Mumbai: In a fusion of technology and empathy, Alembic CSR, the corporate social responsibility foundation of Alembic Pharmaceuticals, in collaboration with Havas Life Mumbai, the healthcare communication vertical of Havas India, has launched ‘LullabAI’. This is an AI-enabled platform designed to empower speech-impaired mothers. This platform will enable speech-impaired mothers to create personalized lullabies in their voices for their babies. This initiative stands at the intersection of generative AI and inclusivity.
In India, lullabies are more than just songs. They are a cultural ritual. They represent a bonding experience between a mother and her child, playing a crucial role in a baby’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. For speech-impaired mothers, sharing this cherished tradition has long been out of reach. ‘LullabAI’ aims to bridge this gap, offering these mothers an opportunity to create lasting memories with their babies through personalized lullabies.
“Working on ‘LullabAI’ has been an incredibly rewarding journey. It made us push the boundaries of tech by re-inventing it to enable a maternal experience that’s profound and essential for early childhood development. It opens many possibilities for mothers and women, at large” said Sachin Talwalkar, chief creative officer Havas Life Mumbai, India.
Sangeeta Barde, CEO Havas Life Mumbai and Regional Head, Havas Life Dubai (Middle East) said, “Our collaboration with Alembic CSR reflects our commitment to leveraging technology for social good and positively impacting business. ‘LullabAI’ is not just about innovation; it’s about touching lives and creating meaningful connections. We are proud to be part of a project that brings such joy and empowerment to mothers.”
Havas Life Mumbai’s Commitment to Health and Wellness:
Speaking to Medianews4u.com , she noted that the focus areas of the agency are in the areas of health and wellness to help grow brands and businesses. “It means that from brands written by doctors in the prescription domain up to the OTC medicines, hospitals anything under the health domain is part of our business opportunities. That is where we focus on and this for us will continue to be there. It is not just about having a business. How you do it is essential. The kind of clients you work with are very important because the health business is very passionate and purposeful.”
“If you are in the business of health you will always have something in your heart where you will continue to think that whatever you do should create a meaningful impact. It needs to make a difference in the life of a person because you are trying to solve a problem or give a better lifestyle. These are the things you end up thinking about when you are in the health and wellness business.”
Strategic Focus and Future Directions:
The strategy to grow is to expand the scale of the business. She said that the agency comes with a very strong domain expertise as being health and wellness communications partner along with the whole creative and technology which has now been added. The agency she explains has a strong foundation of people who understand health and business brands, strategy, communication and creativity. Technology and digital are added to it. “There is a fantastic juxtaposition of all these three elements. There is data which is strategy. Then there is creativity and there is the technology.”
She said that that many brands get introduced and some brands need a complete re-invention. “That is where we would anyways go and tap the potential of these brands. Of course, creativity, strategy data analytics have been a strength which is what we will bring to the table. This will continue to be relevant and will bring about those meaningful ideas which will make a difference to the brands’ businesses and people.” She said that deployment and execution could be about the traditional ways of doing things or a combination of traditional and digital ways of doing things. “We will bring technology into the picture. We will bring technology into the intersection of this whole way of thinking. This is something that we would work towards.”
AI in Healthcare Marketing:
Apart from the newly announced initiative, she points to work done to create awareness about the challenge of anaemia in women. It has done work in the hospital area, nutrition. When asked about AI she noted that it will not replace human creativity. It can throw a huge amount of data and information but that has to be interpreted in a manner that is relevant to the brand’s problem or an opportunity. AI she said has a role to play in data interpretation in terms of things like which patients are going where, and the patient’s journey. But finally, the judgemental and intuitive sense of a brand marketer is key to success. The marketer can interpret and present data in a different way that can enhance brand strategy. So humans and AI can work together.
Regulatory Considerations and Industry Challenges:
From a P&L perspective, she said that there are cost pressures in the industry when it comes to healthcare marketing and advertising. In terms of the mandatory online self-declaration certificate, she said that the agency is working on it. She noted that it has to be done and at the same time the health and pharma industry has a strong legal and regulatory force. What is put in medicine has scientific relevance and binding when it comes to making a difference and making a difference to consumers. Their regulatory departments are strong and so there is scrutiny that happens under a magnifying glass. She said that she is happy about the SDC. Responsible medication and use of products are important. Consumers need to be aware of the product and have the right to information. She noted that the decision of whether the agency or the client should sign the certificate should be made on a case-to-case basis.
Omnichannel Marketing Approach:
She said that an omnichannel approach is used in marketing as India is a vast country. People look at digital and then buy medication offline. Breast cancer awareness was another campaign done. The focus is always on bringing in relevant innovation and not innovation for the sake of it. A breast cancer awareness bra was created. Six steps of self-examination were printed. Continuously awareness campaigns are created for Alembic. For awareness, digital is usually the first medium used. Regional influencers play a role. Inclusivity is important. One campaign looked to encourage women to lift their fingers to the eye and check their nails to check for anaemia. Relevance and purpose are key for any innovation to work.
Talwalkar added that Alembic already has a For Her With Her platform and has made an effort to reach out to as many women as possible. Different issues related to women are taken up. The new initiative is about helping speech-impaired mothers let their babies experience what they have also experienced. He noted that the challenge in healthcare marketing is about a lack of awareness and a lack of understanding. For instance, with anaemia, many women do not know that they suffer from it. They think that they are tired due to factors like job pressure. So the message has to be conveyed that the chances are that they are anaemic and need to see a doctor. So to create awareness of anaemia during the campaign a fact checker was created. On the site, five to six questions can be answered to find out if they are anaemic.
Barde noted that her biggest problem is that people think that wellness is just about health and nutrition. People she said do not understand that health is way beyond that.
‘LullabAI’ Development and Technology:
“We are thrilled to introduce ‘LullabAI’ under our always-on initiative of #ForHerWithHer as a testament to our commitment to empowering mothers with a deep sense of purpose. ‘LullabAI’ exemplifies how technology can be used to create an everlasting bond between a mother and her child,” said Atul Suri, senior. VP, SBU head Alembic Pharmaceuticals.
“This initiative is a beautiful example of using tech to enhance lives and promote inclusivity. We believe every mother deserves to share her unique voice with her child, and ‘LullabAI’ makes that possible,” said Artica Rajpal, associate VP, and business head of Alembic Pharmaceuticals.
The platform harnesses re-imagined AI technology to transform short voice samples from speech-impaired mothers into lullabies. By employing advanced data cleaning, augmentation, and model training techniques, ‘LullabAI’ captures and applies the mother’s voice to a library of pre-recorded lullabies, creating a deeply personal and culturally relevant experience. The personalised lullaby is then available for the mother to play for her baby anytime.
The platform – created in collaboration with Perpetual Block, a Pune-based tech company that specializes in leveraging emerging technologies, Rajeev Raja, Founder and Soundsmith at Brandmusiq, and Anmol Bhave, a sound designer – took six months to develop, to make the mechanism simple yet transformative. Upon logging into the platform, a mother can choose from a library of lullabies. She then needs to provide a 30-second voice sample, which is used to clean, augment, and apply her voice texture to the selected lullaby. The final personalised lullaby is added to her playlist, allowing her to “sing” to her baby in a way that is uniquely her own.
Alembic CSR’s commitment to women’s health and inclusivity is further exemplified by this initiative, which aligns with its broader mission of supporting and empowering women through innovative campaigns and platforms. ‘LullabAI’ represents a significant step forward in creating an inclusive world where every mother’s voice can be heard and cherished.
Access the platform here: lullabai.forherwithher.
