P&G Shiksha’s #StandUpForLearningGaps campaign highlights children’s learning gaps, focusing on foundational knowledge issues. The initiative, using humour to engage audiences, poses the question, “Would you laugh if this was your child?” to address online mockery and encourage collective action to tackle learning disparities. Abhishek Desai, Vice President – Brand Operation and Category Leader – Grooming, P&G India talks to BrandWagon Online, about the inspiration, creative process, and challenges faced in bringing this campaign to life.
What inspired the concept behind this campaign, and how does it resonate with your target audience?
P&G Shiksha is the flagship CSR program of P&G India, started in 2005 with the aim of providing access to education to underprivileged children. While we have our on-ground programs to address learning gaps, we have also focused on creating large-scale awareness regarding learning gaps to urge collective action. Through the campaign, our objective is very simple – how can we make all parents, guardians, teachers, well-wishers aware of learning gaps? We seek for everyone to come together and #StandUpForLearningGap.
When a child is asked a question about a concept they don’t understand, they might struggle to respond or be made fun of if they give the wrong answer. Many such occasions have been recorded on camera and published online, leading to widespread mockery and ridicule of young children across the country. A Forbes report even found a recent video of a child incorrectly answering a journalist to be among the top 10 most searched memes in India (2023)
We often fail to look beyond humour in these memes and realise the seriousness of the problem – the reason behind a child not understanding or being able to answer a question might be a learning gap. One’s entertainment is someone else’s crisis!
Therefore, this year, we are recreating a life-like situation through the campaign, where we are leveraging humour to engage the audience, helping them take a pause to realise the issue of learning gaps, and urging them to stand up for the issue. And, what better than a ‘stand up’ act to bring this to everyone’s attention?
Regarding the target audience, the film’s message is ultimately for everyone. The film is a gentle reminder to be aware of the signs of potential learning gaps. It’s not about pressuring kids or comparing them to others. It’s about creating a supportive environment where they feel comfortable asking for help if they need it.
Can you walk us through the creative process of developing this ad campaign from ideation to execution?
This campaign has been worked in partnership with Leo Burnett this year. The wonderful part about this association has been the combined journey of discovery we embarked upon. We knew we needed to make learning gaps as a concept more understandable and recognisable.
Humour can be a powerful tool, but it needs to be handled with care. When we were working on the idea for this year’s Shiksha campaign, we were shown an internet meme or clip around a child saying something funny, and as a natural reaction, we laughed at the meme. But immediately after, we were asked a strong question which also posed as a reminder – “Would we laugh if it was our kid?” This is when we realised that the problem is serious, and can only be solved by collective action, and widespread awareness. Leveraging humour to set the context emerged as an effective tool to engage the audience.
Therefore, this year, we recreated a relatable situation that uses humour to grab attention and make viewers stop and think about the issue of learning gaps. The light-hearted approach allows us to engage viewers and make them stop and think about the underlying issue. The key message hits home with the question, “Would you laugh if this was your child?” This shift in perspective helps people understand the potential consequences of learning gaps that might otherwise be dismissed as a funny anecdote. And, what better than urging them to ‘stand up’ in solidarity.
What challenges did you encounter during the creation and implementation of this ad campaign, and how did you overcome them?
I can’t get into the specifics of the making of the campaign, however, through weeks of collaborative effort, we stumbled upon this brilliant idea. And the rest is history – we didn’t look at any other ideas after this!
Rahul was a perfect fit, given he is one of the leading names in standup, but also his personal passion for education as a cause. The shoot therefore was a wonderful experience. Rahul took the time to understand what we do on the ground, and I believe that authenticity shows. With Shiksha, the objective is to reach as many people and have as many conversations as possible about Learning Gaps. And we are just starting out. For instance, you would observe a lot of buzz on social media, with varied advocates of the cause helping us drive awareness to a larger audience.
While our objective is to close the learning gaps, raising awareness is only the first step, and it’s an ongoing process. While we’ve made significant progress through campaigns like this year’s, changing ingrained mindsets takes time and sustained effort. We’re challenging the traditional narrative that equates a child’s struggle to answer a question with a lack of intelligence. Instead, we want to encourage a focus on identifying potential learning gaps early on and providing the necessary support.
Another significant challenge lies in reaching parents and communities who might not have easy access to information about learning gaps or the resources available to address them. Hence, to bridge this gap, P&G Shiksha has been working on the ground for the past years to address and reduce learning gaps.
P&G Shiksha, in partnership with renowned NGOs like EI and Pratham, is implementing innovative methods to minimise learning gaps and improve learning outcomes through on-ground initiatives like:
Community-based Remedial learning interventions: With Pratham Foundation, we are following the approach of ‘Teaching at the Right Level’ following a community-based and an ‘in-school’ model, where children in Grades 3 to 5 are grouped according to their learning levels rather than grade, and level-specific activities are conducted to help strengthen their skills in these subjects.
Early childhood education: We are working with Pratham Foundation to develop motor, cognitive, social emotional, language and creative skills in children in the age group of 3-6, to help set them up for a fast-paced growth as they begin their education journey. As part of this, we are reaching out to children through multiple touchpoints – directly in the communities via volunteers like mothers, teachers, or others; through a support model in Aanganwadis; as well as in pre-primary classes in government schools.
Technology-based digital remedial learning: We are partnering with Educational Initiatives to implement ‘Mindspark’, an artificial intelligence-based adaptive learning tool to remediate learning gaps in students. The tool integrates pedagogy, teacher instruction and a learning management system to assess a student’s learning level and develop a customised learning path for each one of them.