Vicks as a brand has always been about Touch: Ritu Mittal on #TouchOfCare

Vicks continues to spread the idea of ‘family’ beyond biological bonds in the second edition of its #TouchOfCare campaign. While the first edition narrated the story of a transgender mother taking care of her adopted daughter, the second film – ‘Vicks - One in a Million’ – is yet another inspiring story, this time of Nisha, a young girl who has Ichthyosis, a genetic skin condition. The transformation of Nisha due to the love and care provided by her adoptive parents, Aloma and David Lobo, forms the crux of this digital video. 

The second campaign continues to spread the idea that ‘Every Child Deserves the touch of Care’. Created by Publicis Singapore, the story is a first-person narrative by Nisha, who was abandoned by her biological parents when she was just two weeks old. Her life was transformed when she was adopted by Aloma and David Lobo, who despite having children of their own, gave Nisha a family which showered her with unconditional love and the #TouchOfCare. The film gracefully captures Nisha’s story as she sails through the challenges and complexities of life, with her mother and a family at her side. It beautifully depicts how Nisha, who is an extraordinary girl, leads an ordinary, regular life – one of hopes, dreams and challenges – and how Aloma has brought her up in a way that is no different from anyone else. 

Commenting on the campaign, Ritu Mittal, Country Marketing Manager, Vicks India, said, “Vicks, a brand synonymous with a generation of care in India, believes in the transformative power of care in human lives. The second edition of the Vicks #TouchOfCare campaign continues to spread the idea of ‘family’ beyond biological bonds. Gauri Sawant and Aloma Lobo are perfect examples of people providing extraordinary acts of care. They demonstrate how each of us is capable of lending unconditional love and extending care to every child who needs it. The first edition of the Vicks #TouchOfCare campaign moved millions of people across the globe. We are confident that Nisha’s story will have a similar impact on every person who sees the film.” 

Vicks – One in a Million #TouchOfCare sends out a strong message of how every child deserves the touch of care, irrespective of gender, colour or challenges. The campaign illustrates this with data on the abysmal levels of adoption of children with special needs. (There are 29,600,000 orphans in India, however, in the past year only 42 children with disabilities found a home.) On the occasion of the special screening of Vicks #TouchOfCare, cricketer Gautam Gambhir and actors Soha Ali Khan and Shriya Saran were present to lend support to Nisha. 

Overwhelmed with the response to Nisha’s story, David and Aloma Lobo, the parents of Nisha, the protagonist of the newly launched Vicks #TouchOfCare film, said, “We are delighted that Nisha’s story is part of the globally acclaimed Vicks #TouchOfCare campaign. Our daughter’s story could not have been told in a nicer way, and we do hope that the millions of people who see the Vicks #TouchOfCare film, are motivated to give unconditional love and care to vulnerable people, who need it the most.” 

Gauri Sawant, the Vicks #TouchOfCare Mom and Transgender Activist from the first season, added here, “I am humbled with the recognition that of a mother that the Vicks #TouchOfCare campaign has given me. Vicks’ initiative of showcasing and supporting people who are representing extraordinary care in this world, is a source of hope for the world. I am personally overwhelmed with Nisha’s story, and I am confident that people will shower her with the same love and affection that was given to me.” 

The Vicks – One in a million digital film went live from October 10, 2018. It is being amplified with PR and digital media, led by 2020 MSL and Mediacom, respectively. Publicis Singapore is the creative agency behind the campaign, while Ajay Thrivikraman is the director of the film. 

In an interaction with Adgully, Ritu Mittal, Country Marketing Manager, Vicks India, and Maithreyi Jagannath, Regional Associate Brand, Vicks India, shed more light on the latest edition of the #TouchOfCare campaign. Excerpts: 

What is the core thought of the new #TouchOfCare campaign?
Ritu Mittal: Vicks as a brand has always been about Touch. You can see even in the historic ad, the mother applying Vicks VapoRub to the child. It is about taking care because that does half of the job. The touch of care is really what the brand is all about. The philosophy of the brand is taking care of people. That is what brings to life the #TouchOfCare campaign. When we thought of initiating the campaign, we focused to choose real life stories because we thought that believability is a lot more and hence, it connects better with people. We chose stories that we found extraordinary. Because, when you are narrating a story, no one would be interested in a day to day story and therefore, it would not serve the purpose. We have to pick something extraordinary, which speaks volumes for itself. That is where we said that we should bring the whole aspect of #TouchOfCare among people. Thus, we are bringing Nisha, a real life hero’s story. 

Which creative agency is involved in the campaign and what was the brief given to the agency?
Maithreyi Jagannath: Publicis Singapore is the creative agency involved in the campaign #TouchOfCare. Ajay Thrivikraman is the director of the film. All we told him was that we wanted a campaign that could connect really well the millennials and take us beyond being considered merely as a cough & cold medicine. We did not tell him of the characteristics we required for the film. We just briefed him about the brand challenge and with what creativity he could come up with. The brand objective that we went in was how do we really take the brand beyond just being cough & cold medicine to something that consumers can think of not only when they are sick. We have focused on how we can make it a love mark and how we make them fall in love throughout the year. 

How did a brand like Vicks come to be associated with an initiative like propagating the idea of giving unconditional love & care?
Maithreyi Jagannath: The brand has always been associated with love & care. If you ask anybody what Vicks stands for, the first image that comes to their mind is a mother applying Vicks VapoRub to the child. So, that memory the consumers have is really entrenched in care – the care of a mother – and that is how the brand was created. It was first invented by Charles Lensford for his son, who had a lot of breathing problem. That’s how the brand itself has been deeply rooted in care and family. The #TouchOfCare campaign is about how you look at a non-traditional way of family. It is care what brings family together and not just blood relations. So, that was the initial thought for the first campaign, but as we looked at it, we are trying to bring to life these stories; the extraordinary care that people have shown. 

For the second season, how did you select the stories?
Maithreyi Jagannath: We lifted different stories after Gauri’s story, where we tried to source out the agency. Publicis went out; they have different journalists who brought different stories, and among 2 or 3 there was Nisha’s story that we felt was very powerful and provocative. Because it is about someone’s disability getting the touch of care. 

Would you be taking the initiative beyond the campaign to initiate programmes that reinforce #TouchOfCare?
Maithreyi Jagannath: Firstly, we had launched it in the Philippines in January and India as well last year. So, it is already moving to different countries. We handle the Asia region and we are taking it wherever possible. 

Along with digital, what other media platforms would you use to in the communication mix?
Ritu Mittal: Yes, but digital is the primary medium. There are a lot of trends and also there is the electronic medium which comes under organic coverage. But, we mainly focus on digital platforms. 

How do you plan to engage more people with Vicks #TouchOfCare initiative?
Ritu Mittal: It is through a combination of driving the amount of reach on digital platforms and a lot of organic sharing. 

What are the other initiatives that have you planned for Vicks?
Ritu Mittal: With respect to #TouchOfCare, we would definitely want to continue with such an initiative. At present, we do not have any timeline fixed, but we will continue investing in it. 

How do such initiatives help strengthen Vicks’ brand equity?
Ritu Mittal: It really does strengthen the brand equity, because as I said earlier, Vicks is about unconditional love and care. So, it is working on the core equities of the brand. The way it strengthens the brand is by driving the mind awareness for the brand and get people talking about it.