Dettol Harpic Banega Swachh India puts spotlight on hygienic practices at Kumbh Mela

To bring about behaviour change towards ensuring cleanliness, consumer health and hygiene company Reckitt Benckiser has unveiled its awareness campaigns focusing on ‘hand hygiene’ and ‘sanitation’ at the Kumbh Mela.

Dettol Harpic Banega Swachh India aims to raise much-needed awareness among the attendees about proper hygienic practices and incentivise them to observe environmental and river-friendly practices.

Nearly 12 crore people are visiting the Kumbh this year, expected to be the world’s largest gathering of people.A report by the Harvard School of Public Health stated a 5% increase in diarrhoea-related diseases during the Kumbh Mela 2013.

The campaigns aim to ensure that cleanliness and hygiene is on the top-of-mind responsibility of each pilgrim visiting the mela. ‘Haath Dhona Har Baar’ campaign by Dettol aims to highlight the occasions of handwashing with catchy taglines like ‘Har Dharam Ka Bhojan Sanskar, Haath Dhona Har Baar’, 'Bimariyon Se Bachne Ka Upchaar, Haath Dhona Har Baar’, 'Shauch ka sahi vyahvaar, Haath Dhona Har Baar’. Thecampaign aims to educate people around the importance of washing hands to remain germ-free. To create awareness around toilet hygiene, Harpic launched its ‘Hoga Toilet Vidhi Ka Gyaan, Toh Badhega Kumbhka Maan’ campaign that calls visitors to flush water every time they use a toilet as a sign of respect to the next person using it.

With pilgrims coming to Kumbh from far and wide, Dettol and Harpic have come up with innovative ways to deliver their campaign messages by organising nukkad nataks within the mela as well as creating life-size wall paintings across 54 villages surrounding the venue. Making a perfect visual representation to showcase the importance of these campaigns, the impact will be significant.

Dettol has deployed ‘hand mascots’ who will recite the story of the hands coming in contact with germs and educate people of hand wash need and practice. The mascot will share Dettol soaps to encourage personal hygiene.

Pankaj Duhan, Chief Marketing Officer, RB South Asia Health said,“Kumbh is a global event. Considering the number of people expected at Kumbh this year, millions of hand washes are expected to take place during the course of 54 days. We strongly believe it is a great platform to highlight the need of hand wash. Even if we are able to deliver our message of ‘Haath Dhona Har Bar’ across to 50% of these visitors and make them understand the importance of hand washing practices, it will be an achievement for Dettol. The campaign will engage, endear and influence people towards adopting better hand hygiene practices that will directly reflect in true behaviour change when they go back to their own homes and continue these practices.”

Sukhleen Aneja, CMO, Marketing Director, South Asia RB Hygiene Home said, “The Kumbh Mela this year is expecting a lot of women devotees to join the gathering, nearly 60% of the total visitors. The importance of maintaining privacy for women while also making sure they have basic amenities and clean toilets is absolutely essential for their safety. With ‘Toilet Vidhi’, we want to sensitise people and bring about a change in their attitudes towards good toilets etiquettes by showing respect for the next person who will use the facility after them. We are hopeful that this habit is retained in people’s mind and everyone can have a clean toilet experience.”

Ravi Bhatnagar, Head External Affairs and Partnerships, RB India, “The Maha Kumbh this year is expected to be the biggest it has ever been. With Dettol Harpic Banega Swachh, India always being at the forefront of driving behaviour change in the community with respect to hygiene and sanitation, it is an important platform for us to create direct touch-points with our audience. Our aim to make a clean and hygienic Kumbh experience a reality for everyone attending this year with the hope of leaving a long-lasting impact on their minds.”

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