ITC's Vivel shows what a real compliment should be

About 16 months ago, when it launched the Ab Samjhauta Nahi initiative in July 2016, ITC took the brand positioning of Vivel to a more ‘socially driven objective’. Speaking against objectifying women, removing barriers and restrictions, Vivel had tried to make a social impact with its brand communication in its most talked-about campaign, Boss Women, which was part of the initiative.

Yet again, the brand has tried to reinstate its feminist stance by venturing into a social experiment about a simple regular thing – compliments. Women are known to love getting compliments but Vivel brings a twist to the tale of ‘What is a real compliment?’

As an extension to the ‘Ab Samjhauta Nahi’ initiative, Vivel has brought out a digital campaign titled Say It Right. The film is conceptualised by Kunal Kamra, a stand-up comedian. OML, an independent artist management agency, which represents Kamra, connected him to ITC for the campaign.

Preranaa Khatri, Brand Content Lead, OML, said, “At OML, we believe in telling brand stories with creators who have something worthwhile to say. When ITC Vivel approached us for this brand communication, we felt Kamra would be the perfect fit given his knack to communicate serious and relevant issues effectively through his light brand of humour. He conceptualised and directed the video, and the results speak for themselves.”

Vivel has done some good campaigns on women empowerment in the last 16-18 months. Even on digital, the brand has worked on social experiments and has taken opinions from women. Speaking about the recent one, Sameer Satpathy, Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Business, ITC Limited, said, “Compliments and appreciation are powerful motivators. But we need to ‘Say It Right’. This creates a collaborative environment, which fosters gender equality at the workplace. This video from Vivel’s #AbSamjhautaNahin campaign is thought provoking and provides perspective on how women would like to be complimented at work.”

For the film, various (accomplished) women from different walks of life were asked what kind of compliments they get at their workplace and how they feel about it. All the women mentioned how the compliments were more for ‘being a girl’ than for their work.

Speaking about the thought behind this idea, Kamra said, “It was so much fun shooting this, all the women in the video got their individual perspective on the idea. They weren't asked to follow a script at all. I just asked them a question and heard them out. Even if a few people get the nuance of how to compliment a fellow colleague at work, it's a job well done by ITC Vivel.”

The TVC:

Credits:

Creative Team: Kunal Kamra

Director: Kunal Kamra

Producer: OML

Production: Lowfundwala Production

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