In a traditional category, how do you position a brand as modern?

By understanding what makes it traditional in its meaning and reframing that meaning cleverly.

For ages, gold jewelry in India has been an important accessory in the construction of the ‘Ideal Indian Woman’ identity. A god-metal that transforms a woman into Grihlaxmi. A bride laden with gold jewelry brings the promise of abundance & prosperity to the home she is married into.

This construct, along with some other symbolic references imparts the category a strongly patriarchal meaning. Not surprisingly, the modern woman is moving away from wearing gold.

A somewhat superficial approach to tackling this would have been to show modern, successful, working women wearing the brand.

Instead, this ad takes a far deeper ‘modern’ stance on the meaning of gender itself.

In doing so, it reframes being born a woman = burden, to being a woman = desire.

Placing the story in a humble small-town/rural home, showcasing the approval and support of old parents who ‘look’ traditional, makes this story particularly compelling.

One of the best pieces in recent times.