By Farooq Akbar
Can we imagine a world without women when we can’t even imagine a home without them? Probably no, because we are all aware of the life-long effort and sacrifice our mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, and daughters-in-law contribute to building their homes.
We see them as mothers caring for their children, wives caring for their husbands, and daughters caring for their fathers. Driven by emotions, yet we see them making responsible decisions for their family’s wellbeing and betterment.
We see them nurturing their children with love and affection. We often see them making compromises for their family. We see them supporting their families in emotionally challenging times and financially distressing situations.
Despite seeing women play all these roles with care and compassion we rarely acknowledge them. This is the actual insight; the same attitude can be seen dominating mass media and the advertising world. We come across dozens of fad commercials that only glamorize women, representing them as a mere symbol of physical beauty.
However, it was refreshing to recently come across a TV commercial for a steel brand that tried to break the stereotypical representation of women. The recent brand communication developed for Mughal Steel represents the core emotional and compassionate side of women with a light mood.
The two female characters can be seen caring for their family’s wellbeing and betterment with authority, making responsible choices for them. Based on the strong consumer insight that connects with Brand promise, this emotionally wrapped T.V commercial represents a woman’s caring and compassionate core.
The storyline and beautifully written dialogues help both male characters to convey their gratitude and respect towards women. The way women have been shown caring for men, while men have been shown appreciating their role in building a home, represents a healthy balance between both men and women in the home as well as society.
This commercial focuses on narrative building and at the same time remains relevant to the brand message that translates to lifelong safety given to your home by Mughal Supreme Earthquake resistant steel bars. This was the basic strategic depth that the communication agency recommended and Mughal Steel brand team adapted the strategy.
The brand Mughal Steel must be appreciated for realizing its responsibility, the way it has always believed in the institution of family, strengthened it, and tried to create a healthy balance between men and women at a time when we see many pitting men and women against each other and aggravating social context.
Here the credit also goes to the writer Hasan Raza and the creative agency Aura Communication for coming up with a well-crafted story and concept, that emotionally and rationally targets all the right spots.
Kudos to both Mughal Steel and their strategic brand partners Aura Communication and IG square for successfully pulling an impactful concept that not only balances both men and women but also reminds “Marzi” to act responsibly while managing to still make it all about the brand only.
Farooq is a digital marketing enthusiast and infrequent writer.
