My favourite campaign is 'Haath, munh aur bum, bimari hogi kam': Aalok Bhan

Which is your favourite campaign and why?

With brands increasingly leading the social change conversations, it is difficult to pick a favourite but if I must, it would definitely be the “Haath, munh aur bum, bimari hogi kam” campaign by HUL. 

Sanitation levels in India are significantly low, causing frequent illnesses amongst children, leading to life threatening diseases, and while the government initiated Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, large corporates were also expected to step up their communication strategies in order to create a protected nation. Which is exactly what HUL did — by leading the conversation for behavioural change among urban Indians and by promoting adoption of three simple habits. The viral campaign reached 75 million people and left the children of India chanting the jingle.

On what parameters did you base your decision?

Mass communication strategies have evolved, and the way to break through the noise created by FMCG companies is to focus on issues that matter to the audience and the society. Tying three brands —Lifebuoy, Pureit and Domex — through a single ad to the parent organisation while simultaneously communicating the importance of cleanliness is not easy. The campaign is very high on the impact and innovation factors.

What do you think was the key idea the campaign was trying to drive home?

The key message driven through the different pegs of the campaign was solely based on getting urban India to embrace behavioural change needed to stay protected and healthy. In line with Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, HUL’s commitment started with the Swachh Aadat, Swachh Bharat initiative followed by a series of campaigns — such as this and Help a Child Reach 5 — that captured the importance of adopting healthy practices. Apart from the conventional commercial ad, HUL also conducted engaging activities such as skits, demos and jingles to popularise the habits among kids as they increasingly influence the decision-making process. 

Sometimes, because of the emotional element in a campaign, there is greater recall for the story than the product or service advertised. Do you feel this was the case with the campaign which had a strong emotional connect?

This campaign conceptualised by HUL hit the right strings by focusing on one of the critical aspects such as promoting hygiene practices across India (Clean India Mission). Given the scale of challenges that India faces in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), this programme was an excellent effort to help India realise the goals of Clean India Mission by 2019. This is a first-of-its-kind multi-brand behaviour change programme from HUL. 

The video has used kids in their campaign as key catalyst who have been promoting healthy habits in an effervescent way running around the neighbourhood telling everyone how to adopt these practices in order to prevent illnesses and stay healthy.

These campaigns help the audience to not only think about the product but also urge them to act upon. 

What else could have been done to make the campaign better?

There is still scope for this campaign to act as a platform to drive widespread awareness about the issues.

Did this campaign inspire any of your work? What are your takeaways from the campaign?

The campaign talks about two important aspects — engagement and awareness. We, as a life insurer, also believe in engaging with our customers and make them aware about importance of financial protection. For any campaign with the help of tools, demographics and research, we gain insights about the customers’ life stages, preferences and behaviour patterns. This allows us to offer relevant and compelling propositions throughout the lives of our customers. I think as a life insurance company, it is important to think from a customer perspective and especially for Max Life, creating awareness and increasing the overall financial protection of our country.

Brand: HUL

Year of launch: 2015

Agency: Lowe Lintas