'Delhi ki Beti' on Delhiites' civic sense

Citizen Dentsu, Dentsu India's specialized division for social communication has come up with a 360- degree, multimedia campaign to create civic sense among Delhiites before the Commonwealth Games 2010.

For this, Citizen Dentsu has created a mascot, 'Delhi ki Beti', a 7-year-old girl who loves to live in Delhi. She is concerned about some of the bad habits of the residents of Delhi, and therefore, tries to create awareness through her nursery rhymes.

Around 20-30 illustrative creatives are on display at bus queue shelters across Delhi. In some of the creatives, Delhi ki Beti talks about the importance of carpools; the harmful effects of plastic bags; the heritage of the historic city; advantages of using solar power and disadvantages of using the mobile while driving.

All the creatives are aimed at inculcating civic sense, good behaviour and manners among Delhiites.

The campaign has been spun around the old adage, 'Child is the father of man'. A child is believed to be simple at heart, and possess original thinking and unbiased opinions. Therefore, a child can raise genuine concerns, often overlooked or taken for granted by adults. Moreover, when a child criticises and advises, elders cannot but take note of the situation. Also, a female mascot has been chosen to spread the message, so that Delhi's love towards the girl child can be reinstated.

The brief given to Citizen Dentsu by the Delhi Government was that although cityscapes are improving, mindscapes are not. Mindscapes need to be taken care of, in accordance with the changes taking place in the city.

"Changing the mindset of people is a very big task. Lots of brainstorming was involved to find out what would be the best and the most effective way to communicate with Delhiites. We realised that Delhiites would not appreciate any politician, celeb or bureaucrat to advise them about civic sense. But if it's their own daughter who teaches them civic sense, they won't really mind," says Harish Arora, executive creative director, Citizen Dentsu.

Further briefing afaqs! about the creative idea, he says, "As we tell our kids to behave when guests come to our place; the same idea has been utilised here, where we are treating every Delhiite as a kid whom 'Delhi ki Beti' is requesting to behave, as visitors from across the world will come to see us during the Commonwealth Games."

As of now, the Civility campaign, 'Come on Delhi' can be seen across Delhi on bus queue shelters and billboards. However, it will be intensified with time and will utilize print, radio and TV.

While talking about the expansion of the campaign, PK Tripathi, principal secretary in the Chief Minister's Office, says, "We will intensify the campaign over the next few months and will release money depending on the various media used for it."

He adds, "We have just begun introducing the mascot and the campaign will gradually get intensive and advertisements will appear in newspapers, TV and billboards."