Vivel’s #RespectWorkForHome campaign receives a remarkable response from netizens

We may have progressed over decades on the way we live our lifestyle and deal with the recently evolved ‘Work From Home’ model but the way we reckon still needs to develop. For ages now women have been denied the share of appreciation, respect, and acknowledgement they deserve and face discrimination not only on the basis of gender but also on the basis of the work they pursue.

Today, brands are continually trying to bring forth and address this issue and taking encouraging steps to break this prolonged custom by launching innovative campaigns. Under its brand philosophy, Ab Samjhauta Nahin, ITC Vivel has also jumped into the bandwagon, by releasing its thought-provoking campaign, #RespectWorkForHome on the occasion of Women’s Equality Day.

The recently released campaign brings into the spotlight how women juggle between roles and responsibilities by subtly putting forward the message that ‘managing a professional work-life is no different from managing a home.’

The video campaign which beautifully aims to bridge the gap between expectations of women ‘Working From Home’ and ‘Working For Home,’ has received a remarkable response with 20429 views on Linkedin, 2,500 views on Facebook and 1,98,198 views on Instagram.

Speaking on the campaign, Sanjay Arora, CEO, ANTS Digital shares, “The Vivel India campaign has picked up a key thought which all of us are subconsciously aware of but don’t acknowledge. A lot of brands have picked up sensitive issues which bring alive the fact that women have equal rights and responsibilities. Earlier, the brands did not voice such issues but I think the audience has also evolved and respect the sentiment. Brands have equal responsibility to participate in creating the social fabric of our society and bringing alive issues that were not even in the consideration set. Speaking out the mind of the society should be the objective of brands.”

“This particular campaign here stands apart as it speaks to a targeted niche (corporates/slightly more modern audience – notice how the person in the video speaks to you) so feels personal and also speaks about a particular set of audience (housewives) and hence is relatable for the audience.

It has a two-fold objective of relating to the Working for home audience and hence being their champion and getting noticed by the Working from the home audience due to the smart parallel being drawn and the use of corporate terms to which they relate,” comments Raghav Bagai, Co-Founder at Sociowash & Youthbeat while sharing his perspective on the campaign.

Today, Millennial and GenZ audiences are considered intellectual and more responsible when it comes to women’s issues, so is there still a need for such campaigns?

Bagai points, “A campaign talking about this issue is needed. India has one of the largest populations of full-time homemakers and while the GDP may not reflect their contribution to the economy but they play a huge role that often gets missed. Further, with the majority of millennials and GenZ wanting to work and be independent, the perception of just doing household work or staying at home is considered inferior and hence these campaigns bring a welcome reminder to showcase how work – whether for office or home is equally important. It reminds the audience of how we often take the homemakers and their work for granted.

We do need more of such campaigns that encourage people to treat each other equally no matter what roles they pick, for they work just as hard in either case.”

However, despite positive intentions, sometimes brands face backlash after launching campaigns around sensitive issues. What factors must be taken into consideration while conceptualizing such campaigns?

It must be noted that while conceptualizing such campaigns, messaging, medium, and format are equally important. “Sensitive issues have to be dealt with sensitivity. While messaging is so important in such campaigns, the medium and format are equally important. While this is all about perspectives, it also has to do with what is the real message and how it got communicated. Brand should be conscious of how subtly they want to bring alive the proposition keeping the soul of the message alive. Brands have to tread carefully as ultimately we also need to respect the emotions of society. Factors like tonality, right message, how the treatment of message has been done, and who is the recipient of this audience are some key factors that one needs to keep in mind while conceptualizing such campaigns,” concludes Sanjay.