WhatsApp brand campaign in India sets itself as secure messaging platform

WhatsApp on Saturday said it is launching its 'It's Between You' brand campaign in the country showcasing stories about how Indians are using the Facebook-owned platform to communicate in a secure manner.

WhatsApp collaborated with Bollywood director Gauri Shinde along with BBDO India to create two 60-second ads that highlight how its features like texts, video calls or even a voice message (which is end-to-end encrypted) help replicate in-person conversations, it said in a statement.

With over 400 million users, India is among the biggest markets for WhatsApp.

"The campaign narrates real stories about how Indians communicate daily on WhatsApp with their closest relationships ...When privacy is deeply felt, relationships feel more intimate and real..."

"WhatsApp continues to serve as a crucial lifeline for people relying on the platform to intimately communicate with their friends and family while separated across long distances," Facebook India's Director - Marketing Avinash Pant told PTI.

One of the ads features an elderly woman and her caregiver, while the second one is about two sisters. WhatsApp had run a similar campaign in Brazil earlier this year.

Pant said the campaign in India will run for 10 weeks across India on a number of national and regional television channels and digital platforms.

"Throughout this year, the campaign will see multiple creative executions land in high profile cultural moments across the year from festivals to the cricket IPL. Over the course of the campaign, these films will be available in English and seven regional languages that include Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Gujarati, Marathi and Kannada," he added.

Pant said shooting these films remotely was a "new and a challenging experience" for everyone involved.

The campaign was shot in the early days of lockdown, and the production happened remotely following utmost standards of safety and precaution, he added.

"This meant casting had to be done keeping in mind the actors and the cinematographers who lived together, so no one from outside would enter the premises. The rest of the family members became hair, make-up and costume assistants...For the first time we heard, 'Action, Mumma' instead of just 'Action'," Pant said.

He added that the client's agency and the director supervised the shoot through a WhatsApp video call, just as they conducted the pre-production meetings (PPM) and presentations.

In the past, WhatsApp has run radio and print campaigns across various Indian states, asking people to check the veracity of information received as a forward before they share it with others as part of its efforts to curb the spread of fake news on its platform.