NEW DELHI: Contraception and family planning are conversations that happen behind closed doors and in a hushed environment – people are not comfortable talking about it in the open, let alone in front of parents and elders. However, when two individuals get married, the immediate question put up by the respective families is, “How soon will they get to see a grandchild?”
Unwanted 21 Days from Mankind Pharma decided to tackle this challenge with the launch of its latest campaign, #ShhNotOkPlease. The brand aims to normalise the conversation around contraception, family planning and raise awareness in a fun, relatable, and engaging manner. Logicserve Digital was entrusted with the campaign's execution.
Central to an Indian wedding's key events such as the engagement, sangeet (pre-wedding), wedding ceremony, and honeymoon, the musical film features relatable characters and settings. The lyrical narrative created for the video features intrusive instances of enquiries that family members make to newlyweds and their tongue-in-cheek response to such queries. The campaign is aptly titled #ShhNotOkPlease as the song, and the dance moves showcase ways to overcome the perceived taboo about family planning and child spacing.
The campaign was launched in a phased manner, wherein the pre-launch campaign featured various family members being introduced doing the ‘shh’ (shush) action. The objective was to create curiosity around the campaign and then to accelerate it with the main video.
Mankind Pharma general manager - sales & marketing Joy Chatterjee noted that there has been a sea of change post-pandemic in the way people have been using contraceptives. The moment was right to leverage this aspect of consumption, and come up with a messaging that is aimed at changing consumer behaviour. “
We believe changing consumer behaviour and having an open discussion about family planning and contraception will lead to more awareness and will result in more sales. Logicserve Digital not only understood our brief but also gauged the reason behind it, which is why they were able to articulate the messaging in a wholesome and entertaining fashion," said Chatterjee.
While the campaign has already stirred massive buzz on social media, the creators thought of further amplifying it by asking relevant regional influencers to share their 'shh' hook step to spread engagement and awareness in a fun yet catchy manner.
Logicserve Digital VP - creative Manesh Swamy said, "Typically in an Indian household family-planning discussions are not openly spoken about or even if someone initiates, it's mostly shunned. Our approach was not to be preachy but at least attempt to normalise the conversation. And with the wedding season around, we thought a song-and-dance approach would be an excellent fit to drive home the message literally.”
The campaign video was launched in Hindi and adapted in three other languages: Marathi, Bhojpuri, and Bengali. So far, the video has garnered over two million views. The reaction and feedback of the campaign is a testament to its success. The campaign goes beyond its stated objective and encourages couples to plan their lives as they wish.
