A big challenge for the Indian advertising and marketing fraternity is the over reliance on `youth' as a segment. Advertising agency Dentsu India decided to change the paradigm, and is to focus on mums with its Mama Lab, that aims to bring new facets of brands to life by turning the spotlight on mothers.

Gen X and Gen Y are now passe. Rohit Ohri, CEO, Dentsu Asia Pacific, believes understanding the different aspects of a mother is what will make brands connect meaningfully with consumers.

``Mums as a segment is rapidly emerging, primarily because women are entering the workforce in huge numbers in India. We need to connect with these mums in the truest sense,'' said Ohri, who is also the Executive Chairman of Dentsu India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of ad major Dentsu Inc, Tokyo.

Stating that Indian advertising has been looking at mums in a very one-dimensional or stereotypical way, Ohri said there was a need to break the stereotypes and ``connect with mums in an emotive way, as human beings and not just as ideal providers for the family. We need credibility in communicating to mums as has never been done before.''

Much like motherhood that promises rich rewards through its firsthand trials, Mama Lab aims to evolve through experience and experimentation in both method and output. Originally started in Tokyo by Dentsu in 2013, Mama Labs has taken its first steps in India.

``Initial results have been very positive in Japan. That is why it has been extended to China and India. Essentially, we have seen a lot of traction behind Mama Labs, and this is part of Dentsu's strategy for attracting fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands across Asia pacific,'' said the CEO adding: ``It has worked well, as FMCG companies tend to look at mums as a larger audience and also as consumers.''

The CEO went on to add that the core foundation of Dentsu has been around good innovation. ``We believe in new initiatives. Our vision at Dentsu is of being a creative advertising and communications agency and Mama Labs is one of the proof points of Dentsu's good innovation.''

He added that Mama Labs also aimed at attracting a whole new set of corporates, who would need to address the mother first, to get to her husband or children with their brands. Research from Mama Labs would forecast the future of mothers, children and families, and offer solutions.

Ohri added that any brand that Dentsu was looking after, ``which is catering to mums and women as a segment, is where the expertise of Dentsu Mama Labs will be leveraged, providing insights and knowledge not only in India, but across the Asia-Pacific region. The focus is on what would be the guiding motivator for mums and how to leverage that.''

Swati Bhattacharya, the former National Creative Director at advertising major JWT, who was associated with the company for 22 years, has joined Dentsu India as its Principal Partner-Creative, to take the helm at Mama Lab. Bhattacharya noted that most men have a habit of putting mothers on a pedestal, ``as if she is a person who needs to be worshipped more than be understood. There is a woman inside every mother. It is time for marketers to know that too. I am looking forward to sell to women by pressing their security buttons and not their insecurity buttons.''

Narayan Devanathan, Executive Vice President and National Planning Director, Dentsu India added: ``As with everything Indian, we know there is no such singular entity as `The Indian Mother'. What we will attempt to do is to create an ever-expanding picture of mothers in India, much like a perpetually growing jigsaw puzzle. As an outcome, our goal will be to gain insights into mothers and motherhood in India.''

Ohri added that Mama Labs would trace their personal histories across cities and villages. ``The aim is to answer a quintessential question on Indian mothers: who is she? Mama Labs will be an ongoing visual and oral biography of Indian mothers,'' he said.

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