Backed by the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), Emcure launched a targeted campaign, #morethanbara, with a singular vision. Anaemia-free India.
One of the most respected pharmaceutical brands in the country, Emcure was founded in 1983 and has been known for taking several prominent public health initiatives. The objective behind this campaign was to spread awareness regarding anaemia, a public health concern that is extremely widespread, yet something that often does not get the requisite attention. Perhaps due to the fact that its symptoms are often disguised and hard to identify, anaemia has for too long been a silent killer.
Once the idea behind the campaign was established, the roadmap to achieving the objective was meticulously laid out. Realizing that they had to fight this battle on many fronts, a multi-pronged strategy was put in place and the campaign integrated social media outreach along with groundwork.
It was on the 15th of August 2020 that actor, author and influencer Twinkle Khanna joined hands with the campaign and launched a catchy jingle titled ‘Main Hoon More Than Bara’. The jingle aimed to convey both the spirit of the campaign and the short and direct message of ‘More Than Bara’, which talks about the fact that as per standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO), a person should have haemoglobin levels in excess of 12.
Predictably, the jingle was a runaway success and reached the target audience. Exploiting the grand reach of social media, it reached women even in the farthest pockets of the country and became an anthem. The chief architect behind this campaign, Sikandar Jamwal, Director, Ridah Dizenenkraft Pvt Ltd., said, “One of the most crucial decisions our agency took while piecing together this campaign was to make sure that we take a series of initiatives and join hands with celebrities, social media influencers, singers and lifestyle bloggers. The two most important aspects that we conceptualized were creating that catchy jingle for ‘more than bara’, which was very well-received on all the communication platforms, and the other was bringing together the association of FOGSI doctors for this noble cause. These two key strategies considerably helped us garner the attention this campaign needed both in terms of seriousness and creativity.”
Adding to that, Tanveer Ahmed, Managing Director, Ridah Dizenenkraft Pvt Ltd., said, “We felt that we owed this campaign to the most vulnerable groups in our society, especially pregnant women and families with children. To hammer home the message, we made sure that the spotlight would be squarely on ‘bara (12)’. Not only did we accomplish this in the minds of our audience with a region agnostic, foot-tapping song, we also made sure that this number took the centre stage in all of our campaign and outreach work. We hope we see a day when every woman can proudly declare herself as ‘More than bara’.”
Along with the activities done online, to combat this issue on the grounds, the partnership with FOGSI was particularly important. As Mr. Jitendra Jamadar, Group Product Manager, Emcure, said, “We were delighted to see over 38,000 FOGSI bearers pledge to get a Hb test and set an example for everyone in India. This is important as, along with spreading awareness, adequate testing is a key step when it comes to tackling the disease. This is also an urgent requirement as lower iron levels in the body correspond to lower immunity.
At a time when over 8 million people in India are affected by the novel coronavirus, the need to fortify immunity has never been more important. Among other demographics, pregnant women are especially at a much higher risk and as experts say, iron deficiency in pregnant women can also lead to severe complications during childbirth. With our partnership with this wide network of doctors, we have identified that as the government awareness program about COVID 19 has saved many lives and brought about behavioural changes vis-a-vis health, hygiene and immunity, our campaign on anaemia awareness can have similarly far-reaching consequences.”
Such a public-private partnership is certainly the need of the hour as over the last 70 years, despite various government programs under the National Health Mission, the results achieved have not been significant enough. While the campaign is still nascent, early trends have been rather encouraging as the campaign has reached over 5 crore, women, through digital initiatives, press releases and via doctors. Several notable groups and scores of women have reached out to the organizers and conveyed their gratitude for launching this much-needed program. The destination, though, is still very far.#Anemia-free India
