We inspired children to write short stories about why ‘Dirt is Good’ for an amazing prize – the winning stories would be made into real movies. We visited 150 schools, which added our competition to the curriculum. Ads on children’s TV encouraged participation while parents were encouraged to support us through radio and newspaper ads. 3 top movie directors agreed to help the winners turn their stories into screenplays, but the kids took the lead on casting, location, music and filming. Fired by enthusiasm, over 12,000 children wrote touching stories. 8 lucky winners worked with the directors turning their stories into films. The movie-making process was made into 10, 1 hour TV shows for Star channel, watched by 46% of our targets. The winners had their own red carpet première. The films were bundled as an in-reel pre-film to a popular children’s film, giving them an all India cinema release.

Our objective was to create a shift in brand preference. Standard TV advertising had not worked but this engaging idea did. The ‘Dirt is Good’ equity score went up by 14%. Mums’ affinity to the brand shot up by 64%. And we inspired 72% of child viewers to become film makers when they grow up!