#CampaignFaceOff - Reebok India’s #BruisesCanBeGood v/s Puma’s #DoYou

Social Samosa does a campaign face-off between Reebok India’s #BruisesCanBeGood v/s Puma’s #DoYou - to find out which brand drove the message of International Women's Day effectively.

This International Women’s day, while some brands created campaigns on this year’s women’s day theme #PressForProgress, some others focused their initiativeson breaking stereotypes, self-defence, gender-equality and other important causes that surround women.

Let’s take a look at what two sports brands, Reebok India and Puma did on this occasion and which of them stood out from the clutter.

While Reebok conducted a social experiment called #BruisesCanBeGood and initiated a petition on self-defence training, Puma in its campaign #DoYou celebrated independent and uncompromising women who follow their passion and realise their dreams.

Reebok India’s #BruisesCanBeGood

Sometimes, there’s a lot more beyond what meets the eye. And when we are faced with the unseen, it astonishes us because of the counter-intuitive nature of the sight. Reebok India’s social experiment #BruisesCanBeGood is one such counter-intuitive take on a horrifying sight- a bruised woman.

Reebok India rolled out a film on its social media platforms, which captures a social experiment that they conducted in India.

This #WomensDay, we uncover the harsh truth of our society. Let’s not turn a blind eye any longer. It’s time for every woman to get #FitToFight and tell the world #BruisesCanBeGood. To sign the petition visit - https://t.co/wovBeNavd0!https://t.co/vd89hKIVyW

— Reebok India (@reebokindia) March 7, 2018

A minor girl sexually harassed in broad daylight, a woman victimised to eve-teasing, a married woman gets subjected to domestic violence. - these are the head-lines that the nation wakes up to everyday. The film uncovers this harsh truth of Indian society and urges women to be fit to fight.

Also Read: Brands celebrate International Women’s Day with varied campaigns

The film begins with a group of people gathered in a room, who look clueless about what is about to happen. Suddenly, the spot-light is turned on for a woman who is sitting amongst them and has bruises all over her body.

People gathered around her were dumb-founded to this heart-wrenching sight. They were then asked to interpret what may have been the underlying reason for her bruises.

Some observers attributed her predicament to domestic violence inflicted on her by in-laws or her husband, while some other observers felt she was a victim of eve-teasing or self-hurt. Much later the protagonist reveals that she is a martial artist and makes a compelling statement that her bruises are her strength, not her weakness.

The perceptions of the people interviewed also bring to light, that physical abuse is exceedingly prevalent in Indian society.

In order to make women #FitToFight, the film urges viewers to sign a petition on www.bruisescanbegood.com to make self-defence education for female students, inclusive in the curriculum of schools and colleges.

The said petition was created by Reebok India on change.org and presently 3,103 people have signed it.

While on Instagram, the brand has rolled out a shorter version of the film, only presenting the bruised woman and not the reality that surfaces in the latter half of the film, leaving some room to ponder and engage with the post.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgEIaObA00j/?taken-by=reebokindia

Speaking about the campaign, Silvia Tallon, Senior Marketing Director, Reebok India, said, “Our idea behind ‘Bruises Can Be Good’ was to showcase the skewed lens with which our society views bruises and women. The ingrained perceptions of bruises being violence inflicted, shadows the inner strength of the woman and allows us to undermine them. Since combat training is in our brand gene, Reebok honours these bruises as a mark of physical strength and mental toughness that can face any challenge. ”

Puma’s #DoYou

Puma’s extended its #DoYou campaign once again on Women’s Day to celebrate independent and uncompromising women who are free to take decisions of their own.

The film features Lauren Lovette, a Ballet star in New York and American Basket-ball player Skylar Diggins-Smith. In this video, they share their journeys and their visions of the future and encouraged women to follow their passion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=39&v=p2Bhd7mSYGQ

On Instagram, Puma asked women to share their #DoYou stories.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgEQbKHhGqO/?taken-by=puma

The reach of the film was amplified, as Skylar Diggins-Smith and Lauren Lovette too posted the film on their Instagram handles.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgEQfnOjYHz/?taken-by=skydigg4

Lauren Lovette seems to be building up the excitement for the campaign, since late January itself, which is evident from her Instagram post on the #DoYou theme, without a direct mention of the then upcoming Women’s day campaign.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Beil2HUgJnH/?taken-by=laurenlovette

Later, Lauren posted a behind-the-scenes post, which served as a teaser for the campaign.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BektwsogbQB/?taken-by=laurenlovette

Finally, she shared Puma’s #DoYou film on Women’s day, which garnered almost 38,000 views on her Instagram post alone.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgEKogJAw_h/?taken-by=laurenlovette

Overall, Reebok India has done one post regarding the campaign on each of the platforms - Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There was no follow-up content to the film, which may have ensured sustained reach and recall, had it been done.

Also Read: Twitter kicks off International Women’s Day early with #HereWeAre

Secondly, other than marketing publications, no mainstream publication has covered the campaign – hence the masses do not seem to know about it and only a limited number of people are signing the petition. The reason for such media planning is still unknown.

However, as opposed to other Women’s Day campaigns that were mere narratives, the initiative by Reebok India is action-driven and aims at bringing a real change in society, which is evident by the petition.

On the other hand, even though Puma created a simplistic narrative, it enjoyed a wide reach which can be attributed to roping in popular influencers. Thus, the campaign had added muscle, beyond the brand’s own channels.

Expert’s Take

Social Samosa spoke to Manish Bhatt, Founder Director at Scarecrow Communications , to seek a comparative analysis of the two campaigns.

“The comparison between Reebok’s #BruisesCanBeGood and Puma’s #DoYou is certainly not an apple-to-apple comparison. Although the subject is similar, the former follows a social experiment approach, while the latter follows a self-expression approach. I personally like Reebok’s campaign better, as its stark nature puts the viewer in a spot, builds up curiosity and thereby encourages interactivity. It also manages to capture the stereotypes that surround women. Puma’s #DoYou campaign is not something new. The only strength of the campaign is the fan-following of the personalities chosen for the campaign”, says Manish Bhatt as he compares the two films in discussion.

Bhatt holds, that the communication on women empowerment is a little overdone in Indian society. “When you repeatedly make people conscious about a topic, it is also going to look unnatural to them. This is when communication becomes a disservice”, he concludes.