It's not being provocative for sake of provocation:Mindshare on 6 Pack Band

‘6 Pack Band’ a unique concept and initiative fetched Mindshare Mumbai a Grand Prix in Glass Lion at the recently concluded Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. 6 Pack Band is a transgender pop group supported by Brooke Bond Red Label. This initiative brought together Mindshare, Brooke Bond and Y-Films, the youth wing of Yash Raj Films to create a series of six music videos performed by the band. Mindshare Mumbai partnered with Mindshare Fulcrum to design and conceptualise the campaign.

The 6 Pack Band initiative addresses the stigma attached to the ‘third gender’ and features six transgender singers. One of the tracks featured is titled ‘Hum Hain Happy’. The catchy song is a cover version of Pharrell William’s popular song ‘Happy’.

In conversation with AdGully, Amin Lakhani, Head, Fulcrum team, Mindshare and Prasanth Kumar, Mindshare, CEO South Asia, share their reactions to the win, the campaign premise and more.

Reacting to the major win, Lakhani and Kumar said, “We are totally delighted and quite excited after hearing about the win and truely digesting it. The entire team is elated over the recognition that we have got.”

Lakhani added here that while the campaign was not made to win an award, the agency knew that when the work was being done, it had the potential.

“And the way it was shaping up, the way the international media responded and the way the content worked across borders, that’s when the scale and beauty of the idea came alive,” Kumar said.

Speaking on the brand connect with Brooke Bond Red Label, the duo stated that the entire premise on which the brand stood was making the world a better place. “‘Swaad apnepan ka’ is the platform for the brand. If you see the entire premise of the brand, it is about diffusing the tensions within the society over a cup of tea, with different cultural communities bonding over a cup of tea. The entire branded content journey epitomises what the brand stands for and enables the world to be a better place for all. The biggest change has been the acceptance of the third gender, who have been sidelined despite the laws formulated for them and the judicial system giving them recognition, it has to seep into the masses,” they added.

Lakhani maintained that the entire idea was not about being provocative for the sake of provocation, but creating constructive provocation with a very unique and differentiated content.

Speaking further about the campaign, Lakhani and Kumar said, “There are six songs that form a part of this initiative. But the journey is not yet over. The sixth song is under production right now and we are some days away from its launch. This is a journey for this entire band of six people who’ve come together and how they are seeing a personal transformation in their own lives – by being accepted by their families who had rejected them earlier, they are being accepted by the larger society where they are now approached very freely. In fact, such is their acceptance and popularity that they are being invited to perform at various festivals. There is so much fame and acceptance that they themselves have become role models for other members of their community.”

Calling the entire project a collaborative effort, Kumar said that a lot of deliberations and conversations took place amongst the people involved in this campaign and added, “We are a part of the journey together as there is not just one team working on this”.