Heetal Dattani & Shweta Iyer on weaving woman’s perspective into brand comm

Nine Yards, a women’s-first communication consultancy, is passionate about weaving a refreshing woman’s perspective into their design thinking and brand communication. Founded by Heetal Dattani and Shweta Iyer, Nine Yards is now launching “She Matters”, their exclusive IP that populates women content and stories through various channels. 

In an interview with Adgully, Heetal Dattani and Shweta Iyer talk about the idea behind launching the agency, the initial challenges, and the need to nurture gender-equality. The duo shares some interesting insights about the communications industry, such as the fact that “there will always be some shades of the patriarchy that are hard to shake off,” despite the reputation of “being a more liberal and forward-thinking industry.” According to them, even today, in most traditional agencies, briefs are segregated by gender, which is proof that gender-based stereotypes are very much alive.
“Beauty, fashion, home and personal care brands are allotted to women while sports, finance and automobile brands are by default given to men. This isn’t a deliberate decision. It’s the default mode that most management slips into, without even realising that they are perpetuating these stereotypes,” they say, adding that women can add fresh perspective into campaigns traditionally executed by men. Women representation matters, they assert.

Excerpts from the interview:

What inspired you to start the women-first agency Nine Yards Communications? What is the core idea/ philosophy behind the Nine Yards Communications? What was your vision for the company when you launched it?

Today’s Indian women are an integral part of our country’s economy. Data suggests that almost 80% of all buying decisions are made directly or indirectly by women, across categories. Not only are women emotionally and physiologically different from men, but they are also ‘shopologically’ wired differently. The way ‘she’ shops and interacts with brands on a shelf is very different from the man. And this is ever-evolving.

However, the way women are portrayed and spoken to in communication is unfortunately still very stereotypical. Increasingly new progressive stereotypes replace the older traditional ones.

Understanding this current scenario gave birth to the idea of Nine Yards.

Nine Yards believes that there are many layers and textures that make up the women of this country. And with that reality in mind, it is time to create a fresher narrative for brands, making them more relevant to today’s environment. Nine Yards aims to weave in a woman’s perspective into all its design thinking and brand building so as to resonate better with the real women of both India and Bharat.

How does Nine Yards Communications prioritise gender equality and women’s empowerment in its work and operations?

At Nine Yards, we believe that if we need to make a work environment more gender-equal, we need to make it more women-friendly. To do that, we need to understand where the gaps are. During the pandemic, we launched an initiative called #SheIsBack, where we invited women back to work, either part-time or full-time, whatever suited their life stage. We realised that a lot of women fall off the workforce due to personal reasons like health issues or motherhood. But the loss is actually faced by the industry, as it loses out on good talent. However, if we give such women a flexible way of working, we can perhaps retain the talent and help in improving the gender balance.

What challenges have you faced as a woman-founder in the male-dominated domain of communications? How have you overcome these challenges?

Shweta Iyer: While I understand this is a real problem, I have been very fortunate to have never faced this challenge because of my gender. Most clients today look for partners who add value to their brands, regardless of their gender.  

Heetal Dattani: Like every industry, ours also has some very deep-seated codes of conduct. Men make the default majority in every boardroom we enter. There is bound to be some discomfort with strong, opinionated women voices in the room. But we’ve learnt to navigate through this and do what we do best. Slowly and surely when the value we add to any conversation becomes apparent, our voices are not just welcomed but sought out. It’s true that we need to prove ourselves in most forums first while our male counterparts are given a hall pass. We’ve learnt over the years not to put our energy into impressing people, but rather letting our work do the talking. The tides are changing though. Increasingly, we come across clients who recognise the importance of a woman’s perspective in a room full of men.

Despite all the hype about gender-neutrality, gender-based stereotypes are deeply ingrained in India. How pervasive and prevalent such stereotypes are in the communication industry? How do you think such stereotypes can be surmounted? How do you plan to bring about a change?

Like most industries, the communications industry is also at the end of the day made up of a majority of men. We might enjoy the reputation of being a more liberal and forward-thinking industry, but there will always be some shades of the patriarchy that are hard to shake off. The fact that even today, in most traditional agencies briefs are segregated by gender is proof that gender-based stereotypes are very much alive. Beauty, fashion, home and personal care brands are allotted to women while sports, finance and automobile brands are by default given to men. This isn’t a deliberate decision. It’s the default mode that most management slips into, without even realizing that they are perpetuating these stereotypes. It’s actually refreshing to have a woman’s perspective on categories traditionally seen as male. And vice versa.

Some of our freshest work has happened on brands that are in the finance and tech space. The perspective that we offered our clients was very different from most agencies, where the bulk of the team assigned was male. Women representation matters. Especially in a growing economy like ours, it’s time our industry kept pace with the evolving role women are playing, not just as home makers and nurturers, but as significant earners and decision-makers.

At Nine Yards, we encourage women to re-join the industry after a break due to parenting or other familial responsibilities. By giving their careers a second lease of life, we aim to help women stay beyond just the early years and transition into mid management and leadership roles. Hopefully this will help create a more balanced industry. As more agencies recognize the need for women in leadership roles, this shift is imperative to make.

Could you share any project or campaign that you are particularly proud of, and how did it align with Nine Yards Communications’ values and mission?

We created a film for ZEE5, where we got to showcase our nuanced brand of storytelling in the women’s space. The task was to position ZEE5 as the ‘saathi’ or companion for women from Tier 2 and 3 cities. Parking aside our urban lens and diving into the mental and emotional landscape of women in small town India was very revealing and insightful. The areas of conflict in the minds of women from smaller towns may occur in a different context but yet, they are so universal. There is a fair level of conforming to societal pressure and conditioning, but in their own ways, women across the country are coming into their own and celebrating the ‘Me’ as much as the ‘We’. Articulating this balance and weaving it into a script was a very enriching experience. The film resonated with the audience and raised subscription numbers effectively for the brand.

The film can be watched here: 

https://www.nineyardsconsultancy.com/zee5

Looking ahead, what are your goals for the future of Nine Yards Communications, and how do you see the company evolving in the years to come? What are your growth forecasts?

Nine Yards has had a phenomenal first 2 years. We’ve grown in leaps and bounds, not just in numbers but also in the way we see ourselves, changing and evolving with the times. Born in the pandemic, we learnt to adapt to unusual circumstances. We went about everything in a non-traditional way. While we have a core team, most of our hiring is done with the filter of skill first and geography second. This has enabled us to work with the best talent across the world instead of hiring fixed employees who are tied across disciplines and requirements.

We have questioned why communication needs to happen just in the form of traditional media and how we can create brand recall through innovative experiences.

Going forward, we aim to create IPs for our clients that make cleaner, more effective connections with their audiences. We see ourselves pivoting from the regular asks for advertising campaigns to delivering relevant brand recall through various channels. Our current Art Show, ‘She Matters’ is one such experience where we deep dive into the nuanced emotional tapestry of today’s Indian women and tell her story through art.

Could you tell us about ‘She Matters’?

“She Matters” is a Nine Yards’ exclusive IP that populates women content and stories through various channels. As a deep dive into the women’s narrative, we are launching our very first art show under “She Matters”. At this art showcase, we, the co-founders, dip into our rich experience as artists and design experts. We put brush to canvas to take you deeper into the emotional, mental and cultural landscape of today’s Indian woman. These visually rich stories are a glimpse into their nuanced and insightful understanding of this space. Every story is a journey of conflict between the way ‘She’ is viewed through the lens of tradition, stereotypes and societal influences, and how ‘She’ really views herself.