Miranda Madar knew from the time she was a 16-year-old high school student in the Bronx, N.Y. that she wanted to work in advertising.
That was when Madar, now Resurgens Orthopaedics’ Director of Marketing, earned an internship with YM magazine.
So perhaps it was not surprising that someone so determined would not give up when her team ran into some formidable obstacles in early 2013 after putting months of work into a project. As a member of the Creative Excellence team at The Coca-Cola Company, Madar’s goal was to produce a web-based film using newly developed technology to demonstrate that a shared moment of happiness can bring the world a little closer together.
The “Small World Machines” dispense beverages but, as explained on Coca-Cola’s website, one machine was placed in India, the other in Pakistan, and each became communication portals. The idea was to let citizens of both countries — long embroiled in a bitter political and religious battle — see and interact with each other, even complete shared tasks. Once those tasks were accomplished, the machines dispensed a Coke. For Madar, the project also was personally significant, as she is of Indian heritage (she was born in England and immigrated to New York when she was five).
Madar’s team chose to locate one machine in Lahore, Pakistan, and the other 325 miles away in New Delhi, India. The first time the crew tried to get into the two countries to film, it was denied entry in Pakistan, owing to heightened security over an assassination attempt that shortly preceded their arrival.
Madar said getting numerous constituencies within one of the world’s largest corporations to buy into the project proved an enormous task in and of itself. After the team’s initial foray failed, it looked as if the company might scrap the entire project. However, Madar, her co-worker and the agency with which they were working pushed hard for another try.
This time, with the addition of more security, it worked. Madar called the film, which was later honored with 11 Cannes Lions awards, including three Gold Lions, “one of the most poignant and impactful projects I have ever worked on.”
Madar also led the production for the global re-launch of Diet Coke in 2014 (known as Coca-Cola Light outside the United States). Titled “Choose Love over Like”, Madar said she still finds this project inspiring and personally memorable, describing it as “a profound reminder to slow down, be present, and make an active choice each day to live a life you love.”
While selling Coca-Cola products might seem vastly different than marketing the services of Resurgens Orthopaedics, Madar finds similarity in positive and inspiring messaging for each. Madar joined Resurgens in late 2014 and by mid 2015 she had launched, in conjunction with Lenz, a new campaign for Resurgens – “Reach for More,” which is anchored in the idea of empowerment.
Madar said the commonality is in people wanting to improve their daily lives.
“I think we can do something very similar for Resurgens — the strategy behind ‘Reach for More’ is very aspirational in nature, much like the work I did at Coke,” said Madar, who gave birth to a son, Kiran, shortly after launching the new campaign. “It’s not just about medicine or going to see this doctor. It’s about how they can help you get back to the life you love, get back to doing what you want for yourself, the community, society as a whole.
“When done consistently across the board and over time, this kind of messaging will inspire larger groups of people and enable them to make a positive difference.”
Madar is married to Saif. In addition to Kiran, the couple have a three-year-old daughter, Milena.