Nihar Naturals & BBH India question the culture of beauty stereotyping
Nihar Naturals Coconut Hair Oil, the market leader in East India launched its latest campaign challenging the culture of beauty stereotyping ingrained in society.
Women are often subjected to perceptions of being ‘more capable’ or ‘less capable’ based on their physical appearance and their choice of hairstyle. Nihar Naturals has always been at the forefront of challenging stereotypes. In 2015, Nihar partnered with Neilson to launch a nationwide study #IAMCapable, to build awareness amongst women about this culture of beauty stereotyping. The report drew attention to the biases faced by Indian Women today - 64% of Indian Women have agreed that judgements passed on them has affected their ability to reach their true potential.
Leveraging the platform further, BBH has conceptualized and executed the latest campaign, which reiterates Nihar Natural’s brand purpose & takes the conversation a notch higher. Featuring long-term brand ambassador Vidya Balan, the campaign drives a strong message that a woman’s capability should not be judged based on the choice of her hair style. It goes on to state that beautiful hair is not a sign of capability, it is only a sign of a potent hair oil.
Speaking about the new campaign, Anuradha Aggarwal, Chief Marketing Officer at Marico Limited said, "Over the years Nihar Naturals through its various campaigns has communicated that a woman’s hair cannot be a parameter of judging her or her capability in anyway. In each campaign the brand has talked about a new aspect in which women are judged. This year’s campaign talks about how ‘Beautiful hair is not a sign of a woman’s capability, it is only a sign of a potent hair oil.’”
Vidya Balan, Actor & Brand Ambassador added “I have been associated with Nihar Naturals for a long time. I love how with each campaign we touch upon a woman’s issue that’s prevalent in society and create awareness on the same. It’s not just an advertisement; this film through different creative sequences beautifully tries breaking yet another stereotype of judging women and their professions basis their hairstyles. I enjoyed shooting this film and look forward to my continued association with this brand.”
Subhash Kamath, CEO & Managing Partner, BBH India said, “Nihar Naturals is one of Marico’s most successful and fastest growing brands and we’ve been proud to be partners on its journey. The hair care category is a very competitive and cluttered one. So it’s quite a challenge to create a differentiated brand idea. Happily, we’ve been able to do that for Nihar. It’s not just a hair oil but a tongue-in-cheek social commentator too, a strategy that’s worked very well for the past 6 years.”
Rajesh Mani, Executive Creative Director, BBH India added, “Nihar Naturals has, over the years, taken a humorous dig at societal judgements on women’s hair and equating it with their capability. So the TVC is like a playful theatre of the absurd. The photo studio and the changing of backgrounds according to a woman’s hair style bring about the subconscious judgements that people make about women. And our brand ambassador Vidya Balan has essayed a wonderful role to bring the idea alive. All credit to the director E Suresh of Eeksaurus for a superbly art directed film. His craft took the film to the next level.”
TVC Links:
The TVC targeted specifically to West Bengal & East India market will be followed with print & a 360 campaign.
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