A NEW Persona for a RENEWED Nation......

Deepika Padukone -- #MyChoice Video
Image Courtesy: Google Images

“Controversy is indeed a great Marketing Strategy”. Nothing else has ever caught the attention of the target audience more effectively than a marketing campaign disseminating a viewpoint or an opinion which is not only audacious but also ‘bordering on outrageous’ or on the ‘verge of being revolutionary’ from the perspective of a majority of the audience. Such a message when delivered by a well-known celebrity, who displays unwavering conviction and deep emotional commitment to the topic while expressing the same, will only further bolster the ‘attentiveness’ of the audience multi-fold.

A case in point from the recent months, that comes to my mind is the #MyChoice video that was released jointly by popular Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone and director Homi Adajania in association with Vogue India as part of their drive to create awareness on ‘women's empowerment’. This campaign sparked a massive outrage in certain segments of the society who considered it as a sacrilege and on the other hand triggered a lot of cheer, celebration and optimism in certain other segments who identified themselves closely with the philosophy being expressed. The reactions and responses to this video were in huge numbers with the views/opinions being spread across the entire spectrum including the very extreme ends as well. It evoked responses from all segments of the society spanning across the length and breadth of the country. I really do not know what the actual intent of the campaign was, what the expected outcome was and whether or not the expectations have been met from the campaign owner’s point of view.

To my mind, a smart marketing campaign has its foundation on a very sound strategy. The commonly mulled over topics while designing a marketing campaign typically are: key demographics or traits of the target audience, their stated and unstated needs and expectations, how does the product or service satisfy their needs better than competition, what are the key differentiators and product/service features or attributes that need to be highlighted, choosing the right ‘message’ to maximise the impact, alignment of message to the audience, expected reaction of the audience, measurable impact on say product/service sales etc.

The ‘strategy element’ however should play a pivotal role by pondering over questions such as: what the real or unstated intent of the campaign is, what the real or unstated final outcome or result expected from the campaign is, how the final result or outcome from the campaign can be made most effective and impactful. The emphasis of the strategy element is primarily: to clearly differentiate between the stated and unstated objectives of a campaign; careful or subtle and perhaps delicate alignment of the message and theme seemingly with the stated objective but in reality with the unstated objective; design and execute the campaign such that the actual or unstated intent and objectives are met and the actual or unstated final results or outcomes are achieved.

“The key point to note is that the intent or objective of the campaign and the outcome or result of the campaign as viewed by the audience and as viewed by the campaign owner are completely different. And this is by design”.

What really matters is only that the real intent or objective of the campaign from its owner’s perspective is fully achieved and is corroborated by quantifiable campaign results. Let’s quickly take a re-look at Deepika’s #MyChoice campaign as a case in point to help illustrate the concept that I was talking earlier. As we do not know what the real intent of the campaign was, let’s attempt to guess as to what the campaign intent and expected campaign result could possibly have been from the campaign owner’s perspective. To begin with let’s consider the 2 possibilities:

SCENARIO 1:

CAMPAIGN INTENT: “To provide a perspective of the world from purely a woman’s view point and give an insight into the mind-set, deepest emotions, views and expectations of a woman in today’s world, thereby spreading awareness and garnering empathy and support from men and women across the country to promote the cause of women’s empowerment”

CAMPAIGN RESULT: “Win supporters among the Indian populace in large numbers who would not only endorse this view but also be influenced enough by the video to spread the ideas around leveraging social media or even word of mouth. Garner excellent reviews and support from the media and also be appreciated by the men and women spanning across the various segments and various geographies in the country. This would in-turn trigger a change in ground realities which would accelerate the process of women’s empowerment”

SCENARIO 2:

CAMPAIGN INTENT: “To ignite the minds of the men and women in India on a critical but somewhat ignored topic and trigger a nation-wide debate on a few crucial topics which were typically considered as sensitive or not-to-be-talked-about or even a taboo”

CAMPAIGN RESULT: “Trigger a chain of debates and discussions on these sensitive topics among men and women of India, spanning across segments and geographies both leveraging social media and face to face conversations. This will have the outcome of opening up the Indian society atleast to some extent and encourage men and women to start discussing crucial and sensitive topics which were hitherto pushed under the carpet”

From a marketing point of view achieving either the result or outcome in Scenario 1 or Scenario 2 would be an extremely difficult if not impossible task and that too in a country as diverse and large as India. Let’s assume for a moment that the REAL or UNSTATED “Intent” and “Result” from a campaign owner’s point of view is ‘Scenario 2’ and that the STATED “Intent” and “Result” for the consumption of the external world or audience is ‘Scenario 1’. We could then quickly apply the concept of blending the UNSTATED and STATED intents into a single strategy that I talked about earlier and this would make it much simpler to achieve the results or outcomes as expected from a campaign owner’s perspective. In such a case the ‘outcome of the campaign’ would be viewed or rated differently by the audience and the campaign owner which is on expected lines. The other theme embedded as an integral part of the strategy in this case study which would act as a catalyst is, “…extreme or perhaps even controversial views may have to be leveraged so as to be able to trigger a strong enough emotional quake that would shake men and women out of inertia and provoke them enough to open up and voice their opinions and trigger a debate…”

This is a very good strategy to adopt especially when the attempt is to change a deep rooted mind set or modify an ancient practice or stop adherence to an old custom. Such an approach as explained and also illustrated by the case study above is very appropriate and helpful in 'Marketing Social Themes' that are critical for a nation's progress.

Deepika’s #MyChoice video was arguably the most talked about (controversial?) video in my friend circles during the recent months for reasons right or wrong depending on which side one was. Putting the visuals and messaging in that video completely aside for a moment, I do believe that one definitely positive outcome from that video was that it ignited a dormant topic and triggered off a raging debate in the Indian society covering a wide range of topics such as feminism; patriarchy; individual freedom and liberties; values, morals, ethics binding a person; traditions, customs, practices, conventions from the past in today's context etc.

Many of these topics were usually considered sensitive and personal and a few even considered as a taboo. These topics were hitherto never so openly discussed in the Indian society and that too on such a wide scale spanning across age-groups and across the length and breadth of the country. The video acted as a catalyst for men and women across the country who used that topic as a 'conversation starter' and then went on to express their opinions, feelings and emotions on these topics which many a time led to intense debates and on some occasions heated arguments as well.  A key point to be noted is that these debates spanned the “breadth and length” of India as it was on a topic that was equally relevant to each and every Indian and therein lies the BEAUTY of Indian culture. 

Social media played a huge role in becoming the central platform for every man and woman to be able to express their opinions and views from deep inside their heart on these topics without any hesitation or mincing of words. The cloak of anonymity offered by the social media was certainly a huge boost in the arm for persons who were shy and reserved or perhaps constrained by the prevailing norms in the society. The walls and barriers, in form of tacit and implicit norms or controls that exist in the society on ‘what is to be spoken’ and ‘what is not be spoken’ in public by a man or a woman, simply dissolved or were torn down due to the way in which social media operates. Seeing other like-minded persons across the country express their views only encouraged the rest to join the debate. I believe that this is indeed an “inflexion point” in our society and certainly a milestone to be remembered.

We need to recall the fact that Ancient India always had an open and tolerant culture which encouraged debates on varied topics and expression of diverse opinions. Our Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen succinctly summarizes this in the title of his popular book "The Argumentative Indian" which delves deeply into the evolution of this aspect of Indian culture over several thousand years. Indians believed in "agreeing to disagree" which is probably the CORE PHILOSOPHY behind the creation of a society which embraced a culture of peaceful co-existence and encouraged interactions among people with diverse or even contrarian opinions, values, beliefs, customs etc.

The BEAUTY of Indian culture however was that, despite these interactions and exchange of ideas and opinions with diverse groups of people who many a time would come from far-away lands, Indians had a very deep and innate sense of IDENTITY and steadfastly protected the CORE of Indian tradition, philosophy, value systems, ancient texts and religious beliefs over thousands of years. Indian society was at the same time quite adaptable to embrace practices and techniques which benefitted our people and also was amenable to discard even the accepted beliefs and deeply rooted practices of those times whenever it encountered a convincing logical and scientific reasoning that was contrary to the existing beliefs and practices.

The innumerable invasions on India by many foreigners over the centuries, starting with Alexander in 327 BC to the Persians in 15th century who then ruled over us for many centuries or even the rule by the British from 18th century to middle of the 20th century, could not change the CORE of Indian tradition, value system and religious beliefs. Indians had over the centuries mastered the art of adopting modern practices and techniques, scientific thinking, novel concepts, inventions and ideas that bettered human life but at the same time passionately and fiercely safeguarded their “IDENTITY”.  If one looked deep into an Indian’s mind, one would never miss the “INDOMITABLE INDIAN SPIRIT” and “UNIQUE IDENTITY”. This is true not just for the Indians who are residents of the country but even for those with origins in India and have adopted other faraway lands as their homes. An outsider would indeed be startled to find the FLAME of INDIAN SPIRIT still alive even in person of Indian origin whose ancestors had migrated to a far-away foreign land say even as many as 200 years ago and had no contact whatsoever with India in all these years.

Unfortunately over the years, as Indian culture evolved, the practice of open debates on any topic under the sun or encouraging logical arguments or questioning the status-quo even on deeply rooted beliefs/traditions/practices gradually started getting on to the backburner. Many of the traditions, customs, beliefs and practices over the years gradually became CAST IN STONE and questioning these began to be considered as “sacrilegious”. In my opinion this was the SINGLE BIGGEST REASON for India to lose its dominance on the world stage over the last few hundred years. The saving grace is that the INDOMITABLE INDIAN SPIRIT however continued to remain intact and unabated over the several thousand years.

India has indeed made very significant strides in nearly 70 years after its independence in 1947. India has slowly and steadily begun to get noticed on the global scene and has gained significant respect from even the most developed nations. The liberalization of Indian economy in 1991 under the leadership of our then Prime Minister Shri P V Narasimha Rao has heralded a new era in our country with reforms in the industrial and economic policies. That is truly an “inflexion point” in the history of modern India which laid the foundations for the growth and renewal of global respect that we are seeing for our country today.

Today, India is considered by the top global powers as a force to reckon with and as a potential super power in the coming decades. Fortune 500 corporations from all over the world without exceptions firmly believe that this is a market that will be the epicenter of their activity in future. We should indeed be rightfully proud of our beloved nation for all that it has achieved in just 70 years of independence and within the natural constraints of being a true and fully functional democracy. At the same time we should also be cognizant of the inherent social, cultural and structural weaknesses in our society and the dangers that pose to our nation’s progress in future.  As a nation we should together take corrective actions as soon as possible.

This brings me back to what I mentioned earlier as the “Indomitable Indian Spirit” and our “Unique Sense of Identity” that we ferociously defended over several centuries and also ensured that CORE of Indian tradition, value system and beliefs stood the test of time. Today, I believe that the CORE is under attack due to two primary factors:

1. The advent of cable television in the early 1990s had a significant impact over the years especially on shaping the beliefs and value systems on the generations that grew up with it. It does not really matter whether the impact was in the right or wrong directions. While even centuries of British rule could not cause much of an impact to the core value systems, culture, traditions or even the core mindsets or beliefs of Indians; the access to the western media and thereby exposure to the western culture, way of life, mindsets, beliefs and value systems on a daily basis indeed had a significant impact in shaping up all these aspects of life among today’s young adults. And the last decade which saw the advent of the Internet and Smart Mobile Phones steeply accelerated these influences on the minds of children starting from a very young age. I am not even getting to the aspect of whether the western influence is right or wrong. The issue that one needs to deal with is that, Indian society is most fragmented at this time than at any point ever in the nation’s long history when it comes to the CORE beliefs, mindsets and values that drive one’s life. This makes the concept and definition or delineation of what I was earlier referring to as the “Indian Spirit” or “Unique Identity” very difficult to articulate as arriving at a common definition which is all encompassing is very very complex today compared to the past. The issue is compounded due to the different rates of evolution of individual thought  processes based on extent of foreign influence, family background, indoctrination by parents and relatives, rural/urban differences, geographical area, education levels, peer group, first hand exposure to  foreign cultures and so on.
2. Modern India has certainly made a lot of progress on the social front besides the economic and political fronts. The darker aspects of our society such as social and cultural evils, unscientific customs, traditions and practices, superstitions, outdated and illogical beliefs etc have been addressed to a significant extent though they still rear their ugly heads in certain pockets from time to time. While we address these issues, we need to take cognizance of the fact that our societal norms and social structures, lifestyles and standards of living have significantly evolved in the last 70 years of independence and even more pronouncedly in the last 20 years. I had earlier said that many of the “traditions, customs, beliefs, value systems and practices” which were CAST IN STONE for centuries and questioning them was a big sacrilege in those times. While it may not be as big a sacrilege today, there are many topics under this broad umbrella which an average Indian does not like to talk about publicly or dare to question the status  quo or  attempt defy the norms even now. It might be a good idea to perhaps revisit these traditions, customs, beliefs and value systems that were designed for the way of life of a person in the form that existed several centuries ago and all these customs and traditions might not make sense or be applicable in today’s context.

We need to address both the challenges that I delineated above if we are to ensure that the “Indomitable Indian Spirit” and “Unique Sense of Identity” continue to remain powerful differentiating factors and help accelerate India’s journey to attain a preeminent position in the world. India should regain its past glory and respect which was based on intellectual superiority, self-sufficiency, technological superiority and superior standard of living of its people. And I believe that we can address both the challenges with a common solution: “become argumentative Indians again”. “Harness the power of intellectual debates and arguments based on logic and reason which originally created the foundation for the pre-eminence of India in the ancient times”. These practices will need to once again come to the fore-front.

Indian society needs to once again become one that encourages diverse opinions, tolerates opposing views, questions status quo on certain traditions, norms and practices however deeply rooted they might be, creates a newer set of traditions, practices and rituals which are relevant in today’s context by overruling the ones that are not applicable anymore, gives men and women freedom to express their views on any topic, relook at the belief system and values to determine applicability and relevance, creating right forums for sharing and exchanging views etc. And for a country as diverse and as populous and as geographically spread as India, we cannot achieve any of the above without leveraging technology and social platforms. Indians need to work together on all these areas with a newer mindset and find concrete solutions. Once the above is accomplished, the next step would be to have a nation-wide debate and discussion for finally arriving at what can be termed as the “Highest Common Factor” method of delineating the newer and updated definition of “Indian Spirit” and “Indian Identity”. These definitions should be relevant and applicable to today’s context and at the same time keep the essence and core theme from the ancient times intact so as to maintain the continuity.

Coming back to Deepika Padukone and her #MyChoice video, as I mentioned earlier we did see a large number of men and women, spanning across different age groups and different geographical areas of the country, discussing about the content and messaging in the video and many expressed their opinions touching upon certain topics which were usually not discussed publicly on such a wide scale earlier. While I do know that there is no final consensus reached on that topic and that probably it will take a very long time to reach that stage. The point to be noted however is that it certainly ignited the minds of men and women across the country and set them to active thinking mode on contemporary topics such as feminism or patriarchy or even sexual relationships. In a way, perhaps even inadvertently, an attempt was perhaps also made to rekindle the flame of “argumentative Indian” which lay dormant and hidden beneath multiple layers of filters formed due to conditioning of mind over several centuries. This is indeed a very great beginning and a significant accomplishment from my perspective.

Some of the critical problems that we are facing today in our society such as Gender Crime, Human Trafficking, Dowry related crimes, Pre-Marital or Extra-Marital relationship linked crimes etc should not be left to the law enforcement authorities or law & policy makers alone. These are essentially “social” problems at the root and the society needs to engage in multiple levels of dialogue involving diverse groups of people across the country and finally arrive at a consensus based solution from a societal stand point which can prevent or atleast minimize the occurrence of such incidents. And we can only forge such a culture of debate and open mindedness by making concerted efforts in this direction and leveraging every opportunity to provoke and coax the members of our society to express themselves openly and encourage debate on all topics critical to our society and our nation.

The KEY to the progress of our nation is therefore the resurgence of “THE ARGUMENTATIVE INDIAN” in a modern avatar and a transformed society with a mindset that not only accepts but also encourages a person donning that avatar.

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DISCLAIMER 1: The author DOES NOT have any association or connection whatsoever with the #MyChoice video, the Vogue Empower campaign or its producers/campaign owners. He neither subscribes to nor disagrees with the views or opinions or messages expressed or visuals displayed as a part of that campaign. The author does not know what the intent of the campaign was or results expected of the campaign were from the producer’s perspective. He has only attempted to use the examples purely as a case study to illustrate his ideas on “marketing social themes” which are critical for nation’s progress. This article was purely written in good faith and the author sincerely apologizes if any ones sensitivities or feelings or sentiments or emotions have been inadvertently hurt by the views or opinions or ideas expressed in this article.

DISCLAIMER 2: The views expressed in the article are purely the personal views of the author and have nothing to do with the company he works for. This article in its entirety has been written purely in his personal capacity.