Campaign Face Off: #WhatMakesYouBeautiful by Nykaa v/s Joy Personal Care's #JustHireOne

Joining the topical wave created by Chhapaak, Joy and Nykaa put forth a campaign each to highlight the lives of acid attack survivors. We ask experts to weigh brand efforts.

Earlier this month, Deepika Padukone starrer Chhapaak was released across the country. In the run up to the movie hitting screens, conversations around the sale of acid and the associated violence ensued. Adding a pinch of brand connect, both Nykaa and Joy Personal Care took it upon themselves to portray such tales with the help of campaigns. While Nykaa brought onboard Laxmi Agarwal to put forth her narrative under the #WhatMakesYouBeautiful campaign, Joy used the timing to highlight their range of sensitive products created for burnt skin.

Here's how each fared.

#WhatMakesYouBeautiful ft Laxmi Agarwal by Nykaa

Nykaa, as a brand, wishes to make beauty more accessible and empowering to all. With Laxmi Agarwal, they wanted to put across a message to women everywhere: You can be any kind of beautiful you want and makeup is simply a tool to celebrate and express yourself with. We can all decide our own definition of beauty that doesn't need external validation.

"We approached Laxmi with the concept and she was only too happy to be the voice of this campaign for us as it was a message that deeply resonated with her," says Madhavi Irani, Chief Officer, Content, Nykaa.com.

This Nykaa campaign is primarily present on the brand's YouTube channel and is being pushed with the help of their social media presence, website and app.

Creative process

#WhatMakesYouBeautiful is the brand's effort to widen the horizons of beauty. "We intended to showcase a poignant juxtaposition of Laxmi doing her makeover while talking about the many nuanced and intricate traits that make a woman beautiful. However, she stopped mid-shoot and asked if she could deliver the end without any makeup on, as she believed that would resonate more strongly with our message," Irani tells us.

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Joy Personal Care's #JustHireOne

To create a dialogue and come up with a tangible solution within the brand's domain, Joy Personal Care launched a range of sensitive products that can be used by acid attack victims.

The brand and Grapes Digital, the agency between the campaign, started discussing the idea around May-June and by September they knew that a movie was being made about acid attack survivors.

Creative Process

"While working on consumer cohorts, we realised that there is a skin type that is burnt. However, for this niche, quality products were not available at affordable prices. This is where the discussion started," says Shradha Agarwal, Co-Founder & COO, Grapes Digital.

Acid attack survivors go through about 15 to 30 reconstructive surgeries and their skin is extremely delicate. Realising how the movie's release would help the brand get a much better reach to take the message forward, the launch of the campaign was deferred by a few weeks.

Poulomi Roy, Chief Marketing Officer, RSH Global explains, "It isn't just a movie association or campaign for us. It is a purpose-led marketing endeavour. We wanted to do something on a product level and not just a promotional level."

With the help of various NGOs, the brand has sent out these products as gifts to be tried out. Free samples were also given out at a Chhapaak screening. According to Roy, the brand doesn't intend to make volumes of business out of it as the customer base is niche. "This is where we want to put forth what we stand for and what we are capable of. It is our way to put things into action and to go beyond just speaking about things," she says.

Experts Take

"I think each campaign picked a unique lens to address problems faced by acid attack survivors. Joy's presentation of a very pertinent real-life problem and Nykaa's message of loving oneself both make for extremely revelling stories. Both had a strong message and did a great job of telling it.

However, I feel Nykaa's execution was sharper. The unexpected twist in the story was bold, thought-provoking and definitely stood out. I think both brand teams deserve to be proud of themselves. Although, from a brand objective POV, I believe Nykaa moved the needle a little more. It was a complete package with a relevant personality, a real story, great storytelling format and efficient promotion." — Steven Sadiq, Associate Creative Director, The Digital Street.

“It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Chhapaak managed to move the needle on the sensitive issue of acid attack; the awareness it created caused ripples across sectors. Both the campaigns shed light on the pain and suffering of an acid attack survivor. Nykaa’s #WhatMakesYouBeautiful and Joy’s #SkinofCourage will definitely resonate with the social media audience and help change perceptions of people towards the survivors at large. As a mark of solidarity Joy’s campaign urges companies across sectors to hire acid attack survivors and help them reinvent their lives purpose as 90% of acid attack survivors don’t get a job. Overall, I think both the campaigns have done fairly well in creating the required awareness for acid attack survivors and convey the message that we are beautiful people." — Sameer Makani, Co-Founder, and Managing Director, Makani Creatives