Greenply introduces India’s first women carpenters

Greenply introduces India’s first women carpenters

Greenply

· Objective of the campaign:

To create conversations around a purposeful; real and inspiring topic that also motivates men and women to act differently when it comes to issues pertaining to Women

· Brief shared with the agency:

How can Greenply bring about a small but actionable change (instead of just a philosophical one) in the journey towards ensuring ‘empowerment’ and ‘equal opportunities’ for Women in India

· The Creative Approach:

Women often tend to underestimate what they can or cannot do. The creative idea was to challenge this perception as a Plywood brand, through a social experiment.

· Film Descriptor (i.e. describing the film):

Women were invited to an art gallery, where various objects were displayed inside a wardrobe. They were asked a simple question: Which of the things they saw were made by women. As each of the women inspected the objects, all guesses gravitated towards the objects, like clothes, food etc. Not one participant thought to assign the art of furniture making to a woman’s hands.

The big surprise then played out on a projection – a video showing the building of an actual wardrobe by India’s first all-women carpentry team from Archana Women’s Centre, right from the first steps to the final product. Shortly after, the women carpenters themselves emerged, and were introduced to the amazed participants.

· Excerpts from Spokespersons: This may include the Company spokesperson and Creative Director / Producer (on their experience of making the ad)

Speaking at the launch, Sukesh Nayak - Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India, said, “The seeds of patriarchy are sowed so deep that we still express wonder when we hear of women working in certain professions. Carpentry is one of them. We wanted to seize the opportunity to drive home the flaws in our ways of thinking. That’s why we chose Women’s Day as the right time to catapult this event.”

In this initiative to encourage more women to break the shackles of – what women can and what women cannot, Mr. Rajesh Mittal, Managing Director – Greenply Industries Limited (GIL) said, “Our partnership with Archana Women’s Centre is to provide expertise in various training programs such as mechanical skill, knowledge about newer techniques and critical thinking skills, which will develop the women workforce to meet all challenges of carpentry. At every phase, we attempt to find ways to empower and include women workforce in our ecosystem, where they can lead the plywood industry forward”.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Sanidhya Mittal, Executive Director of Greenply Industries Limited, further added that, “There is a huge opportunity for carpenters of every skill level in India for various woodworking and carpentry services. Through our association we will nurture them and provide vocational training to make them skilled professionals.”