Brooke Bond Red Label: 6 Pack Band
Brooke Bond Red Label wanted to revitalize its 'Taste of Togetherness' positioning by addressing deep-seated social prejudices in India. Mindshare Mumbai was tasked with finding a way to make the brand a catalyst for a more inclusive society, specifically targeting the extreme stigma faced by the transgender community, while driving brand penetration and sales in a highly competitive tea market.
Creative Idea
Launched India's first transgender pop group to turn social outcasts into mainstream musical icons.
Brooke Bond Red Label challenged social stigma by launching India's first transgender pop group, using music to transform the Hijra community from objects of pity into pop-culture icons, proving that a cup of tea can make the world more welcoming.
From Traffic Signals to the Cannes Grand Prix
Scouting for Authenticity
The production team, led by director Vasan Bala and curator Shameer Tandon, spent six months on a talent hunt to find the six members of the band. Rather than casting professional actors, scouts searched public spaces like railway stations and traffic signals to find genuine members of the *Hijra* community. The process was rigorous; many industry "strugglers" attempted to pose as transgender during auditions to land the role, but the team insisted on casting only real community members like Fida Khan and Ravina Jagtap.
Overcoming the Internal Firewall
The project faced significant internal skepticism before its launch. Amin Lakhani of Mindshare Fulcrum noted that 70% of the agency initially dismissed the idea as "rubbish" or too risky for a traditional brand. Ashish Patil of Y-Films described the tension of hitting the "Mindshare firewall" and the "Unilever firewall" during the pitch process. Despite the fear, the campaign moved the narrative from pity to pop culture, eventually gaining the support of Bollywood heavyweights like Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, and Sonu Nigam.
Outselling the Category
The campaign delivered massive commercial returns, with the brand outselling the packaged tea category by 1.3 times - a 30% spike relative to the category. Brand penetration grew by over 400 basis points, and awareness jumped by 59%. Interestingly, the brand association was a slow burn; while 92% of viewers did not mention the brand during the first song, by the fifth release, 68% of consumers correctly linked the band to Brooke Bond Red Label.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A brand purpose centered on togetherness and breaking barriers through the simple act of sharing tea.
Category
Tea brands typically focus on domestic warmth, family bonding, or functional health benefits in their advertising.
Customer
People who feel uncomfortable toward the transgender community but are highly engaged with music and pop culture.
Culture
The historical marginalization of the Hijra community in India, often relegated to begging or social exclusion.
Company
A brand purpose centered on togetherness and breaking barriers through the simple act of sharing tea.
Category
Tea brands typically focus on domestic warmth, family bonding, or functional health benefits in their advertising.
Strategy:
Humanize a marginalized community through mainstream entertainment to bridge social divides and reinforce a purpose of radical inclusivity.
Customer
People who feel uncomfortable toward the transgender community but are highly engaged with music and pop culture.
Culture
The historical marginalization of the Hijra community in India, often relegated to begging or social exclusion.
Strategy:
Humanize a marginalized community through mainstream entertainment to bridge social divides and reinforce a purpose of radical inclusivity.
Results
The campaign achieved massive scale with over 25 million people reached and 8 million YouTube views, maintaining a 25–35% organic viewership rate. Engagement was exceptional, with a rate of over 2% (nearly double the industry benchmark) and a Facebook engagement score of 981 out of 1,000. Commercially, the brand outsold the packaged tea category by 1.3 times, representing a 30% spike relative to the category. Brand penetration grew by over 400 basis points, and brand awareness increased by 59%. While only 8% associated the brand with the first song, this grew to 68% by the fifth release. The initiative generated earned media worth INR 100 Million ($1.5 million) and won the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions and Spikes Asia, alongside 9 Emvies and a Gold Effie.
1.3x
Outsold tea category growth
400bps
Increase in brand penetration
$1.5M
Earned media value (PR)
Strategy Technique
Turn the Brand Into a Movement
By championing a marginalized group, the brand moved beyond selling tea to leading a social revolution for inclusivity, aligning its 'Swad Apnepan Ka' purpose with radical action.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Fight stereotypes
The campaign directly confronts the marginalization of the Hijra community by showcasing their talent and joy through music, replacing deep-seated societal prejudice with mainstream entertainment and celebration.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign masterfully transitioned a marginalized community from objects of pity to pop-culture icons through high-production music videos and authentic casting.
The creation of original pop tracks featuring Bollywood legends like Sonu Nigam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan provided the cultural legitimacy needed to break social barriers.
Mindshare bypassed traditional creative agencies to lead a direct collaboration with a film studio, utilizing a six-month episodic release strategy to build brand association.
The campaign generated massive earned media by leveraging celebrity endorsements from Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan to amplify the social message.
The rigorous six-month talent hunt for authentic members of the Hijra community ensured the performances were genuine and emotionally resonant.
The magic emerged from the intersection of Media Planning and Music, where a media agency acted as a content creator to weave a social purpose into the fabric of Indian pop culture.
