Menu
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is one of India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods companies, with a deep-rooted presence in both urban and rural markets. In 2000, HUL launched Project Shakti, an innovative rural distribution initiative to empower underprivileged women while expanding the company’s reach into India’s vast rural landscape. The cornerstone of this project is the “Shakti Amma” network – a group of rural women trained as micro-entrepreneurs to distribute HUL products in their local communities.Â
Â
These “empowered mothers” not only earn a sustainable income but also serve as crucial last-mile connectors between HUL and rural households. Research has shown a 24% increase in household income for Shakti Amma households, with 89% feeling more respected within their families and 83% feeling more respected in their communities.
Â
 By 2024, the Shakti network had grown to cover half of India’s rural villages, demonstrating its effectiveness in both business expansion and social impact. Building on this successful model, HUL sought to leverage the Shakti Amma network for its Swacch Gaon Mission, a rural cleanliness initiative to raise awareness about waste management and hygiene practices in village communities.
HUL, as part of its Swacch Gaon Mission under Project Shakti, commissioned Ascent Brand Communication to develop a series of animated educational videos aimed at promoting rural cleanliness initiatives. The project was specifically designed to leverage HUL’s existing Shakti Amma network, a group of rural women who serve as last-mile distributors for HUL products.
The primary objective was to create engaging and informative video content to raise awareness about waste management and cleanliness practices among rural households in India. The videos aimed to educate viewers on waste segregation, proper disposal methods, and the importance of maintaining a clean environment.
The campaign targeted the entire country, specifically the Hindi-speaking belts of the country and a few regional language speakers such as:
The primary target audience was rural Indian households, accessible through HUL’s network of Shakti Amma’s. These women, who are already connected to rural communities as microentrepreneurs, would serve as conduits for disseminating the educational content.
Ascent Brand Communication employed a multi-faceted approach:
Storytelling: The team created a narrative featuring relatable characters – Appu, Gappu, and Teacher Shakti Amma – to convey information in an engaging manner.
Animation: Animated videos were used to visually represent complex concepts, making them easier to understand for diverse audiences.
Humour: A humorous element was incorporated, particularly through the character of Gappu, to maintain audience engagement.
Episodic Format: The content was divided into multiple episodes, each focusing on specific aspects of waste management and cleanliness.
Localization: In addition to the main videos, localized versions were created to ensure cultural relevance across different regions.
Development of 4 lead videos covering:
  – Introduction to types of waste
  – Importance of waste management
  – Identification of different types of waste
  – The 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and composting
Â
Creation of 24 localized animated videos to cater to regional differences
Each episode was structured to include:
  – Educational content on waste management
   – Practical examples and demonstrations
  – Interactive elements to engage viewers
   – Key takeaways and actionable steps
While specific quantitative results are not provided in the given documents, we can infer the following potential outcomes based on the project’s scope and objectives:
Support for HUL’s Sustainability Goals: The project aligned with HUL’s Sustainable Living Plan, contributing to their efforts in improving health, well-being, and environmental impact in rural areas.
In conclusion, the Ascent Brand Communications video production project for HUL’s Swacch Gaon Mission represents an innovative approach to addressing rural cleanliness and waste management issues, while demonstrating the reach of networks in reaching consumers or audience’s spread across the nook and corners of this vast country. By combining engaging storytelling, localized content, and HUL’s established Shakti Amma network, the project created a potentially powerful tool for driving awareness and behavioural change in rural Indian communities.
We at Ascent have been in the strategic brand & marketing consulting business for more than 20 years, working with reputed brands right from MNC to national and regional ones catering to multiple product categories like Agri input, Agriculture, Automobile, Consumer Durable, FMCG, Financial, Health, Industrial among the major ones.