Indian millennials break stereotypes with Samsung #IndiaReadyAction, campaign sets record

Samsung's 'India Ready Action' campaign has set a new record with 161.8 million engagements on Instagram and Facebook in 4 weeks, making it the most engaging campaign in the last one year on these platforms. After a four-week long successful campaign that saw millions of engagements on Instagram and Facebook, the videos sent by participants showcased a different India – the Real India that our youth wants to show the world. The campaign received video entries from millennials of non-metro cities across India. The video entries during the campaign came from diverse places such as Gangtok, Sangli, Pauri, Jorhat, Nayagarh, Kedarnath, Morbi, Bharuch, and Ganderbal etc. 

The campaign found several stereotypes about India exist in the minds of foreigners. To them, the Taj Mahal or river Ganga is the only major tourist attractions in the country, food means curries and spices, entertainment is only Bollywood and Cricket. There is little awareness of the other possibilities in Real India.

Some of the top Stereotypes challenged through the campaign, include:

1. Indian tourism is limited to heritage sites
2. India only has spicy food
3. India only plays cricket
4. Entertainment in India is limited to Bollywood

Twenty one percent of the entries were on the theme of ‘Entertainment’, tried to break the stereotype that ‘entertainment in India revolves around Bollywood’. The videos on the theatre district of Mandi House in Delhi, throbbing nightlife, fusion and local rock bands, folk dance performances on Garba, Kalbelia etc. featured prominently. 

Many young Indians, especially in non-metro cities, also attempted to dispel the stereotype that ‘India is only about cricket’ with videos around badminton, football, table tennis, horseback riding, boxing, skating, lagori and kabaddi.

Appended are some of the unique findings, basis the entries received for the campaign:

1. 59% participants from non-metro cities
2. Over 45% of the entries focused on breaking stereotypes about ‘Places’
3. 23% of the entries under the category of ‘Food’, millennials challenged the stereotype that ‘India is just about curries’
4. 21% entries were on the theme of ‘Entertainment’
5. 31% of all videos came from women
6. The biggest stereotype women attempted to break was ‘Indian women wear only sarees’ and that they are only ‘homemakers’.

With 23% of the entries under the category of ‘Food’, millennials challenged the stereotype that ‘India is just about curries’. They showcased delectable Mughlai dishes of Old Delhi, Tibetan food, sweets of Jharkhand, different kinds of Vada Pao, Fafada Jalebi, Tandoori Tea and many other Indian street food.

Over 45% of the entries focused on breaking stereotypes about ‘Places’, clearly indicating that youngsters have a strong connect with their own cities. From the Blue Mountains of Ooty to Vagamon in Kerala, from the valleys of Spiti to Bhilwara in Rajasthan to Andaman’s scenic Mayabunder, youngsters shared videos of these places just as they shared the architectural wonders of Gwalior Fort and Char Minar. It wasn’t just natural landscapes or heritage properties, entries during the campaign reflected the pride that millennials are taking in a developing India and its changing infrastructure.