DDB Mudra West creates awareness about Daan Utsav with a pro bono campaign
The agency created two inspiring TVCs for free to encourage Indians to give back to society in a meaningful way during the 'Joy of Giving' week (October 2-8)
BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | October 9, 2015
Launched in 2009, Daan Utsav (or The Joy of Giving Week as it was originally called) is India's annual 'festival of giving'. Celebrated every year in the week including Gandhi Jayanti (October 2-8 this year), it is an open platform encouraging everyone in India to give back to society in a meaningful way. An act of giving can be anything – a small donation to a charity you know, a gift for someone less fortunate, a donated meal or a couple of hours spent volunteering for a cause.
This year, DDB Mudra Group did its share towards Daan Utsav by 'giving' it's time and talent pro bono and helping in increasing awareness about it. The agency created two inspiring stories for free in order to drive home the point that Daan Utsav is about the act of giving, irrespective of the amount or nature of the 'giving'.
The campaign, comprising two TVCs, intended to reinforce the 'joy of giving', which baselines this event. The objective was to help Daan Utsav grow into a bigger, better and more inclusive initiative by inspiring Indians from all walks of life to give anything – time, money, effort or gestures and to relish the joy of giving. This thought gave birth to the idea – 'Kuchh bhi do, dil se do'. (Whatever you give, give with all your heart.)
The 'Lunch' TVC shows an office peon's kind-hearted gesture towards his boss. Day after day, the young boss asks the peon to get him a sandwich for lunch, even as he stays glued to his laptop. One day, the elderly peon decides to offer his packed lunch to the boss, asking him to have “ghar ka khana” for a change. The young executive is taken by surprise at this unexpected and kind gesture.
The 'Bus' film shows how one selfless act encourages others to also help those in need. A woman, who manages to get a seat in a crowded bus, is reluctant to vacate it for an elderly lady. The young man sitting next to her, who has been engrossed in a book, sees the elderly lady standing. So he vacates his seat for her. It is only when he gets up that the woman sees that the young man is wearing a prosthetic leg. This act of kindness moves the woman and next we see her standing at the aisle, having vacated her seat for the young man.
The two films were not asking for charity. Nor were they aimed at guilt-tripping the viewer into doing something for a good cause. They were simple, heart-warming stories that inspired one to give without being preachy.
The idea intended to make 'gestures' and not money as a focal point of giving, and hence democratise the space of giving. By focusing on small gestures of kindness, the agency flipped the conventional concept of giver and taker and drove home the point that it is the spirit and not the amount that matters. They tried to establish the thought that it's not about who you are or what you give, it's about the joy of giving.
DDB Mudra West, along with production house Like-Minded People, came together to make these films pro bono. The entire process of creating and producing these films was born out of the very spirit that the films themselves espouse – the spirit of giving.
Commenting on the campaign, Sonal Dabral, Chairman and CCO, DDB Mudra Group, said, “When one works on any social service message, it's easy to fall prey to using exaggerated sentimentality and make the viewer feel morally burdened. We wanted to keep away from that. There is a certain simplicity of thought to the Daan Utsav initiative. The attempt was to capture this simplicity by keeping the stories simple and making simple 'gestures' convey the joy of giving. I sincerely hope that these two little everyday stories for Daan Utsav will inspire people to give with all their heart and the spirit of giving will continue well beyond the 'Joy of Giving' week.”
On being a part of the initiative, Piyush Raghani of Like-Minded People, said, “I'm glad it worked out. Thank you for the opportunity.”
Rama Arya, a Daan Utsav volunteer, said, “This is the celebration of one of the most basic characteristics of human life – giving, and builds on the premise that giving gives equal joy to the giver as it does to the receiver. We approached DDB Mudra West for one simple reason. I don't think anyone else, but Sonal, could do justice in translating the underlying principle of Daan Utsav into the film medium. He is a fantastic storyteller and a natural giver. Giving is blatant in his DNA. To top it, Sonal's team at DDB Mudra complement him perfectly. The two films they created for the festival gave us goose bumps even at script stage. The end products are marvelous to say the least: simple, inspiring and humane. But then we did not expect anything less from him and his team.”
The TVCs:
Credits:
Creative agency: DDB Mudra West
Chairman and Chief Creative Officer: Sonal Dabral
President, DDB Mudra West: Rajiv Sabnis
National Strategic Planning Head: Aditya Kanthy
Executive Creative Director: Manish Darji
Group Creative Director: Shagun Seda
Group Head (Copy): Nivedita Agashe
Senior Copywriter: Anisha Ralhan
Account Planning: Neeraj Sharma
Senior Agency Producer: Vishal Sane
Films Executive: Pravin Misal
Production House: Like-Minded People
Director: Piyush Raghani
Executive Producer: Ruchi Mehta
Producer: Puneet Bhatia
Director of Photography: Deepti Gupta
Line Producer: Gemma Fonseca
Production Design: Ajay H Chodanker, Vipin Kumar, Tarur Elayachanidom (PUPA All Set)
Costume Design: Sanjna Shah, Shrushti Donde
Make Up & Hair: Laksh Singh
Music Director: Sameer Uddin
Sound Design and Mix: Arun Crasto
Associate Producer/ Unit Production Manager: Minoti Ashar
Assistant Director: O'keef Attari
Assistant Director: Raghav Mantri
Assistant Director/DA: Tanvi Arora
Colourist: Miten Udeshi
Editor: Ernest D'Souza
Online: Shyamal Sahoo
Finance: Rajesh Parikh, Pallavi Singh
Location: Santosh Kesharwani, Ajay K Singh, Mukesh Chedda
Gaffer: Abdul Hamid
Key Grip: Dharmendra Singh Bhurji
Assistant Cinematographer: Satchith Paulose
Post Production Supervisor: Faizan Qureshi
Post Production Assistant: Ralph D'Souza
Special Thanks: Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust