It is not often that you see brands ‘Walk the Talk’, but in the case of Procter & Gamble (P&G) owned detergent brand Ariel, the story is tad different. The journey with #ShareThe Load started in 2015 that is about eight years back, and since then the brand has carved its own space in the minds of Indian consumers. “We really want to drive social and cultural change that the consumers want to see. When we started back in the day 79% of married men felt that laundry is only a woman’s job. Now that number thanks to the support and all the work that’s happened over these years is down to 26%. So that’s really been a massive change in mindset,” Sharat Verma, chief marketing officer, P&G India, and vice president – fabric care, P&G Indian subcontinent, told BrandWagon Online.
The recently released ad film showcases the evolution of the relationship of an elderly couple. In the film, it can be seen that their daughter who visits them out for a movie notices the distance between them as the mother declines to join them, giving an excuse of her household chores. To this, her father replies that the emotional distance between him and her mother has grown over the years and now the relationship is more of “her” and “him”, rather “their”.
For, Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer, BBDO India – the agency behind the creative narrative the latest edition of #ShareTheLoad is an eye opener for married couples and for the younger generation. “It is based on something we have been noticing in society – a growing section of men who have found out that they have lost out on their relationship but don’t know why. It is a hidden truth that no one is talking about. The truth is that there is an emotional distance between couples because of the unequal distribution of household work. As we see in the film ‘the woman keeps on giving and giving… till she finally gives up’. ‘See the signs #ShareTheLoad’ is a resolution, a step towards realizing that to share life together, we need to share the load,” he explained.
Staying true to the Ethos
The company claims that research showed that over 80% women said that unequal distribution of household chores have affected their relationships over time. Another 60% of women said they feel emotionally distanced from their spouse. Another set of data, the company claims, revealed that about 95% of couples feel that their relationship is better if chores are shared. For the brand, over the years, such data points have only helped in building a strong narrative. According to Verma, this year is all about taking the conversation ahead. “We want to raise a pertinent question, are you going to grow together. The campaign reflects the many experiences of people and couples who continue to face inequality. The other lines in the film look at lines like ‘have we taken our spouse for granted – Saath hain to saath nibhana padega’. All these lines have been taken by Josie and have beautifully woven into the film, to make it real and to make sure that this goes is shared,” he explained.
Interestingly, the pandemic saw many brands adopting purpose-led advertising, however only a few remained true to their narrative. In fact, post covid most brands have ditched the idea of purpose driven campaigns, and its once backed to driving sales. “Changing purpose every season ends up being standing for nothing. We’ve on the contrary have made a choice to step up in user voice and advertising to be a force for good and a force for growth. Most of our brands including Airel, Gillete, Whisper have been constantly using consumer voices to bring about a change,” he added.
Emotion versus Data versus Relation
In a world which is driven by data, industry experts believe that emotions still have a big role to play. Paul calls it a chicken and egg situation, adding, “While we as a team don’t start with any pre-conceived notion, we look for all kinds of chatter including social and data points but for me personally at an individual level, I do start with emotional data,” he noted.
Add to that a time when agency and a brand’s relationship is all driven by commercial arrangement and return-on-investment, P&G and BBDO India have managed to break that. While Paul candidly calls this chemistry for Verma, adds that both the parties share a common purpose, “We value each other and have kind of churned out some amazing work together,” he said.
Flashback
As Verma said it all started in 2015, when #ShareTheLoad campaign posed the question, ‘Is laundry only a woman’s job?’ This was followed by ‘Dads Share the Load’ movement in 2016. Here the aim was to bring attention to prejudices which are passed down from generations to generations. In 2019, the brand encouraged sons to ‘Sons #ShareTheLoad’ at home with the message, “Are we teaching our sons what we are teaching our daughters?”
Impact and action were the main themes of #ShareTheLoad for ‘Equal Sleep’ campaign released in 2020. It emphasized the negative effects of the unequal chore distribution on the wellbeing of their wife and used men to create a sense of urgency for action.
Last year’s edition of the same campaign called, When we #SeeEqual focused on why it is easier for men to divide household responsibilities with each other, but not with their wives. The ad film is based on the data that 83% women feel that men don’t see women as equal when it comes to housework.
The campaign will be promoted on television besides Youtube. “We love word of mouth, and any medium that gives us the ability to have two way conversation. Digital medium is something that we always invest in. It allows people to also share their point of view. Some of the messages are more heart opening and different touch points help us achieve objectives, and that is what we’re going to do this year as well,” Verma said. The brand has further invested in TV partnerships, mall activation, among others.