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Photographs and people in them hold a lot of memories and thoughts. This project is about using those memories of the past to create advertisment caimpaign for the brand "Rooh-Afza" today. We have studied the 60s era, specifically marriage and food rituals associated with it. Before moving forward we would like to thank sur family members because of which this could be possibe and also to our faculty Ms. Heer Vyas for guiding us through each step of its process.
Contents 1. Photography - Treasure for Research 2. Photographs from the 60s 3. Popular Culture of 60s 4. Rooh Afza - Brand Research 5. Exsisiting Visuals of the Brand 6. Campaign Concept
Photographs - Treasure for Research A picture tells many stories. This saying is completely true when it comes to studying about the time period when a particular picture was taken. While looking at the pictures, we look at few aspects like it’s factual, conventional, intrinsic and expressional meanings. While finding out data about the era, we come across facts that may or may not be innocent. Thus knowing about various parameters of the photo like the family, it’s religion, culture inventory etc. becomes important. The structure based data derived from it like the place where photograph was taken or the objects around it tell us how people perceived and organised things or they preferred things or events to happen. Therefore out of all these understandings only, we come to know what is/ was the overall mindset or psychology of that particular time. While studying the photos from our families, we come to know how a particular ritual or the pattern of doing things has developed and how same ritual and event has different meanings and values in different families. Having this knowledge, we can build up the idea of different marketing and promotion campaigns/ models that directly communicate the value or philosophy of a particular thing/ idea.
Photographs from 60s As already mentioned how photographs hold of great value, we all decided to interview our family members based on the photographs we got from them. The interview made us see other things in the photographs which were not observed earlier. We not only focussed on what was in the photo but also on the back story of it, the rituals involved, place and time of the photo along with other things. Here are four different stories about wedding rituals from four different parts of India. The main focus was to bring out the significance of food and drinks in a wedding and how they are part of our family’s wedding ritulals.
Harshada’s family wedding photos; Murad
Any ritual in Maharashtrian culture is incomplete without certain food items, which ate considered as auspicious to cook on the day a pooja aur ceremony is happening. The main thing here is, ‘Puran’ , a mixture made out of cooked chickpea and sugar. We make Puran polis out of it and it is first served to God as ‘ naivaidya’ and then everyone gets to have it. But Puran is never cooked alone, we have to cook ‘bhaje’ or ‘bhajiya’ , ‘kadhi’ , ‘murad’ , ‘paati’ , ‘patal bhaji’ , ‘varanbhaat’ , ‘chatni’ and ‘koshimbir’ with it, to call it a complete naivaidya. Basically this is a full thali that is prepared and served even in marriages. After the marriage rituals are done, the bride groom is made to sit together to eat and the groom’s family sits to eat with them. First the groom feeds the first bite of food to the bride, and that first bite is ‘varan-bhaat’ , or rice with daal, which is known as the staple food, or the most necessary part of the diet. So feeding this means the couple would fulfil each other’s basic needs, like food and shelter. Also feeding the bride first means that that woman is the first rone one has to worry about in the house, if she is happy.
After this, the bride gives the first bite of food from her plate to the groom too. Only after this is done , others start to eat. 'Murad', which is nothing but a sweet dish filled with dry fruits, sugar, and coconut powder , is also considered to be of religious importance. The 'modak' and 'karanji' is also a part of it. So while twisting the flat chapatis into half , and filling it with the dry fruit mixture, one makes a wish to God about something... Like " I wish that next year this time, my daughter gets married, with this thought, I make this 'Murad' in your name God..." , and then it is deep fried in oil or ghee. It is said that, the way a murad looks, depicts our lifeit might be twisted and folded, but inside you have to find the sweetness. This is the reason why it is made on every religious occasion - to make a point that we will face every situation in life, only to keep hoping and having better and sweet future. - Harshada Joshi (based on Interview with her Nani Maa; grandmother)
Wedding Feast
My father’s faded memory includes a relative wedding where rooh afza was mixed with water stored in an earthen pot and served to guest with aam Panna another Indian traditional. Drink were served in a circular earthen glasses known as Golua. Apart from this drinks the famous desert that was part of the weddings was dahi Bhura . Bhura is basically powdered sugar which was mixed in dahi. The meals were served by the members of the family on Patals, dishes that are made out of dry leaves and stitch together. Popular dress code during weddings included white dhoti and yellow sarees and shararas were also famous during this time. After all the the ceremonies of the wedding are done, all the relatives and guest are send back not empty handed but with banner with included laddoos and purees. The weddings as usual started with food and ended with food. - Ananya Singh (based on the interview with her father). Ananya’s father
Nidhi’s badi
maa
The wedding usually included the grooms side coming in Bullock carts with their families instead of ghodis and cars like these days. Those bullock cart used to carry guest and relative from far away places to the the bride’s side. The attire of the groom included a dhoti and kurta over it whereas the girl wore a saree with white and red colour with green dupatta which covered her face completely. She could barely see anything in front of her. The guest was served chai in soccers at the start of the wedding. The wedding was more of a small and homely affair. 25 to 20 women used to come for ceremony at the bride’s place before the main wedding day. The wedding usually took place in the verandas of the house Sweets like monthaal and god papdi were prepared days before wedding in a good amount to be served to the coming guest. In 1960 , usually the marriages weren’t so elaborate and even food wasn’t so much extravagant so basically. In 1960 food served was very dry the only liquid that was found was chai. It was in late 1970 that Rose syrup became popular in marriages and engagement. The guest were welcomed with a welcoming drink that had rooh afza. Slowly and steadily rooh afza entered into different deserts like kulfis falooda and lassi. -Nidhi Shah (based on the interview with her mother).
Wedding photograph of nana and nani ji.
On your left is the photograph of my Nana Ji, Mr. Prabhu Dutt Sharma and Nani Ji, Mrs. Rajni Sharma which was clicked on the next day they were married. They got married in the year 1965 and this photograph was taken at their home. The photographer only clicked a few photos at the wedding venue, which was a popular Dharamshala and then he was called the next day to click more pictures of the groom and the bride. The home had a drawing room with a wall with open small cabinet space which was rectangular in shape with decorated edges. The inside of this space was decorated with a Krishna-Radha photo. On the next day od wedding there is a ritual of “Paghphera”, in which the bride goes to her home and spend the day there and come back. This photo was taken just before that. The groom visits the his “sasural” (bride’s house) with her and then they have a big meal there together with other family members. Its is a full-fledged meal with first the “Sharbat” (welcome drink) along with sone “nashta” (snacks), then the main meal which includes “pakka khana” i.e. puri and sabzi(vegetables), and then it ends with “Mithai” (sweet dish).
Before the couple leaves the house “Tikka” is done, in which small red “bindi” (dot) on the forhead along with rice is done on their forhead by the mother or sister-in-law of the bride and then given some cash as “Shagun” (gift). --- Soumya Sharma (based on the iterview with her Nani Maa; grandmother)
CAPTIONS
from movie,”Saheli”, 1965, scene of a muslim wedding.
Popular Culture from 60s
from movie, Rishtey Naate, 1965
Movie posters of “Doli”, 1969
The first movie that we came across was Saheli, 1965. The movie showed a Muslim wedding and what you saw was the screenshot from one of its song. It is balck and white still you can see the gota work on the chundari of the bride, also the jewellery of the bride which is very similar to what thwy still wear today. In the scenes from Rishtey Naate we ca see the use of nose ring and earings withn chains, also gajras for both the ladies. In the background of the first picture we can see standing diyas decorated with flowers. The third movie is Doli, 1969, on both the posters of the movie we can see the bride, the use of gota for the dupatta over the head and silver jewellery with winged liner and bindis can be seen for woman. For the man it is sherwani. On your right are the stills from the movie Saraswatichandra and you can see the still from a sing showing the bride dancing garba, she is wearing a bandhani saree with gota work. All the other dancers are also seen in lehriya saree. A red bindi with gold jewellery can be guessed.
Saraswatichandra, 1968 Gujarati Wedding
Where it all started, Hamdard Dawakhana, Old Delhi
Brand Study: Rooh Afza Rooh Afza, the scarlet-hued refresher, was founded by a drug maker called Abdul Majeed in Old Delhi in 1907. This classic summer sharbat has survived Partition, the licence raj, economic reforms, carbonated drinks and tetra-pack juices. An old newspaper ad for this drink says, “When the motor car was on its way in and the horse buggy on its way out, Sharbat Rooh Afza was there.”Now that the soot-spouting motor car is on its way out and clean, cool hybrids are on their way in, Rooh Afza is still here. “Every year, we sell 2 crore (20 million) bottles,” says Abdul Majeed, director of Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories (India), the Delhi-based manufacturer of the sharbat. “We have seen a 20% increase in sales in the past four years.” Majeed is the great-grandson of Hakeem Abdul Majeed, Hamdard’s founder.
STRUGGLES
PERSONAL CONNECT
Like any lasting brand, Rooh Afza has passed through moments of anxiety. “There was a drop in sales in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and our share of the throat declined,” says Tarundeep Singh Rana, general manager, marketing, Hamdard. “Consumers were taken in by carbonated drinks and the Frootis of the world. Our brand needed to be reinvented and refreshed. We started new campaigns, got (actor) Juhi Chawla as our brand ambassador and established connections with resident welfare associations in cities across north India. Today, our drives have borne fruit. In the Rs. 400 crore mkert of powderdmarket of powdered soft drinks and liquid concentrates, Rooh Afza’s share is 50%.”photo
It is no exaggeration to say that the older generations have grown up with Rooh Afza moments. “I first had Rooh Afza when I was a five-yearold,” says Pushpesh Pant, author of the voluminous India: The Cookbook. “It was gifted to my mother by her friend from Delhi, who was visiting our home in Mukteshwar. In just one sip, I tasted melon, pineapple and orange. There was a trace of rose and a hint of sandalwood. I found the sharbat to be a beautiful amalgam of traditional flavours and aromas.”
Exisiting Visuals of the Brand
Campaign Concept When we were thinking of Rooh-Afza in our lives and around us, how is it used and what value does it hold, we thought about different occassions on which we use a bottle of Rooh-Afza. Like in muslims it is consumed in Ramzaan, for hindus on Neerjala Ekadashi, you can see all the streets giving away glassed of chilled Roohafza mixed with water or milk or both or for a punjabi who cannot do summers without a roohafza lassi. As we interviewed our elders we came to know that when our soda drinks were not that popular, sharbat was the welcome drink for all and in that too Roohafza has been there forever. Whether its Hindu or Muslim, young or old Roohafza is for all. It has been in the market for so long that it has become the synonym for rose drinks in India. Our advertisment caimpaign talks about how “Rooh-Afza� unites the people. We have done this with a pair of flatlays and shown the elements accoring to our visual research, along with being printed on the newsapapers these faltlays will suit their instagram and other social meida pages also, as to cater all age groups and kinds of their consumers.
Group Members