DDB Diaries

Bill Bernbach believed that creativity is the most powerful force in business. And here at the DDB Mudra Group, we draw on creativity to create something that resides at the very heart of business impact – influence. The art of influence has always required that agencies and advertisers tell stories people care about and want to share. But in a changing world, story-telling is no longer the sum of influence’s many parts. The others include a mastery of integrated media, of fluid business realities, of data and technology – all balanced with a deep understanding of human behaviour and culture. We believe that the future of the agency business lies in embracing these changes, while continuing to remain relentlessly curious about culture and passionate about ideas. DDB Diaries India is our attempt to stay inspired, imaginative and influential. We welcome you to our thoughts and hope you’ll stay and share yours.

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MAKING LEARNING GREAT AGAIN

“It's interesting how we use the same word for educational process as we do for horse racing- a course; a predetermined sequence of obstacles that will be negotiated by all participants; anyone falling will be eliminated; only the first three give return on bets.” ~Michael Rosen, Children’s novelist and poet.

This is the dominant narrative of the Indian education system today, but it’s important to call out the fact that the narrative is a borrowed one.

India’s foundational educational system was that of the Gurukuls. Quite contrary to perception, the Gurukuls were flexible and open to people of varied gender and ages; it was a system that encouraged students to be adept at sixty four different arts and forteen different scientific techniques by the age of 25. Having done so, they would complete brahmacharya, the first of the life-stages or ashramas as outlined by Vedic thought.

This holistic learning model lost out to a specialisation-oriented Western model in the colonial era. The “logical & linear” structure to education that we recognize and follow today, was brought in to streamline the age-old Gurukul-like traditions of ancient learning. This transition was made in large part to fulfill the business and recruitment requirements of the East India Company.

But the tried and tested linear learning model began to get questioned in a post-World War 2 era. Dale Carnegie was among the first mainstream icons to initiate this conversation in the 1940s, famously saying that “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they’re doing”. Alternative stories of success in the world, some even romanticising the “college drop-out” as an aspirational archetype, further fuelled this transformation; as did the culture-defining phenomena of the internet and the knowledge economy.

Whereas education once equipped people for livelihoods and not necessarily lives, today, the possibilities of what we can do with our educations are expanding. At least some of us now have the option to align our educational pursuits with the kind of lives we want to live (as opposed to just the kind of work we want to do).

India isn’t untouched by these changes and education here might just be coming full-circle.

As a degree-and-marks-obsessed country, we will always be drawn to rote learning and academic success. But we’re also asking more questions about the inherent value of our education. When did this begin? The plight of contemporary students started assuming centre-stage in mainstream cinema towards the end of the last decade. What Rang de Basanti did for political protests in India, 3 Idiots did for education – highlighting the limitations of the system and reframing what success could mean. A memorable line in the film urged students to get better at what they instead of blindly chasing a conventional notion of success  – “Kaabil bano, kamyaabi jhak maarke tumhare peeche aayegi.” India even got its very own Totto Chan (a Japanese fictional character who was left behind by the formal educational system) in Ishaan Avasthi from Taare Zameen Par.

This change became increasingly palpable when brands that had been all about ‘succeeding at studies’ started doing things differently. Bournvita began talking about the overall brain development of young children, later shifting towards talking about resilience and failure. Complan said, “Galti karenge, tabhi toh badhenge” (They’ll learn better if they make mistakes).

In conjunction with this shift, we’re seeing a definite change and expansion in the learning techniques being offered to students today. Byju, India’s leading learning app, encourages prospective students to “Come fall in love with learning.” No more are drudgery or seriousness the only markers of hard work. Instead, communication tells us, learning can be something cheerful; almost celebratory.

Schools in India are gradually using active, engaged learning. Research shows that techniques that encourage students to build off their own experiences produce more enduring effects than rote learning. It helps when students use their existing knowledge to absorb new information.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is cancelling exams, introducing compulsory experiential learning in classes; shifting from external activities which facilitate direct learning (think dance, drawing competitions, compulsory sports days and races) towards internally-focused processes such as pottery, workshops that awaken the subconscious, design thinking, meditation, mandala art. There’s an emergence of alternate schools like Riverside School in Ahmedabad or Head Start in Bangalore with a higher emphasis on diffused learning.

There is a small but growing community of ‘un-schoolers’ – outlier Indian parents trying to actively ‘unlearn’ the imposition of authority in the parent-child relationship. Instead, they are learning to how parent with negotiation, reason and vulnerability. Formal education is a decision left to their children. They swear by these methods and it shows in their children’s feats.

There are also less extreme shifts in the parental monolith, with parents giving children greater agency to learn. The hard line between learning and play in some Indian households seems to be blurring. From a non-negotiable lunch – homework – play routine (haven’t we all, at some point, hidden that dreaded school diary to get to the last step!) to integrating play into learning, it has been a long journey for Indian parents. And it’s a journey that’s nowhere near complete.  

For every parent who appreciates alternative learning and teaching methodologies, are many more who question the legitimacy of such techniques in this high octane, always on, competitive world. Are these methodologies acceptable in the real world? Who can actually afford to subscribe to these ideologies? Won’t their children get “left behind?” Are Indians ready to let go of the “skilled worker” mindset?

Popular culture might have some answers to offer.

In 2018, Netflix caught the nation’s pulse thanks to its marvellous sense of timing with its latest show, Selection Day. By attracting an audience frustrated by centuries of generational expectations with a simple yet challenging line –  “Choose who you become” – they urged children to face this struggle head on and take on the onus of truly being themselves. Parents braced for impact.

Popular reality show Sa re ga ma pa Lil Champs urged children to grow with music - “Music se badhenge hum (We’ll thrive on music)” rather than telling them to become the next child superstar. From Kindle saying “Because reading should never stop” to Ceat connecting the power of exploration to a child’s imagination and ability to excel, learning is being seen as an ongoing process. The successful student isn’t only the one with marks, but the one who never stops thinking and seeking answers.

It’s this positive change in archetypal portrayals of accomplishment, and in archetypal portrayals of themselves, that infuses students with the creative confidence to grow. It’s not just about over-powering parents or teachers but about embarking on a growth journey.

The “Sharma ji ka ladka” benchmark might not disappear, but it might assume newer forms. We would all be eager to see the results on this one.

Author Bio

Megha Kimothi is a strategist in our Mumbai office. A concept art hog who believes metaphors are her savior. An eleutheromaniac at heart, one of her most-unfathomable-wishes is to be a pigeon ready to fly off the edge of the horizon. Warning: Will break into a dance at the slightest opportunity. Her interest in design thinking is leading the way for her, professionally.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

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HIDDEN IN THE MIDDLE

Based on a series of in-person conversations and economic forecasts, this blogpost explores the potential of an often ignored, almost invisible-ized consumer group. Embracing this opportunity will call on brands to discard deep-seated biases about who ‘counts’ and ‘how much.’

Rashmi is about to wrap up her work and leave for the day. She has already received a missed call from her friend who works in the neighboring building. She shuts off the gas valve and heads out, while dropping a reminder to Amritaben, who would be expecting her despite prior intimation of her absence.

  It has been one more day in a year of real joy - a year in which she has adopted a new ritual of watching her favourite musical show at the Pt. Deenanath Mangeshkar theatre in Mumbai. Having finally fulfilled her responsibility of educating and ‘settling’ her children after her own separation from her husband, Rashmi now has the twin advantages of time and disposable income, both of which she is looking to utilize effectively and enjoyably.

 Her sister moved in with her after Rashmi’s youngest son moved into a room in a nearby chawl after his marriage. Rashmi has always loved listening to old songs and having realized that a live performance was a far better experience, she now devotes her time and money to her interests, starting with musical experiences, but exploring other art forms as well. Her curiosity towards investments and interest in making her money grow has gotten her to open a fixed deposit at her local post office. She has also activated her net-banking feature in order to receive money from her employers.

 And Rashmi is not alone. She represents a community of maids, drivers and ‘house-help’ who have long been rendered invisible by the Indian government and media; and often caricaturized by popular culture. Until as recently as 2018, people who performed household chores weren’t accounted for among the national income providers by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Added to this is the fact that up until a year back, a majority of them did not even have a bank account. As a result, industry may have overlooked this segment while planning their policies and forecasts, and instead focused on deriving profits from more affluent earning groups, which contributed 40% to the total national income – although the middle class’ contribution to the economy is currently slowing down.

 A distinct observation about the domestic work-force is the shift from accruing wealth and storing it away, to willingly spending money on things that they believe matter to them, especially purchases associated with certain key ‘milestones.’ A pertinent aspect central to the lives of all Indians, regardless of the socio-economic strata one belongs to, is the big fat Indian wedding: our default aspirational milestone. There is no limit to the expenditure one can bear to acquire societal validation for the life choices represented by a marriage. For instance, the daughter of a friend’s household cook spent close to INR 15,000/- on straightening and doing up her hair for her wedding. She saw the expense (that could easily be dismissed as an indulgence) as an important social investment.

  The lifestyle of employers is rubbing off onto the lifestyles of domestic staff. Close proximity creates room for sharing and influence. The domestic work-force increasingly demonstrates behaviors that echo the more affluent segments of society - whether it is going out on weekends or trying new cuisines, to having instant-Maggi noodles as a part of the daily essentials or participating in conversations around ROI from financial instruments.

  For example, all of us are familiar with the uniquely Indian concept of the ‘Maharaj’ – a community of cooks who work in the households of Indian families, particularly those from the Gujarati and Marwari communities. They have traditionally been cooking lavish Indian meals for their employers. However, today, they are upgrading their processes through organic cooking in congruence with the taste of the families they work with. Right from making a pizza, to a lasagna or replacing sunflower oil with olive oil and garnishing salads with some grated parmesan, the ‘Maharajs’ of today have adopted the culinary aspirations of the homes they work in, and are thriving. We’ve heard stories of maharajs growing their own herbs and setting up their own kitchen gardens, much to their employers’ delight.

  What does all of this ‘lifestyle mobility’ mean for us as brand-builders and business catalysts?

  First things first, how do we start acknowledging and assessing the contribution of this parallel, almost ‘hidden’ segment to our economy and our businesses?

  We must also start shedding deeply entrenched classist biases and start asking questions about what this emerging parallel consumption class is seeking in terms of product/ service delight and excellence. Brands must reckon with the hidden middle class as an opportunity in their own right – can products and services be pitched to them in a way that takes cognizance of their evolving expectations? Is it enough to merely have aspirations ‘trickle down,’ and ‘spill over?’ Are clichéd ‘value’ arguments a way in which marketers are stereotyping these audiences? Or, as with our more affluent consumer groups, should we ask ourselves what their highest expectations are, and how can they be met and exceeded? There is potential to build brand love and brand sales, provided the opportunity is embraced with a deep understanding of, and respect for this often ignored group of consumers.

Author Bio

Abhishek Shastri works as a Strategist in our Mumbai office. Being a curious person, he believes that every experience in life enables a wider perspective and refreshed outlook towards life. He is gearing up to travel along the entire path of the Northern Lights someday soon, starting with Iceland. A World War II enthusiast, he loves to watch movies and read about historical events.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

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FILMY, NOT SO FLIMSY?

This post explores the changing DNA of movie-goers, and what their shifting preferences tell us about which kinds of stories will connect with them.

India has always been a hero-worshipping country, literally. It is no secret that every time SRK spread his arms wide open, audiences rushed to the theatres; Salman’s kicks and punches caused stampedes; Rajnikant’s antics whipped the crowds up into a frenzy. These revered stars were seemingly indestructible and paramount in bringing viewers into cinema houses. Producers knew that casting superstars was a sure-fire way of raking in monies and star-studded movies crossing the multi-million rupee mark was par for the course, becoming a revenue-generating strategy that worked through the 90’s and the ‘00s.

2018, however, has been a revelatory year in this regard. Star vehicles that were deemed surefire blockbusters came a cropper at the box office.

The biggest blow was taken by Thugs of Hindostan which barely recovered half its spends, despite starring Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, two legendary actors. Salman Khan failed to cast his characteristic spell on his fans this year and lost the race (pun intended, of course). SRK’s Zero underperformed in the first week of its release. By contrast, medium-budget movies like Andhadhun, Raazi, Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety, all headlined by competent actors rather than bona-fide superstars, struck a chord with the audiences. Movies like Sanju, which portrayed the questionable choices that the protagonist makes and the consequences that he faces as a result, did well. So did movies that explored untouched issues or drove home a social message in an original manner – Badhai Ho addressed the discomfort that Indians have in coming to terms with the sex lives of mature couples; Stree was a reminder for society to treat women with dignity.

Story has clearly outperformed starcasts. Is this a testimony of changing preferences in changing times? What has triggered this shift? Why is ‘content’ becoming the hero of a system long-dominated by clout?

One of the key factors could be more people accessing, downloading and watching more content. In the past, film makers drew a clear line between how they defined audiences and sensibilities for ‘mainstream’ and ‘parallel’ cinema. The mainstream viewers were seen as lapping up glamorous, aspirational, massy content i.e. movies driven by movie stars. Whereas parallel cinema goers were considered more ‘evolved’ and more discerning about stories and plotlines. But YouTube, streaming platforms and OTT platforms like Amazon, Netflix and Hotstar have democratized access to original and unique content. All kinds of stories are being streamed into India’s different nodes, pockets and corners, thanks to the rapidly increasing penetration of smartphones coupled with affordable data connections. The so-called ‘masses’ are now in a position to consume relevant and realistic stories that do more than piggyback on a star’s credibility. With scale inherent in the digital distribution model, viewers of all stripes are gravitating to different types of content, and the old mainstream/ parallel distinction has all but collapsed.

There is another, more generational lens that can be applied to this shift. Hundreds of surveys and thinkpieces tell us that Millennials and Gen Z seek to create change, particularly when it comes to issues that matter to them. They speak their mind, question norms and bring about revolutions, one tweet and click at a time. Popular cinema as escapism perhaps doesn’t have the appeal it once did. Audiences of this newer generation are seeking out grounded and rooted content, perhaps arising from their ability to accept and deal with grim actualities; couple with a desire to see everday aspirations, struggles and achievements mirrored by the media. Millennial audiences want to see people and situations that they can relate to.

And it’s not just about plotlines, it’s also about this generation’s relationships to movie-stars. Actors are easily accessible, especially on digital forums. Social media gives viewers unrestricted access to their favourite celebrities - there is more familiarity and less intrigue, thereby reducing the ‘hero-quotient’ associated with stars. Unlike previous generations, new-age aduiences do not put icons on a permanent pedestal. They assess them on a movie-to-movie basis. They evaluate them for the character that they play rather than the ‘superstar’ that they are.

All of which points to a signficant shift that’s playing on movie-makers’ minds, demonstrated by public statements about how rich content is taking precedence over popular actors -

“I feel that scripts are bankable now; not so much as ‘Oh, this actor is bankable.’” – Rhea Kapoor, in an interview on Koffee with Karan.

“It has been a very different kind of year (for Bollywood). The films that have performed well and even been appreciated seem to be talking about our issues, dwelling less in fantasies and more in reality.” – Actor-Director Farhan Akhtar, in an interview with PTI.

Rohit Shetty in a long-length interview to the Bombay Times as part of the promotional blitz for his latest movie actually said that massy, star-driven movies were Bollywood’s newest ‘risk.’ Prajakta Deshmukh, the director of the Marathi play Devbabhali that has won many awards, spoke about how the success of her play lies in a strong storyline.

But does that mean that fantasy as a genre is dying? Definitely not!

Block busters like Baahubali and billion-dollar Marvel movies are proof enough that audiences still love science-fiction and fantasy, but they want to watch it by choice. What works with these viewers is realism in the screenplay – whether in the portrayal of characters, in the execution, or both. Viewers appreciate contexts that come close to their lives in some way and characters they can resonate with. We are no longer addressing starry-eyed masses who will accept a beau ideal. We are catering to an audience who believes that the story is the hero. The need of the hour is a strong, relatable premise and an antithesis of the traditional Bollywood hero who is flawless, can beat up a hundred goons or make any girl swoon to his tunes – someone who reflects life as it is lived by many, if not all of us.

Rucha Nagavekar

Rucha Nagavekar is a Senior Strategist working out of our Mumbai office. An explorer at heart, she believes that the more you see, the more you know. She draws inspiration from food, dance and travel and blogs about her travel learnings on happygallivanterblog.wordpress.com. You can also follow her @happygallivanter on Instagram.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

[ddbdiariesindia]

ME BEFORE US?

In a world that is constantly evolving with time, that most celebrated of all human emotions – love – is no exception. We explore its changing discourse.

There are few topics on which people around the world agree – but our idea of what love means could be the exception that proves the rule. Long drawn conditioning and cultural conversations have found love to be an act of completion, fulfillment, closure. This perhaps owes to Aristophanes’ argument in Plato’s Symposium. In it, he brought forth the then novel, now conventional idea of the ‘Other Half’. Aristophanes’ argument was an outlandish account, describing early humans as hermaphroditic beings, outfitted with two faces, four hands, and four legs. These monstrosities were also described as very fast – moving by way of cartwheels – and quite powerful to boot. Aristophanes described them as so powerful, in fact, that they made the Gods nervous, leading to them being split into half. Each half was left longing for their detached ‘other half,’ the partner that would ‘complete’ them.

This long-forgotten theory has been played out extensively and almost universally in our popular culture, making it clear to young men and women through the ages that they were ‘incomplete’ without a lover or a mate.

Finding one’s romantic counterpart was a cultural imperative, spurring the era of Mills and Boons and powering the entire genre of romance dramas and romantic comedies. This has also been the driving force behind the recognizable commercialization of love which began in the West, and then took root globally. Occasions like Valentine’s Day have been revamped into a celebration of having found a partner, a sign one’s personal life was blossoming. The corollary being that those still ‘single’ or unable to find a romantic partner are excluded from festivities.

Closer home, India’s classical art and literature also tell the tragic yet legendary tales of Laila-Majnu and Heer-Ranjha, besotted lovers, one incomplete without the other, who meet their unfortunate ends due to the shackles of society. This idea of an undying, unrelenting love has in turn inspired the country’s most influential source of popular and mass storytelling – Bollywood mainstream cinema – reminding audiences that the quality of their life is irrevocably tied to their ability to attract the right partner. Memorable lines in the movie Aandhi (1975) “Tere bina zindagi bhi lekin, zindagi toh nahi, zindagi nahi” have had the country singing along, collectively longing for the one true love that would seemingly make us all whole.

More recently, 1995’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge achieved cult status, with Simran (the archetypical young Indian girl, played by Kajol) yearned for her one true love to feel whole. It’s portrayal of unlikely but loveable partners is so revered that the movie still runs at Maratha Mandir in Mumbai, today, 23 years later.

What explains the endurance of this idea of love? Is it societal conditioning, gender/power dynamics in the common Indian household, access to or exclusion from financial resources? But as with everything else, society has changed, norms have changed, culture has changed, and love too is changing. Which brings us to the distinctly contemporary concept of self-love.

Among the chief advocates of self-love, was American author and feminist, bell hooks, who wrote:

“One of the best guides to how to be self-loving is to give ourselves the love we are often dreaming about receiving from others. There was a time when I felt lousy about my over-forty body, saw myself as too fat, too this, or too that. Yet I fantasized about finding a lover who would give me the gift of being loved as I am. It is silly, isn't it, that I would dream of someone else offering to me the acceptance and affirmation I was withholding from myself. This was a moment when the maxim "You can never love anybody if you are unable to love yourself" made clear sense. And I add, "do not expect to receive the love from someone else you do not give yourself.”

Bell Hooks and several other writers championed self-love to build a healthier imagery of love – one that did not hinge on validation from others and built something of value for oneself.

In Bollywood too, we saw the beginnings of the emergence of a heroine who desired someone who made her a “better version of herself,” rather than someone who completed her. In notable films like Kal Ho Na Ho (2003), we see the protagonist Naina (played by Preity Zinta) take a unique journey of love – with the man who made her a better version of herself and with the man who eventually became her life partner. She marries her best friend, but initially falls in love with someone who helps her grow and change for the better. Since then, we have seen multiple cinematic stories where the protagonist chooses to define his/her personal identity before choosing to love another. Films like Queen and Manmarziyan are glowing examples of how self-love is slowly being normalized, as opposed to being perceived as a selfish act of individualism. What matters increasingly is the journey to self-love, an arduous one for sure, but one which ends at self-actualization rather than completion – “O Safarnama… O jise dhoondha zamaane mein… mujh hi mein tha.”(Tamasha, 2015).

It’s fitting that perhaps the best articulation of the new definition of love has been offered by Indian-American comedienne Mindy Kaling, a cross-cultural and millennial icon, in her hit comedy “Mindy Project.’ It’s encapsualted by a conversation where the lead protagonists, unaware of their own feelings towards each other, discuss finding the ‘one’:

Why does this particular idea of self-love resonate with the much-maligned millennial generation? To attribute it to a culture of individualism would be simplistic. It might be due to their self-awareness and criticality, an inherent need to find flaws in themselves. The germ of doubt is birthed and nurtured by society and uniquely amplified by social media. Therefore, the idea of self-improvement or little boosts of confidence to become the best version of oneself is appealing. Partnership is ideal when it’s a means to this end. Self-love is not always a solitary pursuit but instead could trigger the quest for a person who makes people the best version of themselves.

As a result, millennials are foraying into new kinds of relationships. There’s an entirely new vocabulary of friendship and companionship that has emerged as a result – ‘friends with benefits,’ being only one example. Another such kind of relationship is a ‘situationship’, where both parties are emotionally and perhaps physically involved, but there remains an inability to commit, with fear and doubt clouding judgement, since both parties are yet to master self-love. This too comes with its own challenges. The question arises, is it possible to love oneself completely and accept another person’s love at the same time? Which kind of love is better? Is the idea of completion futile? While we fumble trying to find the answers to these questions, perhaps what would help us are even more new stories about this new kind of love, with its even more complex confusions.

Niyanta Mirjankar

Niyanta works as a Strategist in our Mumbai office. She believes that everyday conversations with people are an invaluable source of insights. She finds her peace in reading, singing and loving dogs, and hopes to adopt a llama some day.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

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Comics, Connection and Commentary

An exploratory take on the changing nature of humour in our comic strips, from funny to relatable to a parodic brand of all that’s not funny.

For anyone growing up in 90s India, access to comic books was limited at best, and mostly restricted to newspapers or railway station magazine stands. Adults and children alike, treasured their desi Tinkles, Champaks and Chacha Chaudharys and waited patiently for their turn with the Sunday newspaper to catch up on global comic shenanigans. The content stayed firmly ensconced in the moralistic, educational and humorous genres and parents were happy to let their children partake of it. Which is of course very much in sync with the fact that comics were originally seen as a casual, off-handed form of entertainment. 

Circa 2018, it’s evident that the appeal of comics continues to endure. A large fandom thrives on collecting comic books, stacking issue after issue or looking for rare volumes on the seedy underbelly of the internet. And for newer audiences, comic strips have recently gained prominence thanks to webcomics and a growing crop of artists who find that the internet is an accessible stage for self expression. While everyday comics a few years back might have been categorized by the typical funny, dolt-headed characters, today they seem to be hitting nuanced notes that are much closer to home. 

Webcomics in particular exemplify the comic world’s emerging ethos. Artists creating on the internet often struggle with recognition, and were perhaps quick to realize that their cultural references weren’t necessarily globally relevant. To make it big on the internet’s vast, multi-dimensional stage, they needed to enact a more universal humour. Thus, ‘relatable’ was born. 

Whether it is the instances from Sarah Andersen’s Sarah’s Scribbles, the misadventures of The Heart and The Brain in The Awkward Yeti or the hilariously captured trials and tribulations of mental health on Hyperbole and a Half, everyone is exploring interesting ways to tell the tales of everyday joys and woes. While these artists are also occasionally topical, today’s most popular webcomics amass strong fan bases for their relatable content, with their followers often quipping “Hey, that’s me!” in the comment threads. 

So, has relatable gone ahead and replaced funny? Well, not exactly.

The best comics are still funny, while adequately emulating their readers.

But maybe what is perceived as fodder for humour is transient. Maybe humour offers exactly what we need it to, during any given time. This would explain a lot. Like why funny ruled the punchlines in the decades when people took themselves too seriously. The typical American Baby Boomers born in the ‘50s spent their lives building a respectable lifestyle for themselves and their children, working at the same job for years and coming home with an attaché just to plop down in front of the TV or behind the newspaper as a form of escape. Funny equalled escape and therefore the comics of the time, delivered accordingly.

Today, however, Millennials and Gen Z respond to a different kind of humour. Millennials are the relational generation, growing older and a tad disillusioned; distracted by endless stimuli that keep them hopping around on multiple tabs and apps on their devices. On the other hand Gen Z, aka ‘digital natives’, are still finding their feet in the world. Unanchored but resilient, this generation has something to prove.Given their behaviours and deep-rooted universal desires, they take comfort from gentle reminders that others are also in the same boat. That’s the vital role webcomics play in their world – giving them a sense of connection to a larger community that’s trying to make sense of the same anxieties & doubts.

Another view, a more pessimistic one perhaps, is that these readers are relatively narcissistic, constantly looking for self-representation in all avenues of art and culture. This hypothetically ties back to a deeply entrenched insecurity manifesting itself in a need to overcompensate for one’s perception of their own inferiority. Thus, further validating the theory that relatable comics are picking up momentum because there’s an increased need to feel like one’s a part of a community, to feel that one’s not alone.

The need for relatability is one thing. We must also pause and reflect on the possibility of another shift in humour, one that’s dictated by our rapidly changing lifestyles, one that might be in the making. Showing its presence already is a branch of humour that borrows from the satirical nature of early newspaper comic strips and stems from the current need for a coping mechanism – parody. The reality and absurdity of our times begs for recognition and documentation in some form. Be it ridiculous political reforms, incompetent leaders, skewed mentalities or needless activism, there is a lot that today’s concerned citizens feel they must fight to change. However, even as the fight for change is waged on the battlefield (digital or otherwise), comic artists are putting pen to paper to find clarity through satire. 

And given the nature of our lives, comics no longer just exist in the classic 3-panel format. This means that newer formats like memes and video (that were originally meant for silly enjoyment and to poke fun at loved ones), are also slowly but surely taking a turn towards the dark side bringing, forth examples of human helplessness and absurdity that we scramble desperately to hide. 

Is it possible that these current format-agnostic comics have in fact, moved past humour? For all intents and purposes they are now actually exercises in anti-humour – a wake up call to readers signalling that what should pass for a joke, is unfortunately, reality in our society. But what does it mean when contemporary life and the news cycle take us so far away from the simply funny? What does it mean when peals of laughter transform into restrained smirks and abstract exercises in morbidity? Have we let go of the simply humorous without even realising it? Or is it ‘funny’ that has already let go of us?

Somdatta Roychowdhuri

Somdatta works in our Mumbai office as a Strategist. A 90s kid at heart, she’s a self-proclaimed curator of all things nostalgic. When she’s not lurking in libraries or boisterously cheating at Uno she can be found engaging in spirited debates on why Bollywood can never be written off… preferably over a cup of anxiety-inducing coffee.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

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Nostalgia as Negotiation

In a changing world of technological innovation, nostalgia is a powerful tool for navigating the contemporary experience 

The exponential growth in digital innovations in the last decade has been changing the way we live, creating ripples in our cultural fabric. With apps, wearable technology, e-commerce and social media; technology has become inseparable from daily life. This heady digitization of our world has propelled us into unfamiliar territory that we have yet to learn how to navigate. Seen superficially, it seems as if we got here without much resistance or negotiation; happy consumers in a world that knows exactly what we want because, well, Big Data! 

But a closer look reveals an underlying tension, a resistance to technology that manifests not so much as behaviour but as one powerful emotion – nostalgia.

The more technology pervades our lives, the more we yearn for the past. Think of the number of remakes of films and songs that Bollywood has produced in the last two years alone. The chartbusters list for this year features remixed versions of songs from the yesteryears, such as  ‘Tamma Tamma’, ‘The Humma Song’, ‘Oonchi Hai Building’ and ‘Laila Main Laila’. On radio, there are almost as many channels playing old songs, as the ones playing new songs. Paperboat, a brand built around childhood memories and nostalgia, made such an impact in the year of its launch. This mining of nostalgia was less evident and less frantic just a few years ago.

This sense of nostalgia isn’t limited to the older generations. Because our lives are changing so quickly, the present rapidly becomes the past, and this recent past is yearned for & sought out even by the youth. Research done amongst Gen Z, the first generation to be raised with smartphones, suggests that even they feel a yearning for simpler times. This is believed to be one of the key reasons for the popularity of Pokemon Go, a game that let post-millennials get out, stumble over obstacles, fall and play, the old-fashioned way. SMS-es are already quaint and have acquired nostalgic value in the age of Whatsapp. #throwback and #tbt are some of the most popular hashtags used across social media. Red FM recently launched its retro radio channel in Mumbai that plays 90s music, and branded it as ‘Aaj ke zamaane ka retro station’ (a retro station for today’s generation), appealing to a younger audience.

Another way in which brands are dealing with the cultural tension of our times is by re-presenting the familiar in a tech-enhanced avatar. Sa re ga ma launched ‘Caravan’, a digital radio player which has over 5000 songs, including the Ameen Sayani Geetmala (a legendary radio show), pre-recorded and built into it. Caravan has limited features, but the beauty of the product is in the old-school joy of discovery, which is a natural part of the radio experience. Nokia is another brand that brought back a past hero – it made a splash by announcing the re-launch of its beloved model Nokia 3310.

Brands are also exploiting a yearning for an allegedly simpler time by mimicking humanity in their tech-enabled services. Chatbots are behaving like real humans, sense of humour and all. Forget to log on to 8 tracks, and you’ll get a notification saying “Come back, we miss you! We promise we’ll change”. Online shopping, with all its merits, can be an alienating shopping experience, devoid of the warmth of touch-and-feel. And so, Amazon launched its ‘Apni Dukaan’ (Your Own Shop) campaign in the quest to seem familiar and approachable.

So where does the future lie? In reclaiming the past? Or boldly embracing the new?

Brands have to borrow from, and appeal to, deep rooted cultural imprints to be able to have an impact. Technology can change the world, but culture and emotion march to a different beat. Brands that will continue doing well in a world moving towards augmented reality, AI and the internet of things, will be those that are also cognizant of consumers’ need for familiarity, traditions and simplicity. The answer is not in reliving past glories. Rather, it lies in maintaining a balance between the old and the new worlds, as has always been the case. After all, the hype over the comeback of Nokia 3310 surpassed the adoption of product when it was actually launched. People don’t want to stick to the old ways. They do want the flashy new things, but in a form that’s comfortingly familiar. Evoking nostalgia may just make the new and the unfamiliar more palatable.  

Neha Kulkarni

Neha works in our Mumbai office as a Senior Strategist. She is the keeper of spontaneous chatter and inadvertent silence, a pursuer of profound sentences, especially when they come together to form entire books. A kanjoos advertising person who likes chai with ginger.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

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Fashion’s Shrill Scream

In a politically charged world where battle-lines are being drawn on social media, we explore how the humble T-shirt is being deployed to outshout the haters. 

Did you read the think pieces on Hillary Clinton wearing purple for her concession speech? Did it remind you of the Suffragettes in Britain, who wore purple to show support for their preferred candidate? Did you read about anti-Trump protestors from Planned Parenthood wearing long red capes and white bonnets to challenge his government’s ban on second-trimester abortions? Did it remind you of Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, in which women who were child-bearers wore a similar outfit?

We’ve seen one of the most bitter and widely broadcast elections in the world play out in the U.S.A last year, one in which fashion was notably deployed as a tool to express conflicting – and often controversial – points of view.

This got us thinking about how fashion and politics have a long,  and sometimes surprising, history of being intertwined. Khadi, for instance, was the fabric of our independence movement and continues to express an understated or overt allegiance to indigenous fabrics, arts and crafts. Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement appropriated Gandhi topis as a symbol of popular resistance to graft. Hong Kong’s short-lived ‘Umbrella’ movement has echoes in the Suffragette’s deployment of umbrellas.

Fashion is often accused of flirting with larger issues depending on what is the cause du jour. But in this time of politically charged and polarizing issues playing out across the world, it seems that the flirtation has evolved into a committed stance. Fashion is back in vogue as a tool to express not just social awareness, but political affiliation. So much so that Forbes described politics as ‘the biggest trend at the New York Fashion Week.’

This time around, fashion has gone back to the basics by repurposing the T-shirt as a tool of political expression. The slogan T-shirt is not only limited to a niche audience, liberal campuses or political rallies. It has become a part of mainstream fashion, with couture houses like Dior, high-end designer labels like Prabal Gurung and high-street fashion brands like Top Shop putting an unvarnished point of view on their T-shirts.

In this day and age of social media, where everyone is ready to bash, judge and troll someone without giving them a chance to explain their side of the story, the slogan T-shirt is being used to outshout the haters. It’s the ultimate clap back. Sania Mirza was one of the first Indian women with a public profile to wear T-shirts to disarm her critics, once memorably using her T-shirt to say ‘Well behaved women rarely make history.’

But today, it is Bollywood actresses – our most mainstream icons – who are giving this trend momentum. When Alia Bhatt’s role for her latest Bollywood movie was tagged as anti-feminist, she simply wore a t-shirt with the slogan ‘I am a feminist’ written on it the next day. From Priyanka Chopra’s ‘iShappat’ T-shirt to Anushka Sharma’s ‘I’m a feminist’ T-shirt for Vogue magazine, a quick look at your social media feed will throw up numerous examples of T-shirt activism. Bollywood actresses are using these T-shirts to cultivate their image as intelligent, worldly women, who speak their mind. The right slogan allows actresses to project themselves as assertive, relevant and of course, Insta-worthy.

And how do we know people and the press are listening to these statements? Because icons are being held accountable for what they – through their slogan T-shirts – say. For instance, Priyanka Chopra’s T-shirt for Conde Nast saying  ‘Refugee’, ‘Immigrant’, ‘Outsider’ and ‘Traveller’, with the first three words crossed out in red, was interpreted as an trivialization of the immigrant experience. She was exposed to a lot of criticism and had to apologise for wearing it.

The slogan T-shirt has evolved into the new Twitter bio, an always-updated Facebook status. It’s brand positioning which the wearer can keep re-inventing.  It’s an example of how a blind spot can be transformed into a powerful conversation starter in this day and age of social media slugfests. Most importantly, it’s a telling example of how popular culture, protest and profit can intersect. What’s true for the fashion business, might just be true for business as a whole. More so than ever before, brands are being compelled to pick their side in the culture wars, to draw a line in the sand as opposed to expressing generic, politically correct points of view that please no one. But whether fashion’s shrill scream translates into other products, closer home, remains to be seen. 

Meghana Machiraju

Meghana Machiraju is a Management Trainee in the brand strategy team, working out of our Mumbai office. She believes art is therapy and loves painting abstract art. She is a Bollywood fanatic and a food addict.

Anushka Gilani

Anushka Gilani is a Strategist, working out of our Mumbai office. She breathes pop culture, from reality TV to fashion to Bollywood. You will either find her obsessing over the newest trend or being dramatic enough to be in a Karan Johar movie.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

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Less is More

In a world where there is more of everything – products, experiences, data – there is a definitive undercurrent tugging people towards the opposite direction. This post explores the shift towards minimalism as a lifestyle choice.

That we live in a world that is connected and becoming only more so is a given. ‘Data science’, ‘big data’, the ‘Internet of Things’, have stopped being trendy catchphrases and have evolved into a way of life for people in general, and marketers in particular.

But the complexities of this undeniably connected world can be overwhelming, a fact evidenced by the rising number of books and scholarly articles both examining this phenomenon and outlining hacks to deal with its many manifestations – information overload, anxiety disorders, smartphone addictions and the loss of privacy.

And, as always, the cultural current contains a counter-current. Beneath the dominant discourse of growing connections and complexities there is a shift taking place.  Flying in the face of complexity, there is a movement towards simplicity – a de-cluttering that involves cutting back on possessions, reducing the noise of ever-present data and in some instances, embracing a simpler aesthetic.

Marie Kondo is the international high priestess of a new cult of professionals - organizing consultants. Her best seller “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of De-cluttering and Organizing” set off a de-cluttering craze across the globe. Kondo’s services command a waiting list in Japan, but her book breaks down her radical, two-pronged approach to tidying for readers everywhere. First, she says, put your hands on everything you own, ask yourself if it sparks joy, and if it doesn’t, thank it for its service and get rid of it. Second, once only your most joy-giving belongings remain, put every item in a place where it’s visible, accessible, and easy to grab and put away.

After writing a few bestsellers on this process of de-cluttering the home, her name is now a verb – Konmari. More and more people embrace the idea that amidst the clamour for more, owning less and reducing clutter is a path to joy.  Her book has sold more than six million copies and she has scaled dizzying heights to become a modern lifestyle influencer who is even seen by some as a spiritual guru.

This ‘guru’ status arises from Kondo’s ability to address the anxiety caused by accumulation. Categories routinely encourage consumers to buy more, more often. Fashion is just one case in point. Where the industry was once dominated by two seasons (Spring-Summer and Autumn-Winter), fashion is becoming faster. The phenomenon of fast fashion has seasons changing quicker; start-of-season sales, end-of-season sales, mid-season sales; all creating occasions for purchase that can seem overwhelming and excessive.

A business as advanced as technology, too, has not been immune to the desire to cut back and simplify. Last year, Kickstarter saw several projects in the anti-smartphone category. One such, which started shipping early this year, is called the Light Phone. Launched at $100, the Light Phone aims to be the opposite of a smartphone. It is a phone that does only what your grandparents’ phone ever did - it can make and receive calls. Period.  It does this by linking to your smartphone with the help of an app. The Light Phone was designed to be used as little as possible. It doesn't support the internet, nor does it have a camera.

In another push towards simplicity, the beloved mobile phone Nokia 3310, (dubbed “unbreakable” because of its simple, sturdy design) is making a come back. And in its second innings, the ‘simple’ phone will stick to its key features - long battery life and sturdy design. It has an upgraded colour screen, but certainly no high-resolution display and will have nothing like the capabilities of the modern smartphone. The phone’s promise of simplicity certainly has a broad appeal – on the date of the launch, it sold out within a minute!

Closer home, Peugeot has bought the iconic Ambassador from Hindustan Motors with plans to revive the brand, harking back to widespread nostalgia for simpler times with a simpler aesthetic.

What do these seemingly isolated instances, each culturally resonant and powerful, tell us?

While the world will undoubtedly become more complex and shifts such as the Internet of Things are here to stay, there will be an accompanying pull towards simplicity. There already are a number of people who are making a conscious shift towards simplicity. And this number will grow, because while the human brain loves complexity, there is only so much of complexity that it will be able to deal with, before trying to simplify it in order to make sense of multiplicity in all its forms.

What are the implications for us as marketers? The most important one might be to strike the balance between complexity and simplicity, a simplified complexity. It may sound like an oxymoron but this could become a guiding principle as to how we engage with our consumers - with enough complexity to keep them hooked, but also simplified enough as to not overwhelm them. Simplified complexity should drive how we design our products, design our packaging, frame our storytelling - it should shape every element of the brand that the consumer interacts with.

A wise man once said “Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity.” But it seems today that people are increasingly willing to redefine progress. Brands must follow suit.

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Padmapriya 

Padmapriya is a Senior Strategy Director in our Bangalore office. She is a compulsive reader and reads everything she can get her hands on… even scraps of paper that are lying around. But she firmly believes that reality is stranger than fiction and is constantly looking for real life drama around her.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

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Visit Original Link

We’re witnessing a battle between competing ideas and ideologies of identity, whether it’s at the level of local municipal elections in India, pitched political battles abroad or in debates on Twitter.  

It seemed like the right time to decode the changes and shifts in that most fundamental of constructs - identity. We’re curious about how these evolutions are playing out in the markets that will matter most - India’s small towns, expected to lead the country’s next wave of growth.

This podcast draws on anecdotes, personal narratives and observed behavior. Do have a listen, and drop us a note to let us know what you think. 

Sanchari Chakrabarty

Sanchari is a Senior Strategist working out of our Mumbai office. She worships at the altar of the World Wide Web and believes that within Bollywood dialogues, lies profound wisdom.You can get in touch with her on twitter @sancharisays

Neeraj Sharma

Neeraj is a Director, Brand Strategy, working out of our Mumbai office. Having been written off by his colleagues as far as his jokes are concerned, he has turned to photography and is a mini-celebrity on Instagram. You can follow him @story_behind_the_snap

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

[ddbdiariesindia]

Fully Filmi Feminism

 How the Bollywood dream-factory is proving to be the unlikely champion for women in a year that’s given them little to celebrate.  

 Social conservatism staged an unprecedented resurgence, the President-Elect of the United States espoused some decidely misogynistic points of view on the campaign trail, and closer home, women were served a chilling and wholly unnecessary reminder regarding the precarious safety of shared public spaces. The year gone by, as thousands of Op-Eds have lamented, was a year to dent the hopes of the most ardent and optimistic feminist.

Or so goes the accepted narrative, bookended by the twin hasthtags #notallmen (promoted by men advocating for themselves in the face of atrocities against women) and #yesallwomen (the hashtag of choice for women and men asserting the ubiquity of sexual intimidation and assault).

 But to take this narrative at face value is to minimize the potential and promise of a rich vein of home-grown feminism,  a feminism that is often at odds with the textbook definitions that have currency on campuses across the world. It’s a feminism that’s steeped in local context but also challenges convention, a feminism that’s recognizable but also provocative and unsettling, a feminism that is striking a chord and generating reflection and reactions.

  It’s the first time, in a long time, that feminism is passing the ultimate test of a movement for change – it is exciting the popular imagination, and telling popular stories. Its substance is being served up, filmi style, by an industry noted for its persistent, problematic stereotyping of women. And its filminess is what might just be underpinning its success.

 Take Dangal, the movie that’s setting cash registers ringing, tongues wagging and has fingers furiously typing up status messages and comments. Aamir Khan’s portrayal of Mahavir Phogat has been widely heralded. But audiences have also critiqued him for playing the archetypal male saviour who predictably appropriates agency and steals thunder from the women in his life.

  But the merit of this movie’s filmi, storybook take on feminism – the North Indian patriarch, defying social codes, pushing his daughters to their very limits to realize his own unfulfilled dreams – is that it speaks to an undeniable, unfashionable Indian truth. In a culture that conventionally charts just one or two courses for women’s lives and privileges the performance of socially mandated roles, the most authentic route to empowerment isn’t necessarily one that’s individualistic.  

  Authentic empowerment might in fact be empowerment that’s motivated by a call to duty, a call to fulfill the dreams of those that the women in question love. In challenging his daughters, Khan as Phogat is challenging social assumptions about his daughters, his own assumptions about his daughters and his daughters’ assumptions about themselves. Looked at in this way, Mahavir Phogat is not so much a saviour, but a catalyst for change – and which society doesn’t need more of those?

  The discovery of women’s talent and potential is a discovery that Geeta, Babita, Mahavir and the people who populate their lives participate in together. It is a collective re-imagining of what women can and can’t, should and shouldn’t do.

  Can she? Should she? Recently we’ve been lucky to see a plethora of plotlines in which women take drastic departures from the norm in answering these questions – whether it’s Deepika Padukone’s turn as the warrior princess in Bajirao Mastani and the not-so-dutiful daughter in Piku, Kangana Ranaut as the feisty, relectuantly married woman in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Anushka Sharma’s wrestling chops in Sultan, and Rani Mukherjee wrecking violent vengeance in Mardaani.

  It’s important to note that these empwering plotlines do not represent indie/art/ parallel Hindi cinema, to which they were confined for a large part of the 70s and 80s. They are unabashedly mainstream, the stuff of blockbusters. Promisingly, they are also mirrored by a handful of television shows that are doggedly withstanding the temptation to regress socially in order to garner TRPs – Udaan, the story of a marathon runner crossing caste lines, comes to mind.

  And while metaphors of women’s ‘inner strength’ (often interpreted as their gift for enduring pain, humiliation and struggle) have always abounded in Bollywood, the movies mentioned above often explore literal, physical strength – that most masculine of virtures, now muscularly reappropriated by women.  In doing so, they are both feeding and feeding off India’s affection for women sportstars – Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal and now Sakshi Malik, Deepa Karmakar and P.V. Sindhu.

  This collective re-imagining is also accelerated by how the same performers are living lives in the public eye. Kangana Ranaut was dignified and defiant in embracing tabloid and televised slut-shaming after the collapse of an alleged romance with a male superstar. Deepika Padukone has expanded on filmi ideas of authenticity by embracing and revealing the unsexy truth of her struggles with depression. Twinkle Khanna has reinvented herself as a biting social commentator and engaging wordsmith.

  The power of this uniqely filmi feminism doesn’t lie in subscribing to purist feminine ideals. Filmi feminism can be flawed – the women are still unrealistically gorgeous, they often fail to acknowledge their own power to create change, and their transformation and success is often attributed to triggers outside of themselves. But filmi feminism is undoubtedly entertaining, and it creates stories young women – and men – want to start telling for themselves. It fuels alternate expectations and fans the desire for alternate realities. For reasons related to business more so than anything else, filmi feminism is on the prowl for new narratives and icons. It’s winning the popular cultural battles that feminists in the West are still fighting.

  The ideal is to evolve into a more nuanced, refined filmi feminism – one where received ideas of masculinity and femininity are subordinated to individual identity, one where women stand for themselves alone and are not forcefully ‘elevated’ into the tiring role of the symbol. Perhaps advertising, with its compact, individualistic narratives will embrace this nuance and lead the way. For now, even as the details remain problematic, the broad brushstrokes look auspicious indeed. Here’s to more robust filmi feminism in the year to come.

Toru Jhaveri

Toru Jhaveri is a Senior Strategy Director working out of our Mumbai office. She is an art and psychology enthusiast who is fatally addicted to instant noodles. She tweets as @quirkyclogs and curates our official Signbanking handle @DDBSigns.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behaviour. Follow @DDBSigns on Twitter, or drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more

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Frugality’s New Frontier

How the old idea of savings has assumed a new avatar, and is rapidly capturing consumers’ imaginations in India today.

Frugality is a much celebrated Indian virtue. And Indian advertising has always celebrated the notion that Indians are frugal – from Big Bazaar’s Sabse Saste Din campaign ‘Nichod,’ to the more recent Sulekha.com advertisement demonstrating jugaad (the Indian version of inventiveness).

Saving is in our blood and retail businesses across the country know this well.

But while e-commerce wars are catching the country’s attention, the government is putting a cap on deep discounts, and offline players are trying to manage the online threat to their businesses, the consumer is quietly moving to another party.

And that party comes equipped with something glitzy called ‘cashbacks’. We’re not suggesting that ‘cashback’ as an instrument is a new concept. Indian consumers are familiar with finance schemes like EMIs and cashbacks.  Credit cards have always offered cashbacks, although the idea didn’t enter the popular imagination for a long time. The orientation towards, and adoption of cashbacks today has happened at a fast pace thanks to the ongoing digital revolution in India.  

But that’s just one part of the story. 

The fact that you can save money while spending money and see it come back to you almost instantly is a gripping narrative in and of itself, and young Indians want more of it. In a culture where we have come to accept nothing less than an instantaneous response to our messages, our pictures, our cravings and our every desire, cashbacks make shopping feel  as rewarding as it was enjoyable.  

In a recently concluded consumer study, a majority of youngsters admitted to using services like PayTM for recharges totalling as little as Rs 100, getting a cashback of Rs 4.  A colleague purchased an iPhone online just because of the Rs 10,000 cashback.  How amazing is it that a convenience charge for booking a movie online gets nullified thanks to this? Or that a consumer can get a cashback of Rs 5000 for a motorcycle, even before their vehicle has been delivered to them?

“In times of instant gratification, brands have noticed that consumers want their incentives to be packaged differently,” says an ET article about how loyalty programs are being reframed today.

What is it about this packaging that makes it so desirable? For one, it reframes what savings or bachat means to us. Vanilla percentage offs have almost become a blind spot with consumers. An Atlantic article titled ‘The 11 Ways Consumers are Hopeless with Math’ argues that we don’t like doing math while shopping and end up making decisions that feel right. Discounting makes our brain work hard, which is why we tend to value it slightly less.

Secondly, there is no physicality to discounts. It may be a 20% off, or even Rs 200 less, but consumers still have to pay an amount up-front, turning savings into phantom savings that reside only in calculations in their heads. Whereas the cashback is right there, making its way back to them, thereby making their savings more tangible. Just like money in your palm, except that the money is a notification and your palm is the mobile phone.  

The third driver of the casback’s appeal is the skepticism towards promotions. Is it really a price off or have retailers (online and offline) just marked up the price to bring it down? The fact that the money saved is yours, and what’s more, is given back to you instantaneously, lends cashbacks more credibility in a consumer’s mind.

The Mindspace Public Policy Report (UK) makes an interesting point about incentives saying that we mentally allocate money to discrete bundles and this mental accounting means that identical incentives vary in their impact according to the context. People unconsciously make bundles like expense, savings, salary and others in their mind. While the usual discount would still fit in the mental bundle of expense, a cashback on the other hand makes its way to the savings bundle.

Your opinion on the key drivers aside, the response to cashbacks reiterate the huge appetite Indians have for savings. It is imperative that businesses constantly keep reinventing and innovating their sales & incentive strategies in ways that best feed this appetite.

A sharp consumer insight about savings will always win in the Indian market – whether it’s an advertising campaign, a seemingly innocuous sales promo or a business model in itself.

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Neha Damle

Neha Damle is a Strategist working out of our Mumbai office. She believes good quotes are food for the soul and loves collecting as many of them as she can. She spends her free time reading, swimming and watching movies.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behavior. Drop us a line at  [email protected] to learn more.

[ddbdiariesindia]

Ideal meets Other

Stories that have been passed on through the ages have been bearers of a set of values. They have defined what is good, and what is Ideal. It is this Ideal around which we find our identity, finding ourselves either inadequate or accomplished. These stories tell us that fair is beautiful, that an ideal man supports his family and an ideal woman is caring and nurturing. The forms that stories take keep changing but the inherent definition of the Ideal hasn’t changed radically over the years. It remains consistent, singular and unilateral. This kind of representation alienates people who differ significantly from the ideal. It creates a rift between who is identifiable and who is the Other.

This problematic homogenization of narratives is being challenged over the last few years. The digital age and Globalization have led to a convergence of cultures, lending platforms for questioning and rethinking. As cultures are borrowing from each other, they are redefining and broadening the scope of their Ideal, making room for more deviations. Moreover, digital media has given a mouthpiece to previously under, or misrepresented communities. As a result, we see and hear of more diverse narratives questioning conventional ideals and giving voice to the other.

Nandita Das’s ‘Stay Unfair, Stay Beautiful’ campaign challenged the deeply ingrained aspiration for fair skin, the belief that fair is the Ideal. She said “We keep saying things like ‘Uska rang saaf nahi hai’ as if dark skin is a dirty thing. This mindset is then propagated in our songs, stories and movies.” And she is only one of the many voices, who by the mere virtue of being present, demand to be noticed and represented; claiming space in mass communication. It is only now that these divergent voices are being amplified and accepted, with the result that authorities responsible for representation are increasingly held answerable to a call for inclusion.

Content creators are starting to represent the Other as an important participant in stories. The film Margarita with a Straw, saw a differently-abled woman as its protagonist, who questioned the notion of an ideal sexual identity.  Shuddh Desi Romance told us the story of a couple who is in love, but doesn’t believe in the conventions of marriage –a conscious subversion of the idealized form of love. English Vinglish has a housewife as its protagonist, throwing light on the caliber of women who don’t ‘go out to work’. Even prime time TV shows have begun to explore protagonists who deviate from the Ideal. Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Ye explored the journey of a  married woman who finds independence and companionship outside her marriage, while a business woman falls in love with a man several years younger to her in Kehta hai Dil Jee le Zara.  

It can be argued that brand communication has seen the least change with this respect. Through the years, it has been the most potent vehicle of stereotyped ideals. Because nuances of human insights often end up becoming simplified representations of the lowest common denominator. So advertising has often been predictable in its depiction of the ideal mom in food products ads, the ideal homemaker in kitchen products and the responsible father in life insurance and financial product advertising. Since advertising is not just about entertaining and relevant story telling - the economics of brands depends on the stories brands tell. So the decision to make any change almost always meets with over-deliberation and resistance, leading to most brands erring on the side of caution. But in doing so, we underestimate our audience and end up playing it safe in the fear of alienating or offending them.  

However, in a more digitally-equalizing world, as more people find a voice, the other is beginning to find itself included by brands, even if a bit grudgingly.

Barbie, the popular blonde blue eyed doll has been criticized for cultivating unrealistic body ideals. So now, the doll comes in a number of different skin tones, body types and hair styles and has more than 150 careers to choose from – clearly because the brand felt more answerable to its audience. When Haneefah Adam, a Nigerian woman, dressed her Barbie in a Hijab to make her more identifiable and put up a picture on Instagram, she got over 17,000 followers. People asked her when these ‘hijarbies’ would be available for purchase. It is clearly difficult for a brand to ignore the plea for diversity when it gets amplified and garners support.

Even Axe has broken away from the kind of advertising it’s been doing for years. Its advertising perpetuated the notion that a man’s accomplishment was determined by the number of (fantastically attractive) women he succeeds to attract. Its most recent communication, however, showcases a number of men, each starkly different from the other. “Who wants the other thing, when you’ve got your thing?” the brand asks, celebrating individual traits and making space for diversity. The brand still aims to define the ideal type of man – only, it does so by including other types of men in its definition of the ideal man.

These campaigns have caught the attention of many, but the fact that they stand out proves that inclusion of the other has not yet become the norm in brand communication. And this is a cause that brands need to take up – not just because it is profitable for the brand. Like Seth Godin says, “Consumption is not the point. Humanity and connection are trumping the desire for corporate scale.”  Of course the decision to make any change is, and will always be, risky. And there is a prudent balance to be maintained. Representing the Other just for the sake of being different stands the chance of being irrelevant or alienating. But diversity that aims to address everyone the brand caters to, only brings the brand closer to all its people.

To be fair, ideals are our way to make sense of the world and to have something to aspire to as a society. So wanting to break away from defined ideals is not only unrealistic, but probably also detrimental. Thankfully, what is changing, is that we are broadening the definition of ideals to include pluralistic representations. These new stories mirror the eclectic mix of individuals that make up our society and create ideals that are relatable, reassuring and achievable. And if the  purpose of brand communication is to inspire behavior and attitudinal change, then what better way to do it than to show people role models that reflect their own best selves? Because there is hardly anything more inspiring than saying ‘If someone like you can do it, so can you!’

  Neha Kulkarni

Neha works in our Mumbai office as Strategist. She is the keeper of spontaneous chatter and inadvertent silence, a pursuer of profound sentences, especially when they come together to form entire books. A kanjoos advertising person who likes chai with ginger.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behavior. Drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more.

[ddbdiariesindia]

Is the age of one-touch-ordering an opportunity to appreciate consumption as connection? 

It’s been a little over a year since Amazon launched their ‘Dash’ buttons in the USA, bringing alive the promise of one-touch purchases for time-pressed, convenience-hungry consumers. Alongside apps and intelligent devices, the Dash button is the latest piece of evidence of a technological revolution that has swept through and re-ordered everyday life for consumers across the globe.

We have evolved past IBM’s Smarter Planet, envisioned as a world where micro-chips could speak to one another and use data more effectively. We now inhabit a Legible Planet – colonized by the Internet of Things – where devices ranging from smartphones to microwaves to soda fountains not only connect with peer systems but also actively gather and analyze data about consumers and their immediate environments. Our devices read us and interpret our behaviors even as we use them, and they shape our experience of the world in ways that we have already begun to take for granted. 

Sounds far-fetched, especially in India? Take a quick glance at your smartphone and imagine dismantling the soft infrastructure that it currently hosts – apps that enable everything from receiving reading and music recommendations, to medication top ups, to ordering food that satisfies midnight cravings, to reminders to stay physically active and drink enough water.

In which case the Dash button is really consumption brought to a logical, elegant, effortless conclusion (In so far as consumption is ever conclusive. After all, Whirpool has an intelligent, detergent-ordering washing machine in the works.) It automates mundane purchases and makes ‘running out’ of essentials almost entirely improbable. It cuts out what is routine and repetitive and allows us to focus on the things that really matter – connections, delight, meaningful experiences – advertising’s great preoccupation! – minus the grocery run. So why is this button, and by extension the Internet of Things, triggering a vein of despair and hand-wringing among product designers, psychologists and journalists?

Simply because the logical, elegant, effortless conclusion to consumption is consumption that is entitled and unthinking, a view exemplified by Ian Crouch in the New Yorker – “All that stuff, the same stuff, used and discarded day after day. It’s the kind of montage that a movie director would use to show just how sad and soulless a character’s life was.”

Seems fair, and rings true. Mindless and excessive consumption is a genuine economic, environmental and social hazard. But is that all the Internet of Things symbolizes, at least as far as consumption is concerned?

After all, isn’t the arrival of automated consumption an incredible opportunity to reframe consumption itself? As more than the drudgery, errand running and unnecessary inconvenience that Amazon says it is? Isn’t it an opportunity to talk about what consumption can be? To quote Crouch again – “What if there is actual value in running out of things? The sinking feeling that comes as you yank a garbage bag out of the box and meet no resistance from further reinforcements is also an opportunity to ask yourself all kinds of questions, from “Do I want to continue using this brand of bag?” to “Why in the hell am I producing so much trash?” 

What if brands were to use this opportunity to create conversations about choice – what it means to consider and actually choose a product, and invite it into one’s home? Or to speak about how visiting a store is actually way to engage with one’s local community, create loose connections, and revitalize it economically? Or to explore the tactile, sensorial delights of shopping at a local market? Or to open up a Pandora’s box about how life is really lived through small, seemingly mundane moments rather than Facebook-worthy hedonic experiences? What if the delivery of products and brands and services was premised not on relentless convenience and efficiency, but on the things that actually make us more human? What if consumerism could celebrate humanity rather than condemn it? It could be the makings of a rich narrative, if only advertisers were bold enough to embrace the risk. 

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Toru Jhaveri

Toru Jhaveri is a Strategy Director working out of our Mumbai office. She is an art and psychology enthusiast who is fatally addicted to instant noodles. She tweets as @quirkyclogs. 

Editor’s Note 

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behavior. Drop us a line [email protected] to learn more

[ddbdiariesindia]

Health is in fashion – which is why being healthy (or not) says more about you than you might expect.

It almost goes without saying that everyone wants to be healthy. Healthfulness is desirable, enhances one’s quality of life and with some luck, one’s life-span itself. But today, health is no longer just confined to the realms of personal choice. It has begun to weigh in as a badge of achievement and glory. Witnessing an unprecedented upgrade, it has become a key differentiator in society - the new X-factor that sets apart the cream from the crowd.

“Strong is the new skinny” and “Health is your best accessory” - these are just a few adages sprinkled across popular media that capture how health is being elevated to a new order of elitism, and fast becoming a fashionable trump card.

And how have these two notions of health and fashion merged?

To be qualified as fashionable hinges on the ability to command attention by the way you look. Today, there is a growing realization that to look good on the outside, it is important to feel good on the inside. Labels and clothes can’t solve for bad skin and high heels won’t always give you that toned look. Therefore, to adopt a healthy diet or habit, to commit to it, and to flaunt its visible rewards has never mattered more than now – health is a key currency of fashion. But beyond health’s clearly physical manifestations, it is also being regarded as a marker of character – it leaves the impression of decisiveness, of privilege, of confidence and most importantly of accomplishment in an increasingly competitive world. All qualities that enhance the aura of (merely) physical appeal and set one apart from the crowd.

For these very reasons the chatter about health is no longer limited to health clubs, gyms and nutritional forums. In fact the world of health, just like the world of fashion and indulgence, has gone social. Enter a fine-dining environment and you will likely find that conversations are sprinkled with a fascination for healthy indulgences. Within the rareified realm of foodie-ism, caviar and chia seeds, for example, have found commonalities – it is often concurred that both share color, texture, tartness and a similar element of surprise!

Even the demanding process of detoxification is acquiring its own fashionable associations, and in some cases a complete makeover. The Ayurvedic practice of “Panchkarma” which recommends five austere processes to eliminate the vitiated “doshas” from the human body is now no more a challenging period of exile dedicated to healing. It has been transformed into a beautifully packaged, luxury spa retreat that is personalized for the picky, trend-conscious traveler.

It’s also increasingly evident that “bespoke” has moved beyond its usual realm of fashion to be-friend diets and healthy choices. The secrecy that shrouded tailors who effortlessly got the right fit has been extended to nutritionists. Never before have personal trainers been so sought after or custom exercise regimes been so popular – take the example of Body Combat – a carefully curated exercise regime that combines the pluses of martial arts with kick-boxing. Or Body-Balance, that promises to get you fit and fabulous by drawing on the double benefits of yoga and Tai Chi.

But will this fascination with health be a passing fad, like so many others, or is it a trend that’s here to stay? We’re betting on the latter.

Apart from the obvious physical and emotional benefits of health, coupled with a new social competitiveness, there are numerous subliminal reminders at play of a world that is quickly running out of resources. Health, then, becomes an invaluable internal locus which to cope with this world.

Riding on all of these cues, brand narratives in the foods category have begun to innovate on how to make health and food science more resonant for consumers. The origin and the manufacturing process of food products have found clear visibility within brand communications, with the farm to fork journey being mined by brand managers for rich storytelling. Nutritional credentials have become brand differentiators and claims are now an essential part of almost every food offering. From the simple “no added preservatives”, “low fat” to “packs it all in,” we are now witnessing a growing use of evocative descriptors which promise wholesomeness & healthfulness - such as “organic,” “hand-crafted,” “home-grown,” and “pure and healthy.”

But as with all fashion trends, moderation and knowing what works for you is key. Psychologists say there is a thin line between healthy intent and obsession. New eating disorders like “othorexia” are showing how a simple intention of eating healthy could turn into a dangerous addiction that leads to nutritional deficiency. The roots of the obsession lie in the aspiration and idealism now attached to health. In a competitive marketplace filled with social conversations, the onus might just be on health brands to ensure responsibility, balance and moderation.

Mohini Varma

Mohini is a Director, Brand Communications in our Delhi office. She brings with her a decade of experience across a number of diverse industries ranging from broadcast journalism, art curation to advertising. For her art, in all its forms, offers a rich escape into a world of unending possibilities and discovery. An avid nature & dog lover, she enjoys going for long walks in forests, reading and listening to music.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behavior. Drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more.

[ddbdiariesindia]

It is “things unchanged” and not the common rhetoric, that tell you the real story about a place and its people. 

It’s common knowledge that many physical and conceptual Indias exist within one geographical India. And as each of these Indias moves towards progress and development, change becomes the common rhetoric with which to bind them together and make sense of this dynamic reshaping of physical and mental space.

But this overarching rhetoric of change also obscures the genuine originality and diversity of the many Indias. During past trips to my home town, I have come to realize that often it is the “things unchanged” that tell the real tale of a place. These details bring alive the little nuances which make the many Indias different.

And “things unchanged” are often hidden deep beneath the flow of common rhetoric, only occasionally rising to the surface (think of a blue whale, its snout visible above the water). And they are best captured in anecdotes such as the one which we’re sharing in this post.

This story is about a certain Mr. Tiwary – a well-to-do middle aged person from a small town.

In his youth, Mr. Tiwary decided to become a businessman - which was (and still is) not considered a worthy profession for a middle class boy as compared to “safe” government jobs. He took risks, worked hard, struggled and kept at it despite family resistance, finally achieving success. Like many other success stories, his mobile phone helped him achieve his ambitions, allowing him to connect with his customers, guide his employees, and contact his suppliers. Like many people, especially businessmen in small towns, he owned multiple handsets, juggling his various roles as family-man and business-man using each of them.

But here is the twist. Every day, he comes home for lunch without fail and takes a siesta for a couple of hours. And during that time all his mobile phones are switched off. That’s his me-time and it shouldn’t be disturbed at any cost. The question of “How much more money would I have made had I worked during those hours?” does not cross his mind.

Isn’t it fascinating to see how time is seen so differently in another part of the country? Small towners don’t see time only as a resource to be applied towards producing a tangible output. They see time as an investment in their quality of life. That’s why taking a siesta might be considered  ‘wasted’ time in our ever-running metros, whereas for Mr. Tiwary it is time well spent, an essential part of a life well lived.

What does this story tell us? While devising communication for small town audiences, brands should know the parameters they will be evaluated on and the emotional chord they will be striking – not in general, but in very specific terms. So the next time you want to show a successful person as someone who is always busy or working around the clock, read this post again, from the start. The currencies of our big cities don’t always have the same value in our small towns.

And while stories of ambition (as in Bunti aur Babli), openness in relationships (as in Shuddh Desi Romance) and identity as empowerment (Queen) are finding their place in popular culture, stories of savouring life at a slower pace are demanding their due.

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Neeraj Sharma

Neeraj is a Senior Strategist working out of our Mumbai office. Having been written off by his immediate colleagues for his puns, he is hunting for followers on Twitter. Follow @ShadyPuns and “prey” for him.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behavior. Drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more.

[ddbdiariesindia]

Today’s woman can have it all, and she isn’t afraid to ask for help

  Back in 2012, Anne Marie-Slaughter wrote a landmark article in The Atlantic titled “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” with a visual which made it to the cover of the magazine, featuring a baby in a briefcase. Oprah Winfrey also articulated a very similar thought when she said – “Women can have it all, but not at once.”

  Women are often at the receiving end of a myth that requires them to be everything at once.

  It edicts that she, the superwoman, is the sole person who needs to manage everything, without asking for or expecting any help along the way. Her slightest misstep is seen as evidence of her being lazy, careless, or worse, incapable.

  In a utopian world, the myth wouldn’t exist at all. But today’s modern woman is dealing with this kryptonite in her own way. We’re slowly seeing a shift, with women refusing to accept the sole burden of managing it all. There’s no – or less – guilt attached to distributing the load and gathering support from her close networks.

  The modern woman is still a superwoman; she just has many more sidekicks. Every hero in history has never gone the long nine yards alone - Harry would be nothing without Ron & Hermione, and Batman leans heavily on Robin - why should she be any different?

  Her sidekicks come in different avatars.

  The usual suspect is the husband. She depends on him to take turns to change the baby’s diaper, take care of the groceries (sometimes even meals), and give her some breathing space when she needs it. The Viral Fever’s web show Pitchers has the protagonist doing the washing and cooking when his wife’s busy. Popular TV shows like Parvarrish, Yeh Hai Mohabbattein too showcase the support system that women today are drawing strength from to deal with their responsibilities. Even brands have taken notice of this shift. The iconic menswear brand Raymonds has released an ad featuring a dad taking a day off to care for his baby while the mother drives off to work. Nestle is encouraging dads to play their part in successful breastfeeding by helping moms get the rest they need.

Siblings and parents are the next in line, often pitching in with tedious chores. The young sister–in-law quickly fixes something for dinner as per instructions on the phone, and even friends have the pleasure of being taken for granted when she needs them – a young mom once admitted to calling her best friend over to look after her baby for a few hours so she could take a nap.

  An article in The Hindu, called ‘A labour of love,’ talks about how grandparents have become proxy-parents as couples increasingly struggle with child-care options. Closer home, my own mother has quit her job to take care of my two year old niece so that my sister, a dentist, can grow her business.

  The rise of sidekicks and more importantly their guiltless employment by our superwoman is perhaps the most telling of her willingness to ask for help to make the most of her time and aspirations.

And while family may be the first line support for our modern-day superwomen, schools and teachers are a close second. In Mumbai, schools such as Vibgyor International & Nahar International today offer day-care services to keep children in a safe environment until parents can come and pick them up.

  Even businesses are becoming more cognizant of the importance of helping women carry their load. Brands like Watscooking.com and ZuperMeal deliver home-cooked meals; kirana stores sell home-made theplas, rotis & sabzis. Women are warming up to services like these that help knock things off their to-do list.

  There’s no doubt that the woman still has a lot on her plate, but by unabashedly recruiting sidekicks, she’s allowing herself the time and space to do more and be more.

Time for brands and services to prepare their resumes, because applications for sidekicks are now open. After all, even great heroes need their armies; and the modern day superwoman is no less of a hero in our life.

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Neha Damle

Neha Damle is a Strategist working out of our Mumbai office. She believes good quotes are food for the soul and loves collecting as many of them as she can. She spends her free time reading, swimming and watching movies.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behavior. Drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more.

[ddbdiariesindia]

More and more women in the public eye are reclaiming agency over their bodies and directing the way they want their image to be consumed. Is the power of the male gaze being threatened?

For the past few decades, images of the feminine form were meant to be consumed by men. The power play of male gaze ensured that ownership of a woman’s body rested with the man. A man’s approval would validate whether a woman’s body was even worth consumption. And if not owned by a man, a woman’s own expression of her physical form, be it sexually or in a way that signified comfort with her body, was a matter of shame and to be hidden. This wasn’t always the case, though, and it is changing again as women are reclaiming agency over their bodies.

Take the portrayal of women in our mainstream Hindi cinema as an example. During the ‘50s and ‘60s, there were several ‘club songs’ featuring women who sang and danced to entertain their male patrons. However, the ‘hero’ of these songs was always the woman who exhibited dignified control over the performance, while a discerning audience appreciated her performance as they would appreciate a work of art. So when Madhubala sang ‘Aayiye Meherbaan’, or when Helen played a seductress in ‘Yeh mera dil,’ she owned the way she wanted her beauty to be consumed.

Somewhere down the line, the focus shifted from the woman to the men who were consuming her body. By the ‘90s and 2000s, songs like ‘Fevicol se’ and remixed videos of songs like ‘Kaanta laga’, reduced women to the sum of their body parts, with hordes of men ogling at them. The ‘heroes’ of these performances were the men who benefitted from the display.

The myth of shame and morality was perpetuated with Sooraj Barjatiya’s school of films defining ‘good’ and ‘bad’ kinds of women through their simplified characterization. A fully clad woman who exhibited sufficient coyness and submissiveness in front of the patriarchal structures of her sasural was good. ‘Bad’ women, such as Reema Lagoo’s friends in Hum Saath Saath Hai were the ones who were garishly made up, stylishly dressed up, and were not shown attending to their husband or family. This unilateral, simplified representation propagated the politics of shame, associating women who decorated their bodies of their own accord with a lack of morality.

Thankfully, the warped power structure of shame and agency is slowly but surely shifting. Women have started un-hiding and accentuating their form, which in itself is an act of defiance against societal constructs of the male gaze. This shift has been manifesting itself in our everyday, in the way women dress and in the way they take a stand against body shaming in popular culture.

A few months ago, Deepika Padukone objected to having pictures of her in an outfit with a low neckline, splashed across the front pages of a prominent newspaper. The newspaper, in turn, reacted to her objections by trying to shame her. It published a whole host of other images of her cleavage, with arrows helpfully (and tastelessly) pointing out her ‘skin show’ and inviting readers to judge the actress. By taking a strong stand against this, Deepika sparked a debate over the issue of consent. The few who argued that the actress had already made her body available for consumption, were silenced by the many who had the good sense to see the difference between objectification and self-expression.

This is one example of how young female celebrities are asserting their ownership of their bodies and extending it to owning and directing their image in the public eye. While attempts at projecting a certain image were always being made by celebrities, of late, who they are and what they want to be seen as, has become central to their interactions with the media.

Actors like Parineeti Chopra and Kangana Ranaut have aligned their image to their choice of film roles, brand endorsements and even the kinds of questions from reporters that they want to answer or dismiss. In refusing to endorse Fair & Lovely, India’s most successful skincare brand, Kangana took a stand on not wanting to present her body as one that has succumbed to unfair beauty standards – a narrative about herself that she scrupulously maintains in all her interactions with the media. Parineeti Chopra, Sonakshi Sinha and Vidya Balan have been challenging questions and comments from the media about their body shape. They have been talking about their love for food and their comfort with their body shape and size, propagating positive self-images and challenging unachievable and homogenous standards of beauty set by years of male validation.

In light of this development, brands will have to choose their endorsers with greater care. The celebrity’s projected narrative of herself in the media would need to be consciously matched to the brand’s vision to ensure that communication is impactful and investments are fruitful. Efforts towards this were always made by brands while choosing male celebrities, which is why we have examples of successful partnerships such as that of Amitabh Bachhan and Kaun Banega Crorepati. But now, brands will also have to rethink the role of female celebrities as more than pretty popular faces helping demonstrate the effectiveness of their products. It’s a significant change, and one that has been a long time coming.

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Neha Kulkarni

Neha works in our Mumbai office as Strategist. She is the keeper of spontaneous chatter and inadvertent silence, a pursuer of profound sentences, especially when they come together to form entire books. A kanjoos advertising person who likes chai with ginger.

Editor’s Note

All our blog posts draw on and add back to DDB Signbank, a proprietary repository of thousands of signs collected over time from across the world. These signs, when looked at collectively, point us in the direction of significant shifts in culture and consumer behavior. Drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more.