises create long-term value, recall, and compounding growth.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this belief shapes how we develop, greenlight, and scale content across platforms.
For content companies today, the question is no longer “Will this show work?” It is: “Can this become a franchise?”
A Personal Note
Having worked across content, business, and strategy, one thing has become increasingly clear to me, the most valuable companies in our industry will not be those that create the most content, but those that create content that endures.
Building a franchise requires patience, conviction, and a long-term lens something that the industry is only now beginning to fully embrace.As we continue this journey at Rose Audio Visuals, our focus remains simple: to move from volume-driven creation to value-driven storytelling. Because in the end, stories may start conversations but franchises build legacies.
