Mumbai: In 2019, during the festival of Dhanteras, FCB Ulka and Kinnect launched Project Streedhan for DSM India, underlining Anemia as a significant health issue in the country that affects up to 53.2% of its women. Through the campaign, DSM, a global, purpose-led company in Health, Nutrition & Bioscience, reiterated the need to improve nutritional habits and consume healthy, iron-rich foods to reduce iron deficiency.
Launching its third phase this Mother’s Day, the campaign highlighted that at least 1 out of 2 women suffer from Anemia in India and urged viewers to give expecting mothers the gift of iron and not just gold and silver. It aimed at spreading a message about women’s health and immunity, and that one should invest in the mother’s iron by giving her nutritious, iron-rich food.
In our country, the baby shower tradition, popularly known as Godh Bharai, holds a lot of relevance across cultures. Hosted by families during the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, it’s a celebration to welcome the unborn baby and bless the mother-to-be with abundant joys of motherhood. The rituals include making the mother-to-be feel special by showering her with gifts, including gold and silver.
With this insight, the Project Streedhan campaign wanted to create awareness around women’s health and urged them to take their nutritional requirements more seriously. While mothers are known to ignore their health but take care of their families, the campaign encourages them to focus on what women’s real wealth is, her health. And #InvestInIron!
Speaking about Project Streedhan, B Rajagopal, President – DSM India, said, “India’s challenge with anemia is a crucial barrier to social development. We launched the Project Streedhan series to help people understand the extensive prevalence of anemia and therefore the importance of investing in iron to improve health. With this new Godbharai campaign, we take the Streedhan message one step further and focus on the woman as a “mother-to-be” and how investing in her health can prevent anemia and protect the health of her unborn child. We hope to trigger conversations about the issue and support the national thrust around the importance of iron and folic acid supplementation.”
Swati Bhattacharya, Creative Chairperson, FCB India, who conceptualized the campaign said, “A country that worships women as avatars of Durga and Shakti has often missed giving attention to her nutritional needs. Playing Annapurnas for others, our women tend to ignore their health and nutritional necessities. Iron deficiency in women is possibly the most common nutritional issue in India and its impact on maternal and fetal health is a cause of extreme concern. Project Streedhan sought to bring focus on the appalling levels of awareness of anemia in women with the first campaign (2019) that successfully and creatively introduced the idea of iron deficiency in women and the need to address it.”
Commenting on the campaign, Chandni Shah, COO at Kinnect said, “Kinnect is proud to be part of a campaign that creates awareness around a burning issue like Anemia. Since its inception, Project Streedhan has been an eye opener for people. Most of us do not know how Anemia ravages the nation today and affects 1 out of 2 women. For a brand like DSM, Mother’s Day becomes an important occasion to initiate conversation around women’s health and nutrition. To highlight Mothers-to-be, who are often forgotten from popular Mother’s Day narratives, is a masterstroke!
