Mumbai Police reassures women, urges men to respect them

The Mumbai Police has rolled out a new campaign to reach out to the citizens of the city to reassure them that the force is looking to keep girls and women in the city safe. The campaign was launched on International Women's Day at Gateway of India.

The campaign has been created by Ogilvy Mumbai and it consists of four films, outdoor and radio spots. In the films, members of the police force are shown speaking first to women and then to men. The communication seeks to reassure women about their safety and threatens men as to the action the police can take if one is found guilty of harassing women. 

The campaign also involves internal messaging to sensitise the police to everyday incidents and fears faced by women. Films with this message will be run at all police stations in Mumbai.
On the campaign, Harshad Rajadhyaksha, group creative director, Ogilvy Mumbai, said, “The two-pronged approach is we believe what makes this campaign different and it will also be the reason why it will work. The same ad encourages the women to come forward and not tolerate abuse in any form, and the same ad firmly warns the men that abuse will not be tolerated in any form.”
Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director, Ogilvy India, added, “The most important decision was using real police officers, both men and women from within the Mumbai Police Force. The reason for this was that we wanted the campaign to be an honest conversation between the police and the city.”

Kainaz Karmakar, group creative director, Ogilvy Mumbai, said, “If the message did not sound true it would not work. That was why we discarded many ideas before deciding on this. Every piece is simple and tackles a real fear in the silent victim’s mind. For a variety of reasons, the police station just around the corner is often the longest walk for a victim.”

Navin Talreja, president, Ogilvy Mumbai & Kolkata, added, “Nothing will change overnight and it is unreasonable to expect that. The journey from fear to faith cannot be completed in one day or with one campaign. However, with this effort, we will hopefully move one step closer to making women feel like there is someone watching out for them.”

Credits

National creative director: Abhijit Avasthi
Group creative directors: Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Kainaz Karmakar
Creative team: Rajeshwari Rao, Sagar Parab, Gaurav Kumar and Vishakha Modak
President Mumbai and Kolkatta: Navin Talreja
Account management: Hirol Gandhi, Nikhil Mohan, Sudarshan Srinivasan and Avtar Singh Negi
Account planning: Prem Narayan
Agency film production executive: Vikrant Mishra
Photographer: Avadhut Hembade
Production house: Code Red Films
Producer: Subrat Ray
Director: Gajraj Rao