Making a Difference! - Part 1

I guess it’s only when we are children that we truly allow ourselves to dream! When dreams of ourselves as brave knights in shining armor battling fire breathing dragons appear possible! Then as we reach our teens, some of these temper down to perhaps winning a Nobel Prize or building a city on Mars. However as we enter our youth, we become far more pragmatic and actually start building a vision for ourselves. But for many of us that quest to change the world or the nature of society never really leaves us.

We believe that there is no more nobler ambition that making the world a better place. Sure selling a lot of your company merchandise & growing in your career is fulfilling, but a few times, isn’t it just great to allow yourself to dream or making that phenomenal difference that outlives us! One breed of professionals that perhaps has that opportunity more often that most others are Marketers & Advertisers! There are some truly phenomenal Ads that have touched all of us, made us simple of reasons not quite obvious and have often shaped the narrative in our societies.

These works of art, must definitely have a profit motive, but then the bravery of those souls that took this route to profit, still deserves to be saluted! Because there are more than one route to success. And a route that awakens the conscious of our society must always be appreciated. The first such commercial that is perhaps the favourite of most of the country is of the Cadbury Dairy Milk 1993, ‘Asli Swaad Zindigi Ka’, which had Shimona Rashi doing a jig on the Cricket field. Now the concept for the Brand was really to make Chocolates a treat for adults rather than just kids, by awakening the kid within all of us. What the add did for society was that it gave Indian a reason to be more exuberant, natural & relaxed at a time with Liberalization was just kicking in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oraVSK5xZ7g

Another such jewel from Mondelez, that I had the pleasure of working on, was the “Toh Iss Diwali Aap Kise Khush Karangey” Commercials which reminded Indian not to be insular this Diwali and to go out and meet those that you love. This commercial had its birth in the Insight that as India is speeding towards professional success, we are leaving behind the societal bonds that made us Indians. And Diwali is a time to reclaim the warmth of human relations by picking up that box of meetha and going out to meet someone that you love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIH7j4O1XKo

In recent times Tanishq perhaps burnt its hands talking about a Hindu Muslim family where customs are intermingled and families accept each other. Unfortunately every act of bravery that envisions that better world is not always accepted whole heartedly by society, sometimes it’s just timing, or just bad luck. Yet how will society ever progress if marketers and brands don’t try and lead society towards a positive direction. Perhaps something just didn’t go right, yet the intention towards speaking about something positive & brave must be appreciated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5n8PdLIEqM

Finally in our tally is the recent TVC from Oreo in the US, which talks about a proud family accept their daughter by accepting her sexual identity. Is the conversation difficult? Definitely! In a deeply conservative US, veering towards a Republican agenda, talking about the LGBTQ community for a nice and friendly family brand could never have been an easy decision. But it talks a lot about the passion of the people making these pieces of communication which see an opportunity to impact people & society as a whole while doing their day job! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpfLklSG2dQ&t=12s

I believe, each of us find such small & large opportunities in our day to day life, however it takes a little bravery to propose & fight for solutions that are culture leading! However the impact that they create may outlast your tenure & make a deeper difference to your Brands, Organization & the Society, which is definitely worth striving for!