Swachh Bharat Mission campaign attempts to curb open defecation

Under the government's Swachh Bharat mission, Ogilvy & Mather has conceptualised a campaign with Amitabh Bachchan to bring out the importance of toilets at home and to curb open defecation

BestMediaInfo Bureau| Mumbai | November 24, 2016

Click on the Image to watch the TVC.

Ogilvy Delhi recently launched a campaign to curb open defecation, one of the key objectives of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, wanted to develop a communication that would help bring about this change.

In many places in India, open defecation is a traditional practice deeply ingrained from early childhood. A significant gap also exists between knowledge and practice. People are aware of the health risks related to poor sanitation but continue with unhealthy practices.

The practice of open defecation is not limited to rural India. It is found in urban areas too where the percentage of people who defecate in the open is 12 per cent, while in rural settings it is about 65 per cent.

The genesis of the communication was born from three key insights. Firstly, there is a belief that it is healthier to defecate in the open as it keeps the dirt away from the house. Second, there is a belief that toilets need to be constructed for only women for their safety and privacy. Third, social status/pride play a role in behaviour change.

For any communication to be noticed, it needs to be relevant and tell a compelling story. Amitabh Bachchan, known to his fans as Bachchanji, has shown his commitment to the Swachh Bharat Mission and was a natural choice for a campaign on behaviour change. A young boy was selected as his companion to highlight how even a child is aware of this issue and the simple solution that is available to everyone.

Piyush Pandey

Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia, said, “Open defecation is not a new or modern problem. It is so deeply entrenched that it is considered normal. To raise a doubt in people's mind about it was a challenge in itself. The communication would have to break habits and would need to be endearing and assertive without being preachy. We have worked with Bachchan on many communication campaigns and he himself is associated with the government of India across various issues. The task for us was to use our celebrity's strengths and create a communication that is differentiated.”

“So 'Bachchanji' became the influencer and 'Bachchaji' the young agent of change. This helped disseminate information through a lively, cheeky conversation between our celebrity and his unlikely, intelligent and quick witted companion, the little boy. In the three TVC campaign, we thus tackled each of the barriers -- to promote the need for a toilet, usage by all and trigger behaviour change by instilling pride,” Pandey said.

Ajay Gahlaut

Ajay Gahlaut, ECD, Ogilvy Group Companies, North, said, “Any campaign that is designed to change behaviour at a mass level needs to be easily understood by all sections of society. We had Bachchan for our TV ads, so that ensured that the campaign would not be missed and would appeal to everybody. The challenge was to make the campaign a little different and refreshing, which is where the idea of 'Bachcha Ji' and 'Bachchan Ji' came about. After that it was just a matter of making sure that their light-hearted banter addressed all relevant barriers.”

Chandana Agarwal

Chandana Agarwal, Managing Partner, Ogilvy & Mather, Delhi, “The brief to create communication to curb open defecation was not an easy brief since open defecation is not something one can openly talk about. For any behaviour change campaign, information needs to be easily understood by all sections of society. Further there are so many cultural barriers associated with the eradication of open defecation, so we were looking for a creative idea that was simple, that would connect with people across and one that would be able tackle all the barriers.”

There are three TVCs together of 60 seconds each. All three commercials are shot in artificial set-ups. In the first TVC, there is a set-up of a station. Bachchan and a small kid are shown sitting at the platform. The kid asks Bachchan if he knows where the tracks are leading because he has done the movie Coolie. Bachchan replies but the kid says the tracks do not lead to any place but are the places for people come to defecate. After that, Bachchan talks to the camera and emphasises the benefits of using toilets, instead of open defecation.

The second commercial is a set-up of a farmland where the kid asks Bachchan if he knows the meaning of 'Mard' as he has done that movie. Bachchan replies that 'Mard' is the one /who takes care of the family by protecting them. In the meanwhile, a man on his way to defecate in the open but Bachchan stops him and explains the importance of toilets to him. He says how the government is helping people build toilets.

In the third TVC, the kid asks Bachchan if he knows magic as he has done the movie 'Jadugar'. Bachchan throws a stone on a tree and all the birds sitting on the tree fly away. The kid tells Bachchan that he knows better magic. He throws a stone in the farm and a lot of people get up from the bushes. Later, the importance of toilets is explained.

The TVCs:

https://img-cdn.thepublive.com/filters:format(webp)/bmi/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Swachh-Bharat-Mission.jpg

Credits:

Client: Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Gurgaon

Creative Team:  Piyush Pandey, Ajay Gahlaut, Dalip Daniel

Account Management Team: Kapil Arora, Chandana Agarwal, Jigisha Chawla

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