Time Use Survey: Providing inspiration for creative campaigns

“Men, it’s time for us too to gain independence.” This is the humorous call that opens a commercial for Bosch appliances that aired in the Georgian digital space in May. The video mocked the stereotypical gender roles of women and men, reminding the viewers that women are equally successful in their care work, social life and career pursuits. Men, on the other hand, are dependent on women when it comes to household chores, like turning on the washing machine or even putting sugar in their tea. The story told in the ad was also supported by important findings from the Time Use Survey: Women in Georgia spend five times more time on unpaid care work than men.

The idea for the ad campaign belongs to Bosch’s exclusive partner in Georgia—the hardware-store chain Elite - and the marketing agency Playmakers. The Time Use Survey was one of the inspirations for the creative team. However, there was a brand repositioning before that, followed by the decision for Elite to plan initiatives that promote women, who make up the majority of its customers.

“First, we had to identify a specific problem,” says Nuka Shevardnadze, Managing Partner at Playmakers. “In the process, based on [Bosch’s] home appliances, we came across [the issue of] unpaid care work. We knew that care work was unevenly distributed, but we realized the [actual] scope and severity of this issue behind the numbers after we started looking for statistics and found the Time Use Survey. The problem was posed clearly and explicitly, which allowed us to develop a message that would be easy to understand.”

It was a big challenge to turn this idea into reality: The campaign had to be implemented carefully so that it would not inadvertently reinforce stereotypes. “Instead of asking men share care work, we decided to make them figure out how this would benefit and motivate them. We also had consultations to ensure that all of the words were gender-sensitive,” Nuka adds.

Along with the commercial, a fully fledged campaign was also launched. The video was played on screens in 18 Elite locations across Georgia, and dedicated sections in the stores were decorated with relevant visuals. Then, while purchasing their selected Bosch appliances, customers would receive a gift voucher that only women could redeem later. One of the main ideas behind the campaign was that when the appliances were being delivered to the household, the women would be away from home and enjoying this time using their gift voucher, while only the men would take delivery of the appliances and be expected to learn how to use them on their own.

“Store managers and employees were informed in advance about the campaign and the problem as well,” says Salome Gzirishvili, Head of the Marketing Department at Elite. “They took an active part in this process, explaining the purpose and importance of communication to customers, and the feedback was also very intense.” She adds that the video received a lot of engagement online as well, with more than 6 million views on Facebook and Instagram and up to 2 million on YouTube: “Some people shared their experiences on social media, others criticized the idea, and some gave arguments about why the division of labour is important and what its consequences are. I think we achieved our main goal: We started the discussion and made sure that our society was ready to talk about this topic.”

It is noteworthy that the Bosch commercial produced by Elite coincided with UN Women’s Share the Care campaign, which also served to raise awareness about the division of unpaid care work and was implemented with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). This campaign was also based on the data and findings of the Time Use Survey.

In general, studies supported by UN Women significantly help in developing strategies and making decisions that are necessary not only for promoting gender equality but also for the development of socioeconomic life as a whole. Nevertheless, the significance and potential of this research are not limited only to these benefits: Disseminating and using data in various fields and presenting them to a wide audience in simple forms help to raise awareness about problems, start a discussion around them, shape the right public opinion and achieve positive changes through the ‘snowball effect’.

It is important to note that significant challenges still persist with regard to the dissemination and accessibility of data. Accordingly, by participating in datathons and collaborating with the business sector, researchers, educators, the civil sector, the creative industry and the media, UN Women is trying to bring the problems behind the research numbers to as many people as possible. A number of initiatives are also being implemented in terms of presenting the Time Use Survey, which UN Women and the National Statistics Office of Georgia conducted for the first time in Georgia in 2021 under the UN Women global flagship programme Making Every Woman and Girl Count, supported by the Government of Norway.

However, the creative industry has a unique and specific power: It can reach a large audience, have a great impact and make a difference. Elite’s Bosch commercial and campaign are a testament to this potential and a reminder to brands that they play an important role in achieving gender equality.

“On the one hand, this is a part of our brands’ corporate social responsibility, but through advocacy, they also increase consumer loyalty; therefore, such campaigns also benefit them,” Nuka says, adding that Elite’s campaign is just the beginning. And as one of the characters in its commercial says, “We still have a lot to achieve.”