Teens go through exam stress, stemmed from college admissions, rising expectations and fierce competition. Parental pressure is one of the leading causes of depression and suicidal tendencies amongst teenagers in India. While it has become imperative to maintain a support network with parents and teachers, teenagers find it difficult to discuss their anxieties andfears. Hence, this year, Mirinda lent its voice to an issue, with ‘real’ sentiments of ‘real’ teens through open letters. The brief was to bring to light the issue of exam pressure that teenagers go through, stir debate and draw consumer attention. The campaign had a focused agenda – to move parents and teenagers by activating conversations around the pressures teenagers face during exam time. Mirinda wanted to play the role of a catalyst in driving behavioral change among consumers in an open, transparent manner, with the objective of mobilizing people to take the pledge to #ReleasethePressure
Planning & Execution
Target Audience - Mirinda’s ‘ReleaseThePressure’ campaign aimed to reach out to teenagers and their parents during the different phases of the campaign. Target Media – To have a powerful impact, and mobilize conversations around the issue, it was imperative to target consumer media, especially the widely read new age media. PR Planning and Approach – A three-pronged approach was devised to drive organic conversations in consumer media around the brand’s campaign, which involved:
A planned and targeted media engagement program to announce the launch of the digital film, which was published editorially on the country’s leading content websites and their respective social media platforms
Partnering with credible sources of authority such as Anupama and Zuni Chopra to co-create content which resonated with the brand’s message
Leveraging strategic partnerships with like-minded brands/ platforms such as Fortis Healthcare and mycity4kids to engage consumers in conversations around the campaign
We strategically identified popular digital born media outlets - IndiaTimes, BuzzFeed, Mashable, India Today and Quint to co-release the film and drive organic conversations. Influencer Led: Building authenticity, we identified Zuni Chopra, a young author who resonated brilliantly with the campaign – she penned a moving poem on exam pressure, which was leveraged in the press. Her mother, Anupama Chopra, an influential film critic, amplified this poem and our film on Twitter. Celebrity social media posts were also amplified in the press to drive eyeballs. We leveraged a partnership with popular folk band Swarathma, who echoed our message through their latest song. Community Led: We hosted a Facebook Live chat with Fortis Healthcare on the Mirinda page to drive a vital conversation, directly with consumers and encouraged people to take the pledge. We collaborated with popular mother bloggers platform – MyCity4Kids to engage them in panel discussion on exam pressure.
Effectiveness / Results
Total coverage: 197 (Online 191, Print 6), with 100% positive tonality 871 Million Media Impressions USD 5.3 Million in PR Value 72 organic social media posts
Consumer sentiments: 99% positive commentary across platforms vs 52% pre-campaign- consumers have resonated and appreciated Mirinda for bringing forth this issue. 20k+ missed calls to pledge to release the pressure, received from labels on pack. A total of 1.57 Million pledges were made by parents to ‘Release the Pressure’