WhatsApp India’s rural push moves beyond text

One of WhatsApp’s most ambitious campaigns for rural India continues to empower people who have not taken to texting. It does this by positioning Voice Notes and Video Notes as intuitive alternatives to casual texting and, in many cases, even calling.

The campaign builds on WhatsApp’s core belief of bringing the world closer together by enabling people to share their real selves in safe and private spaces.

The second phase of the campaign extends the work beyond the short film Baatan Hi Baatan Mein. Conceptualised and designed by Fundamental and executed on ground by TriOOH, Superlative Films and Spark Foundry, this phase relies on hyperlocal and highly contextual formats to ensure the communication lands in ways that feel familiar and intuitive to local audiences.

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A central element of the rollout is the introduction of No Text User Guides. These are simple, step by step visual instructions designed for audiences who may not be able to read or write. The guides have been painted and printed on native surfaces such as trucks, gunny bags and walls that already form part of everyday life for the cohort.

To maintain cultural and visual authenticity, the artwork was developed in collaboration with traditional artists who specialise in these formats. Gunny bags were printed at scale using labour intensive screen printing techniques carried out by specialised artisans. A team of over 30 painters, many from Madhya Pradesh, were led by Mr. Nafees Ahmad Khan and Mr. Ashok Kumar of Sagar, both of whom have turned truck art into a lifelong pursuit.

In parallel, Baatan Hi Baatan Mein continues to deepen the campaign’s cultural relevance. Alongside screenings in rural single screen theatres across Madhya Pradesh, the film is also being taken directly to communities through screening vans known as Ghumakkad Talkies, which operate as travelling cinemas.

The format creates communal viewing experiences in low access regions, enabling the campaign to reach more than 240 villages and hamlets across the Vidisha district.