MAM
Samsung claims max women empowerment campaign viewership
MUMBAI: Samsung India’s popular digital campaign showcasing its citizenship initiative ‘Samsung Technical School’ is being claimed to have crossed 80 million views on YouTube in just four weeks of its launch. In this period, the video has been viewed by a record 24 million women, the highest for any advertising video on YouTube in India.
The campaign #SapneHueBade is the fastest growing among women viewers in India. It showcases the true story of a young girl, Seema Nagar, from a small village near Jaipur, who, with her resilience overcomes social stereotypes and becomes a trained technician, making her family proud.
“With the Samsung Technical School initiative, we aim to skill the youth of this country from humble backgrounds by imparting advanced training on latest consumer durables and mobile phones. This initiative contributes to the government’s vision of enhancing skills amongst youth. The brief given to the agency was to deliver a real life story from within Samsung Technical School that would inspire a whole generation of girls to take up technical education and also encourage parents to support the girl child. We are glad that 24 million women have loved and shared it with their family and friends, helping in our attempt to break social stereotypes,” said Samsung India chief marketing officer Ranjivjit Singh.
The digital film showcases how Samsung cares for dreams of girls in India. It revolves around the real life story of Seema Nagar, the trials and tribulations she goes through before entering Samsung Technical School and how it enables her to dream big. The protagonist in the video, who got trained at Samsung Technical School, Jaipur, currently works at the Samsung Service Center in the same city. She is now on her path to realize her dream of opening a service center in her village.
“Advertising stories that celebrate the strong woman usually focus on the superhuman efforts of the trailblazers. In reality, the front line of the fight is in the mundane and the routine. This is where brave girls like Seema Nagar are marking their territory and overturning perceptions every day. Our attempt to bring to life Seema’s journey brought together a terrific acting ensemble. Added to it is the magic of Wadali Brothers’ voices,” said Cheil India executive creative director Tarvinderjit Singh.
Samsung Technical School, which is a part of Samsung’s citizenship initiative, was started in 2013 and aims to support the government’s vision to make India a global manufacturing hub by addressing the need for talented manpower with practical know-how and relevant industry experience. There are 22 such centres set up across India in collaboration with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Departments of Technical Education in different states such as Rajasthan, Kerala, Bihar, Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka and Jharkhand.
Reinforcing its commitment to the government’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign, Samsung also announced the MSME-Samsung Technical School Scholarship program for girls and differently-abled trainees.
These schools have so far trained over 2,000 youth and made them job-ready across different technical trades. Around 70% of these students have got jobs, 45% of them with Samsung service centres. The initiative is part of Samsung’s ‘Make for India’ initiative and contributes to the government’s Skill India mission.
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33 per cent of women believe the salary scale is rigged: Naukri report
Voices @ Work study finds rising calls for equal pay audits and lingering bias
MUMBAI: Progress may be visible in India’s workplaces, but many women still feel the need to tread carefully. A new report by Naukri reveals that one in two women hesitate to disclose marriage or maternity plans during job interviews, worried that such information could influence hiring decisions.
The findings come from the second edition of Naukri’s annual Voices @ Work International Women’s Day report, titled “What Women Professionals Want.” Drawing insights from more than 50,000 women across over 50 industries, the survey sheds light on evolving workplace aspirations alongside the biases that continue to hold women back.
One of the report’s most striking insights is the growing demand for equal pay audits. The share of women calling for regular pay parity checks has climbed to 27 per cent this year, up from 19 per cent a year ago. The demand now stands alongside menstrual leave as the most sought after workplace policy.
Interestingly, the call for pay transparency grows louder higher up the income ladder. Nearly half of women earning between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore annually say equal pay audits are a priority, suggesting that pay gaps become more visible as women move up the career ladder.
At the same time, confidence and ambition appear to be rising. About 83 per cent of women say they feel encouraged to pursue leadership roles, a significant jump from 66 per cent last year. Cities in southern India appear particularly supportive, with Hyderabad leading the way as 86 per cent of respondents there reported encouragement to step into leadership positions. The education sector recorded the highest sense of encouragement at 87 per cent.
Yet the report also highlights a growing trust deficit around pay equity. Nearly one in three women, or 33 per cent, say they do not believe men and women are paid equally at their workplace. That figure has risen from 25 per cent last year, pointing to widening perceptions of disparity as careers progress.
Bias in hiring and promotions continues to be the biggest hurdle. About 42 per cent of respondents say workplace bias is the main challenge for women from diverse backgrounds. The concern is consistent across major metros, with Chennai and Delhi NCR reporting similar levels.
Reluctance to discuss personal milestones during hiring processes is also widespread. While 34 per cent overall said they hesitate to share marriage or maternity plans in interviews, the anxiety increases with experience. Among professionals with 10 to 15 years of work experience, the figure rises to 40 per cent.
Info Edge group CMO Sumeet Singh, said the data reflects both progress and unfinished work. “Behind every data point in this report is a woman who is ambitious. The fact that 83 per cent feel encouraged to lead is something to celebrate. However, the fact that one in two still hide their marriage or maternity plans in interviews tells us the work is far from done. As India’s leading career platform, it felt not just important but necessary for us to shine a light on these gaps through the second edition of our report,” he said.
The report suggests that while ambition among women professionals is growing, structural changes around pay transparency, fair hiring and supportive policies will be key if workplaces hope to keep pace.
