Shed your inhibitions and #SeeWhatHappens, says Pond's

Even though the world has opened up today, sometimes the most confident women too can feel held back by the internal barriers from years of social conditioning. Pond’s, the beauty and skincare brand by Hindustan Unilever (HUL), has launched an impactful campaign to bring the issue of inner voices into the spotlight – and into mainstream media – enabling women to understand how commonplace inner voices are, and help them overcome the internal barriers they present.

Ponds unveiled the new film, ‘The Boxer’, across all digital platforms. Developed by Ogilvy India and Singapore, it is a heartwarming, sensitive story of a young Indian girl, pursuing her passion in boxing.

The young girl deals with the dilemma of revealing this decision to her mother as her inner voice holds her back, creating a struggle between what she wants to do and what she thinks is expected of her. The film features local talent Khushi Joshi, who plays the role of the hero character (Mandeep) and Iravati Harshe, who plays her mother.

The brand believes the world would be a better place if women stopped limiting themselves – in life and in beauty – and simply tried overcoming these internal barriers. The campaign aims to encourage women to begin lifting those internal barriers by simply trying to overcome their inner hesitations.

Prabha Narasimhan

Prabha Narasimhan, Vice-President, Skincare and Colours, Hindustan Unilever, said, “Pond’s is an iconic brand in India with great heritage and equity. It gives us great pride to give it a new take that encourages women to never hold back and ‘See What Happens’. With the power of social media, we hope to ignite conversations just like the film. Women still feel held back by their inner voices and we want to encourage them to share their stories. This is what ’See What Happens’ is all about.”

One cannot help but notice that Pond's has always focused on the beauty element in its communication. Why such a shift in communication now?

“Pond’s as a brand has always encouraged women to overcome their hesitations. We believe in the power of the inner spirit and with this campaign, we want to encourage and celebrate the ability of each and every woman to follow her passion and be who she wants to be, with no hesitation or limitation,” said a Pond’s spokesperson.

The spokesperson said there has been no change in the brand’s positioning. Pond’s as a brand has always empowered women, propelling them to undertake new challenges and journeys towards self-growth.

“We believe that by acknowledging how common inner voices are, a dialogue can be started among women about the ways in which they experience and – importantly – try to overcome these, helping to realise their potential and inspire them to truly be who they are without fears or inhibitions holding them back,” pointed out the Pond’s spokesperson.

How is Pond’s trying to change its image through this campaign?

“Pond’s as a brand has always encouraged women to overcome their hesitations. This campaign is to further propel that cause and cast a wider ambit among women to help each other rise above the constant internal battles that they face on an everyday basis. The ultimate aim of the campaign is to challenge the deep-rooted fears, uproot them and bring in a positive status quo within themselves,” said the spokesperson.

Discussing the client brief for this campaign, Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha, Chief Creative Officers, Ogilvy India (West), specified, “The brief was very interesting. The world is ready but are you ready to overcome the voices of hesitation inside you?”

Kainaz Karmakar

Elaborating on the strategy and creative thought behind the #SeeWhatHappens campaign, Karmakar said, “The strategy and creative thought were not different from each other. Dipping into our culture and finding real stories of hesitations that young girls live every day. The campaign wanted to give them a voice.”

How is Pond’s trying to change the game for itself as a brand and also the category, with this campaign?

Harshad Rajadhyaksha

“Pond’s has a huge legacy. But every now and then, there comes a time for a brand to create a new legacy. It is time for Pond’s to be relevant to young girls of today. Talk their language and be the brand that is on their side,” mentioned Rajadhyaksha.

Karmakar and Rajadhyaksha are really excited about launching the new world of Pond’s. “It’s a world that is asking young girls to go ahead and say what is on their minds and do what is in their hearts. Society is ready for their bold moves. The time has come to go ahead and #SeeWhatHappens. Bob (Shashanka Chaturvedi) has done a great job of translating the story into a powerful film,” they said.

With this campaign, Pond’s hopes to ignite a conversation among women across generations on how and when they’ve experienced inner voices, how they were successful in overcoming them. All in an effort to inspire and encourage others who have held back so far. #SeeWhatHappens pushes gentle a change – not in the world outside but the world within a woman’s heart and mind, unlocking the possibilities within her.

As part of the campaign, paid and earned media activity will be rolled out over the next few months. Digital is a very important tool to ensure that the brand is able to raise awareness among a large set of audience and further trigger conversations around the inner voices holding back women today.

Key opinion leaders and individuals will be engaged to support the campaign, bringing the issue of inner voices into the spotlight and beginning a dialogue among women to normalise and raise awareness of the widespread frequency of inner voices.

Campaign:

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Credits:

Client: Hindustan Unilever

Brand: Pond’s

Agency: Ogilvy India and Singapore

Chief Creative Officers, Ogilvy India (West): Kainaz Karmakar, Harshad Rajadhyaksha

Co-Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Singapore: Nicolas Courant

Worldwide Managing Director, Unilever Asia: David Dahan

Chief Client Officer: Hephzibah Pathak

Account Management: Matthew Leem, Chitralekha Chetia, Nisha Bhatia, Sarah-Cate Agnew

Planning: Veruschka Menon, Sumegha Rao

Production House: Good Morning Films

Director: Bob (Shashanka Chaturvedi)

Executive Producer: Vikram Kalra

Producer: Robin D’Cruz

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