Indian Millennials Break Stereotypes and Engagement Records with #IndiaReadyAction

India’s nightlife is as happening as the many festivals celebrated with gusto; the Baratang Island in the Andamans is a must-visit travel destination; sports mean much more than just cricket; and local rock music along with a throbbing theatre culture is equally relevant to millennials when it comes to entertainment. Gen Z and millennials from across India took to breaking stereotypes associated with the country through the Samsung ‘India Ready Action’ campaign, using video as their medium of expression.

After a four-week long successful campaign that saw 161.8 million engagements on Instagram and Facebook, the videos sent by participants showcased a different India – the Real India that its youth want to show the world. This made #IndiaReadyAction the most engaging campaign on Instagram and Facebook in the last one year.

Interestingly, it is millennials from non-metro cities across India who led this change-showcase through their videos. Video entries during the campaign came from diverse places such as Gangtok, Sangli, Pauri, Jorhat, Nayagarh, Kedarnath, Morbi, Bharuch, and Ganderbal, to name a few.

A recent survey by Samsung, India’s Most Trusted mobile and consumer electronics brand, found several stereotypes about India exist in the minds of foreigners. To them, the Taj Mahal or river Ganga are the only major tourist attractions in the country, food means curries and spices, entertainment is only Bollywood and cricket. There is little awareness of the other possibilities in Real India.

Riding on young India’s love for expressing themselves through videos, the #IndiaReadyAction campaign urged Gen Z and millennials in India to share their vision of Real India through videos that help break stereotypes that exist about the country. Gen Z and millennials today are not just content consumers, they are also content creators. They are also very socially conscious, driven by a zest for India.

“At Samsung, we take pride in our understanding of what Indian millennials seek. #IndiaReadyAction provided young millennials a platform to showcase Real India through their video creation capabilities. The campaign drew strong participation with millennials from across the country sending in their unique video content, attempting to break several stereotypes that exist about India,” Ranjivjit Singh, chief marketing officer, Samsung India, said.

“Millennials live in the ‘Era of Live’ and this campaign established that video is fast becoming their preferred medium of expression. Our recently launched Galaxy A series smartphones and Samsung Smart TVs enable people to move to an Era of Live,” he added.

Over 45% of the entries focused on breaking stereotypes about ‘Places’, clearly indicating that youngsters have a strong connect with their own cities. From the Blue Mountains of Ooty to Vagamon in Kerala, from the valleys of Spiti to Bhilwara in Rajasthan to Andaman’s scenic Mayabunder, youngsters shared videos of these places just as they shared the architectural wonders of Gwalior Fort and Charminar. It wasn’t just natural landscapes or heritage properties; entries during the campaign reflected the pride that millennials are taking in a developing India and its changing infrastructure.

Gen Z and millennials from Kollam, Kullu, Wayanad, Ratnagiri, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar took on the stereotype that ‘India is polluted’.

With 23% of the entries under the category of ‘Food’, millennials challenged the stereotype that ‘India is just about curries’. They showcased delectable Mughlai dishes of Old Delhi, Tibetan food, sweets of Jharkhand, different kinds of Vada Pao, Fafada Jalebi, Tandoori Tea and many other Indian street food.

It wasn’t just Indian food, young video creators also attempted to break the stereotype that India doesn’t offer global cuisine with entries showcasing Lebanese shawarma to nitrogen ice-cream.

“At Cheil we always have our finger on the pulse of the millennials. We study their behaviour, passion and trends. The #IndiaReadyAction campaign gave them a platform to showcase their imagination. We are overwhelmed with its success. Some of the videos they created to break stereotypes are truly amazing. We hope to ignite these millennials in many different ways going forward,” said Emmanuel Upputuru, chief creative officer, Cheil India.

“Instagram is at the centre of visual communication, creativity, and storytelling and we thus partnered Samsung for their youth focused #IndiaReadyAction campaign that visually aims at breaking cultural stereotypes in India. From content workshops for people at the iconic Samsung Opera House to leveraging the power of creators who epitomise Instagram, the campaign crowd sourced content in a record manner and resulted in significant brand benefits. We’re glad to have partnered Samsung to tell their brand story in a unique way,” said Sandeep Bhushan, director and head of India GMS, Facebook.

Twenty one percent of the entries were on the theme of ‘Entertainment’, trying to break the stereotype that ‘entertainment in India revolves around Bollywood’. Videos on the theatre district of Mandi House in Delhi, throbbing nightlife, fusion and local rock bands, folk dance performances on Garba, Kalbelia etc. featured prominently. Many young Indians, especially in non-metro cities, also attempted to dispel the stereotype that ‘India is only about cricket’ with videos around badminton, football, table tennis, horseback riding, boxing, skating, lagori and kabaddi.

During the campaign, 31% of all videos came from women. Within the theme of ‘Culture’, the biggest stereotype women attempted to break was ‘Indian women wear only sarees’ and that they are only ‘homemakers’.

Check out the Real Map of India here.