My best campaign is #PowerlessQueen for Nanhi Kali, says WATConsult CEO

Nanhi Kali hit the right chord and achieved twin objective of creating awareness about how educated women add value to society and also driving donations towards education of underprivileged girls

MY TAKE

The campaign achieved the twin objective of creating awareness about how educated women can add value to the society and also driving donations towards the education of underprivileged girls 

Brand:  Nanhi Kali

Year of launch: 2018

Agency: WATConsult 

Which is your best campaign and why have you chosen it? Which year was the campaign launched?

All campaigns are created with a lot of hard work and passion. But one campaign that I am personally attached to is #PowerlessQueen for Nanhi Kali, an NGO. This campaign was launched early this year, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, with an aim to highlight the apathy of Indian society towards educating girls. We created the world’s first digital version of chess wherein one player had to play with a powerless queen, that is, the strongest piece on the chessboard did not have the powers it usually has, while the competitor did not have this handicap and hence played with the powerful queen. It was a metaphor for how women in India are rendered powerless.

The campaign was launched by leading chess player Tania Sachdev on social media via a video where she challenged people to take up the #PowerlessQueen challenge and try to win the game. 

What did the campaign achieve for the brand?

While Nanhi Kali is a not-for-profit organisation, the campaign hit the right chord and achieved the twin objective of creating awareness about how educated women add value to the society and also driving donations towards the education of underprivileged girls.

Could you also share some numbers to corroborate your claim?

Within a few hours of launch #Powerless Queen was trending on Twitter with the ace chess grandmasters from across the world getting involved and endorsing the campaign. World Rapid Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand, Hungarian Woman Grandmaster Anna Rudolf and many other top champions from across the globe supported the campaign on Twitter.

Along with the campaign gaining momentum on social media, it registered 1.1 million views on video and 300 million organic impressions and received coverage from public broadcaster DD News and other TV channels. We soon plan to roll out gender-equality teaching tools across schools in India, as an extension to the campaign.

Rajiv Dingra Founder & chief executive officer, WATConsult

What was the key idea behind the campaign?

The key idea was to showcase how difficult it was to win in chess when the queen doesn’t  power. Hence, proving how societies cannot win if their queens (women) are not empowered. This was rolled out as a #Powerless Queen challenge online and offline across India challenging people to try and win. As people lost, we prompted them to share the message and also donate to the cause so that they can empower a girl child with education.

What was the industry response to the campaign?

It is one of the most globally awarded Indian digital campaigns of 2018. We have received more than 40 national and international awards in the past eight-nine months. It was also the only campaign from a digital agency to get shortlisted at Cannes Lion this year.