Prega News tackles postpartum depression in new ad

Prega News, a pregnancy detection card brand, marketed by Mankind Pharmaceuticals, has recently launched the second leg of its #YourSecondHome campaign. The ad has been conceptualised by ADK Fortune, directed by Vijay Veermal and produced by Chrome Pictures.

The first ad under #YourSecondHome focuses on the difficulties faced by pregnant women working in the corporate world. The current ad takes the conversation forward from pregnancy to post pregnancy, targeting an issue of postpartum depression. As per research provided by the agency, one in five new mothers in India suffers from postpartum depression. Most of the women return to work not having completely recovered from or are fully aware that they are suffering from postpartum depression making them prone to insecurity, irritability, loss in confidence and misunderstandings in workplace.

Akashneel DasguptaIn this day and age, every brand seems to stand for a cause. In fact, every year brands come up with cause-based advertising. So, we asked Akashneel Dasgupta, ECD and Sr. VP, ADK Fortune, if it is necessary for brands to come up with a cause-based advertising?

He says, “Prega News created the platform of ‘Your Second Home’ last year because there is not much the brand can do to grow any more in the category. Right now, the brand leads with 80 per cent market share. The traditional advertising with Shilpa Shetty and Kareena Kapoor will carry on. This is an ad for the ‘Your Second Home’ website; an ecosystem the brand is developing for women and they are taking on one cause at a time.”

Dasgupta adds, “A lot of marketers are realising that there is nothing new to communicate and there is no scope, either because you are a market leader or you have nothing new to say. It is not as if people don’t remember the brand. The brand is omnipresent and recall is very high, so then it leads to goodwill advertising.”

The agency did a lot of research, went through the reports by Hindustan Times and spoke to women from the corporate world to understand what they went through after returning to work post pregnancy.

Talking about the lead character in the ad and the research the agency did, Dasgupta says, “We wanted to show a general manager or associate vice president kind of a profile, but she reports to someone else. More and more women are having children late and the older you are, the more insecure you tend to get. By design itself, we took a boss to play the main character rather than a junior employee. We interviewed a lot of women from the corporate world who are at this kind of stage in their career and a lot of them admitted it.”

We asked our digital experts if it is necessary for the brands to come up with cause-based advertising every time there is an opportunity to do so. This is what they had to say:

Richa KhannaRicha Khanna, director analytics, Isobar India, says, “In the era of information, brands compete on more than just price and value their socially conscious status in attracting the right consumers. With the right affiliation to a cause that resonates well with the brand and the audience to take a long-term view, brands can not only reach and persuade their targeted audience but can also raise awareness about their commitment to social responsibility. Brands should view cause-based marketing from the lens of being a force for good and making it a brand attribute rather than just a marketing tactic.”

Talking about the execution, Khanna says, “In a country where motherhood is one of the most romanticised experiences and is always pictured as an incredible and magical experience, prevalent issues like depression after childbirth are often brushed aside. It is indeed, great to see brands bring this issue to light in the time where new moms juggle with multiple roles and do the biggest balancing act of their lives on a daily basis. The cause synergises well with the brand and it is a good attempt to sensitize workplaces towards new moms. It does strike a chord with the relevant TG, creating awareness about the issue at hand that is a taboo.”

Siddhi DesaiSiddhi Desai, associate creative director, DigitasLBi India, says, “Brands initiating social change is a positive outcome of marketing campaigns for both the brand and the consumer. Culturally, as a society, we don’t talk about a lot of issues. Especially for women, suffering in silence is considered a sign of strength and talking about things is seen as a sign of weakness or a cry for help. It’s great to see brands using their platforms to spread awareness and get our society to open up. In today’s digital world where every incident faces a public trial, there is an elevated need to sensitise people to issues and biases that exist. There are so many problems the general public is ignorant of, that it’s such cause-based advertising that, at the very least, starts a conversation. I believe more brands should indulge in socially relevant campaigns more often and not just wait for tactical days to do so.”

With regard whether the brand/ agency has executed the purpose well, Desai says, “To be honest, while I was watching it, I thought it was an ad about the life of a new mom coming back to work. What’s interesting is, in each scene you see a different challenge a working mother faces and then the message of postpartum depression comes up, putting everything into perspective. Cinematically the reveal is well positioned and the film, overall, mirrors real behaviour, just like the depression silently exists in the mind of the mother while she goes through so many other challenges. While I am sure the ad will touch a chord with working moms, I believe it’ll open up the minds of a lot of people.”

Credits:

Mankind Team

Chairman: R.C. Juneja

Brand & Marketing Team: Joy Chatterjee & Gunjan Virmani

ADK-Fortune Team

Managing Partner: Subroto Pradhan

Sr. V. P. & ECD: Akashneel Dasgupta

Creative Director: Manish Kinger

Account Management: Shruti Negi, Itee Gupta

Production House: Chrome Pictures

Director: Vijay Veermal

Producer: Roopali Singhal