Mumbai: While automotives are still largely known to be a man’s turf, The TVS Motor Company has been making conscientious efforts to shatter the barriers that have stopped women from being active participants in the automotive industry.
In August last year, FCB Kinnect conceptualised a campaign for TVS Motor Company, titled 'Miss.Represent'. This campaign was built on the idea that if young girls were empowered with a fair representation, they would grow to be more confident and start considering career options that they are conditioned to think are just for men.
The first video from the campaign highlighted how gender stereotypes are present at the grassroots, with occupational charts widely used at schools, only showcasing male figures in esteemed fields like STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), while women are portrayed in roles like that of a teacher, air hostess, nurse, etc.
Statistics reveal that children’s career choices get influenced at as early as six years of age. This means that from an early age, girls that might have a natural inclination or skills for the STEM fields, might still find it very difficult to break out of their conditioning and pursue careers in these.
Although there are multiple solutions, the crucial one lies in changing the education system itself. The solution to a problem is in the problem itself.
Hence, the second video from the campaign showcased the solution, which was the chart itself, but a lenticular one. The beauty of this chart is that when viewed from different angles, it displays both male and female in the same occupations.
The campaign is not about leaving men out of these showcases, but also including women in the same roles.
This small change can upturn the untapped resource that India is missing out on, by getting more women into the STEM fields.
Being a brand that’s had immense success with leading an all-women research team and a 90 per cent engine assembly line, TVS Motor Company is still keen on hiring more women in their workforce.
The brand will now take these lenticular charts to over 5000 schools across India.
TVS Motor Company wants to build a world where every girl can dream, because when she can see, she DARES TO DREAM!
The first phase of the campaign went live on 26 August, 2023, while the second phase went live on 8 March 2024.
Speaking on the campaign, FCB Kinnect executive creative director Ashish Tambe said, “We’re trying to solve a business problem, but in a way that society itself changes. When a child sees a visual representation carrying such an obvious bias, it gets ingrained into their minds. we had to ensure that the term equality shines through the campaign, which is not about women, but about equality. After trying and testing a plethora of technologies, we figured that the solution had to be scalable. It’s a long-term effort that doesn’t just start and end on Women’s Day.”
