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Tag: CSR

  • Brands have to take a back seat and tell human interest stories

    Brands have to take a back seat and tell human interest stories

    MUMBAI: At a time when the world is moving towards the digital medium, can advertising be far behind?

     

    Indeed, the last couple of years have seen several brands and agencies falling back on this space to reach out to their consumers.

     

    D&AD’s CEO Tim Lindsay and president & Dare CD Laura Jordan Bambach who are in the country to address the forthcoming seminar (organised by Kyoorius) on Building Brands via Digital Media, shared some valuable insights on the subject with indiantelevision.com.

     

    On the fast blurring line between traditional and digital advertising in India, Tim quips: “Probably there are other markets which are further ahead when it comes to digital; and this is simply to do with the penetration of tablets, laptops and smart phones. Mobile is highly developed in this country and will only amplify. Therefore, digital advertising and marketing will develop in a separate way in India.”

     

    Still to recover from jet lag, Laura adds: “It is quite an exciting time and I can see the behaviour change and there is a more digital approach in various campaigns; which is more worldwide, but it is there here as well. The change in advertising message is becoming more purposeful.”

     

    Speaking about the trend of viral videos, Laura says they would work better if people had an interesting story to tell rather than the brand putting forth its message. “The brand has to take a back seat and tell a human interest story. Not all viral campaigns are good, there are many bad ones as well because they don’t tell you the story you want to hear,” she says, pointing out that videos which are entertaining, funny and have a human angle are likely to click with the viewers.

     

    Also the co-founder of SheSays, an international volunteer organisation encouraging women to take up digital creative careers, Laura feels things are changing now as more and more women are not only entering the field but also reaching high positions. “There are a quite a few women in the higher ranks and the things are looking up in India as well,” she says.

     

    Asked to point out the two important advertising trends of 2013, Tim talks about ads and campaigns having moved more towards story-telling apart from the increased engagement of people through branded content and added efforts by companies to take their CSR activities more seriously. He cites the example of Unilever’s latest Project Sunlight (Unilevers Project Sunlight promises a brighter future) . “In India, HUL’s Lifebuoy campaigns have been very successful. Be it the village one or the stamped rotis,” he says.

     

    In the coming year, Tim feels there will be more acquisitions including digital acquisitions of smaller agencies which will only serve to increase their credibility and sustainability.

    Both Tim and Laura feel that hereon, the digital space is only set for a further boom, with agencies milking the medium to reach out to as many people as possible.

  • Chevrolet India gets philanthropic

    Chevrolet India gets philanthropic

    MUMBAI: To reach out to the less fortunate children in India, Chevrolet India as a part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) mission of “Driving a Better Tomorrow” along with One World Futbol Project recently announced the donation and delivery of 20,000 footballs to marginalised and underprivileged children in India, especially those who cannot afford and maintain a football.

    The unique initiative kicked off with the donation of 91 footballs to Sankalp School in Gurgaon — a school for underprivileged children, run by Gurgaon-based NGO Sankalp Welfare Society.

    “Many of these children are growing up in less privileged circumstances where sometimes a game of football could lighten up their lives by teaching them the true meaning of team spirit and fair play,” said, GM India president and MD Lowell Paddock.

     “The joy that comes from playing football can help lift their spirits and replace despair with hope. Chevrolet’s founding sponsorship of One World Futbol Project is intended to spark a worldwide movement to give children a pathway out of poverty and despair with the benefits that fitness, sport and teamwork can bring – something we call the ‘Power of Play’,” added Paddock.

    “It’s our pleasure to work with Chevrolet India to support the donation and delivery of One World Futbols — first to Sankalp School and then throughout the rest of India with Slum Soccer,” said One World Futbol Project CEO Arnold Ambiel. “The spirit of this joint collaboration will allow us to bring the power of play to more children throughout India than any of us could have done alone. And seeing the joy on the children’s faces on Children’s Day makes all these efforts worthwhile.”

  • Anatomy of the top 100 brands 2013

    Anatomy of the top 100 brands 2013

    MUMBAI: This year, Apple has re-written history by replacing Coca-Cola, the number one brand for the past 13 years, as the new numero uno in the coveted top 100 global brands announced by brand consultancy, Interbrand.

    Interestingly, it’s not as if Coca-Cola got it wrong this time round. Rather, the FMCG brand has been on a successful spree; winning awards, launching brilliant campaigns, and engaging people in popular initiatives like Coke Studio. Just that technology and new media have emerged leaders this year.
    Ashish Mishra says the report tries to find an answer to who really leads the brand the marketer or the consumer, or both

    Says Interbrand India managing director Ashish Mishra: “If we look at the top five or ten, its technology and new media which is leading the pack and this is the trend all across.”

    The top 10 brands convey a message: A brand today has got to be all about the people. And how anticipation, co creation, conversation, innovation, investment in people & big data, strategic CSR and new leadership is the new way ahead. Mishra goes on to say that Apple has climbed the charts because of the Apple culture is has fashioned across the globe.

    East is East, West is West

    What emerges from the list is that most of the top 100 brands belong to the Western world. So is it to do with our white fixation or the fact that brands from the US, UK, Germany or France have made a name for themselves globally?

    “A brand needs to be where the top 10 GDPs are,” says Ashish, adding that apart from the brands’ financial performance, their role in influencing consumer choice, the strength they command as also recognition across the globe are important factors while determining their value.

    What is more unfortunate is that no Indian brand figures in the top 100. The consultancy reasons it’s all about diversification.

    Mishra explains that post Independence, India grew at a fast clip while business grew in various directions. For example, Tata today means different things i.e. Tata Steel, Tata Motors, TCS etc. to different people. Ditto for other Indian conglomerates, which diversified into different brands and sub-brands, which in turn grew bigger than the mother brand in some cases.

    “An organisational structure is important and somewhere down the line, custody of sub-brands was handed over to people (CEOs, CMOs, CFOs etc) who took charge but forgot to work towards the mother brand,” says Mishra of the irony of the Indian market.

    The agency is helping many companies in India to bridge the gap and be part of the global brands. And to achieve it, the agency feels the companies need to have an inside-outside perspective wherein they need to go to the right markets after creating a name for themselves here as well as compete with the global counterparts on the same parameters.

    Media not so savvy

    Of the top 100, the only media brands are Disney, Thomson Reuters, Discovery (new entrant this year) and MTV. Implying that while media may be the most influential opinion maker for readers and viewers, it somehow fails to impress brand creators.
    While the consultancy does evaluate media brands excluding publishing houses, very few made it to the list. Also, the consultancy made an exception for India and China by taking into consideration government-owned brands because of their sheer number in these countries.

    “The names in the list are the most influential brands globally. But if you look at the media in a broader context, then many other brands too would be included. For example, Facebook,” says Ashish. Incidentally, the top 30 brands evaluated by the consultancy in India did not have a single name from the media.
    Whatever may be the case, the names that figure on the list demonstrate that these brands have indeed managed to deliver meaningful and seamless experiences across all platforms and touch points.

  • Anatomy of the top 100 brands 2013

    Anatomy of the top 100 brands 2013

    MUMBAI: This year, Apple has re-written history by replacing Coca-Cola, the number one brand for the past 13 years, as the new numero uno in the coveted top 100 global brands announced by brand consultancy, Interbrand.

     

    Interestingly, it’s not as if Coca-Cola got it wrong this time round. Rather, the FMCG brand has been on a successful spree; winning awards, launching brilliant campaigns, and engaging people in popular initiatives like Coke Studio. Just that technology and new media have emerged leaders this year.

     

    Says Interbrand India managing director Ashish Mishra: “If we look at the top five or ten, its technology and new media which is leading the pack and this is the trend all across.”

     

    The top 10 brands convey a message: A brand today has got to be all about the people. And how anticipation, co creation, conversation, innovation, investment in people & big data, strategic CSR and new leadership is the new way ahead. Mishra goes on to say that Apple has climbed the charts because of the Apple culture is has fashioned across the globe.

     

    East is East, West is West

     

    What emerges from the list is that most of the top 100 brands belong to the Western world. So is it to do with our white fixation or the fact that brands from the US, UK, Germany or France have made a name for themselves globally?

     

    “A brand needs to be where the top 10 GDPs are,” says Ashish, adding that apart from the brands’ financial performance, their role in influencing consumer choice, the strength they command as also recognition across the globe are important factors while determining their value.

     

    What is more unfortunate is that no Indian brand figures in the top 100. The consultancy reasons it’s all about diversification.

     

    Mishra explains that post Independence, India grew at a fast clip while business grew in various directions. For example, Tata today means different things i.e. Tata Steel, Tata Motors, TCS etc. to different people. Ditto for other Indian conglomerates, which diversified into different brands and sub-brands, which in turn grew bigger than the mother brand in some cases.

     

    “An organisational structure is important and somewhere down the line, custody of sub-brands was handed over to people (CEOs, CMOs, CFOs etc) who took charge but forgot to work towards the mother brand,” says Mishra of the irony of the Indian market.

     

    The agency is helping many companies in India to bridge the gap and be part of the global brands. And to achieve it, the agency feels the companies need to have an inside-outside perspective wherein they need to go to the right markets after creating a name for themselves here as well as compete with the global counterparts on the same parameters.

     

    Media not so savvy

     

    Of the top 100, the only media brands are Disney, Thomson Reuters, Discovery (new entrant this year) and MTV. Implying that while media may be the most influential opinion maker for readers and viewers, it somehow fails to impress brand creators.
    While the consultancy does evaluate media brands excluding publishing houses, very few made it to the list. Also, the consultancy made an exception for India and China by taking into consideration government-owned brands because of their sheer number in these countries.

     

    “The names in the list are the most influential brands globally. But if you look at the media in a broader context, then many other brands too would be included. For example, Facebook,” says Ashish. Incidentally, the top 30 brands evaluated by the consultancy in India did not have a single name from the media.
    Whatever may be the case, the names that figure on the list demonstrate that these brands have indeed managed to deliver meaningful and seamless experiences across all platforms and touch points.

  • Star ropes in stars to raise funds for Uttarakhand rehabilitation

    Star ropes in stars to raise funds for Uttarakhand rehabilitation

    MUMBAI: When Star India CEO Uday Shankar watched hundreds of innocent tourists and locals being swept away and buildings being flattened by the rising waters of the Mandakani river in June this year, he was at first horrified by the magnitude of the tragedy and then moved to action. He vowed to himself, that he would put in his best to help in the rebuilding efforts in the affected areas. He made a call to the two Bhatts of Bollywood- Mahesh and Mukesh and sought their support in putting together a fund-raising initiative which would involve the film and television fraternity.
    This is an opportunity for the entire Hindi film industry to stand by people who have showered them with unconditional love, says Star’s Uday Shankar
    He also connected with Wizcraft’s Sabbas Joseph, asking him to pitch in this with his mite. And he deputed Star India senior VP marketing Yogesh Manwani to go down to Uttarakhand to study and assess the situation and gauge the funds required to rehabilitate the afflicted areas with major NGOs working there.
    Come 15 August 2013, and Uday’s initiative will see the light of day at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI)’s spanking new stadium in Central Mumbai. On stage will be the biggest names from Bollywood, the Bachchan family – it’s quite likely that the Bachchan bahu Aishwarya will get on stage after a long hiatus, Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, AR Rahman, Lata Mangeshkar, Ayushmann Khurana, Akshay Kumar, Pritam, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Ajay Devgn, Kajol and Prasoon Joshi, among many others.
    The event titled Saath Hain Hum Uttarakhand will be telecast live on a clutch of channels of the Star India network – Life OK, Star Plus, Star Jalsa, Star World, Star Utsav, Star Movies, Star Gold, Star Pravah, Movies OK, Channel V and Star Plus.
    So what’s so great about doing another multi-starrer event with film and TV performers? Have we not seen many of them and felt like going ho-hum? The difference this time is that this one has very noble intentions. Every paisa that Star India earns courtesy ad revenues and sponsorship during the telecast will be donated to NGOs working in the Uttarakhand. The telecast is slated to run for seven hours from 12 noon to 7pm. Estimates are that Star is likely to give away Rs 20-30 crore which it will rake in courtesy the telecast.
    The biggest names from Bollywood have been roped in for the event titled Saath Hain Hum Uttarakhand
    Amitabh will lend his mesmerising voice to recite couplets from Prasoon’s magical poetry that’ll be set to Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music. The enthralling musical act will weave Prasoon’s event anthem – Mera Desh- into an enchanting song performance by acclaimed classical singer Shankar Mahadevan and a spellbinding poetic rendition by Amitabh. At the time of writing, several other stars like Rani Mukerji and Karan Johar were also approached.
    Says Star India CEO Uday Shankar, “Mera Desh is an invocation by India’s most revered artists with a simple and clear message to fellow citizens — to look at tragedy squarely in the eye and overcome it by joining hands. Star India is humbled to receive support from Hindi cinema’s biggest icons.”
    “The noble initiative is an opportunity for the entire Hindi film industry to stand by the very people who have showered us with unconditional love and have made us who we are,” says Bachchan. “We have come together to ease the pain of fellow men who suffered the agonising pain that this unprecedented calamity brought with itself.”
    All the anchors and stars will be urging audiences at home to open their wallets and donate funds for Uttarakhand
    This apart, anchors will be rotated every hour. Among some of the names from the TV industry which are being talked about include: Deepika Singh (Sandhya), Anas Rashid (Sooraj), Karan Mehra (Naitik), Mahadev fame Mohit Raina and Pooja Bose. “The show will be loaded with entertainment,” says a source close to the production. Wizcraft has had the experience of raising funds through greenathons and long-format events. But they have left the fund-raising to Star which is setting up payment gateways online. All the anchors and stars will be urging audiences at home to open their wallets and donate funds for Uttarakhand.”
    The main choreographer for the event is Sanjay Shetty who has become the darling of most live event organisers in recent times. The creative inputs will come courtesy Star India senior vice president programming Anil Jha. Wizcraft TV head Namit Sharma is the creative head and Asim Sen has been roped in as the TV director, Anurag Dingra will be the director of photography, while sets are being done by designer Varshai Desai. Wizcraft sound firm Performance Audio has been signed on for the sound while Atul Sonpal is responsible for the lights design with the help of lights from SFX and Ulhas will look after lights. Tech gear, cameras are being supplied by Real Impact.
    Technical and production crew disclosed that they were either working free of cost or at concessional rates for the event. “We are doing it for a cause,” says one of them. “Star has been reaching out to all who have been working with it on shows in the past to come in at really discounted rates.”
    Star India has emerged as one of the front runners on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) front amongst media firms ever since Shankar took over as CEO four years ago. This initiative should take the network even further still.

  • Daikin India gets into CSR with ‘Cool a school’

    Daikin India gets into CSR with ‘Cool a school’

    MUMBAI: The world is going digital and so are various brands. Daikin India has started its first CSR activity in the last 13 years through its online campaign ‘cool a school‘.

    Daikin, a subsidiary of Daikin Industries Japan has been operating in India since 2000 and its manufacturing plant is located in Neemrana, Rajasthan, one of the hottest places across northern India and also the first place where the brand has started its CSR activity.

    Through this video, Daikin is trying to connect with the society and also providing a cool environment to the schools across the hottest rural parts of India. Where children travel long distances by foot to get to school in the blistering heat and due to this most of them stop attending the school.

    The video ‘Cool A School‘ is available on the online video streaming platform YouTube, where the company has asked users to come and watch the video and with every millions views on the video, the brand will reach out to another school . The brand has partnered with the local government school at Neemrana to appoint few class rooms with Daikin‘s air-conditioners. The video on YouTube has already garnered more than 10 lakhs views and the brand is moving to adopt another school.

    Speaking on the initiative, Daikin Air-conditioning India MD Kanwal Jeet Jawa said, “At Daikin India, we do look beyond business and intend to give back to the society our bit. We believe that today‘s children are going to be the future architects of the society, and to ensure a bright future of them and the society as a whole we must address the issues at the root itself. Through this ‘Cool-a-School‘ campaign wherein we seek to bring efficient air-cooling solutions to the children, our endeavour also remains to spread awareness about other Do-It-Yourself solutions which one can undertake to keep his/her surroundings cooler. We would feel glad if our sustainable initiatives brings cheer to the children of the school, and helps them become more responsible citizens of the country tomorrow.”

    AdHog Interactives co-founder Kshitij Rihal said “It was an exciting experience as we got to make real change through our work and initiatives. We spent a lot of time with the children and teachers, went to their homes, and worked on getting a deeper understanding of their problems. We got great insight into their lives, and are now working on providing sustainable solutions for them.”

    An official from Daikin confirmed, “The one million views approach is aimed at garnering interest from our consumers. The idea was jointly cracked by Daikin India & our online agency – Adhog Interactive.”

    “This was not done to promote sales in the first place but as an effort to build brand equity”, added the official.

  • ICC announces CSR partnerships for the ICC Champions Trophy 2013

    ICC announces CSR partnerships for the ICC Champions Trophy 2013

    MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the three Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partnerships that will feature during the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2013 in England and Wales.

    The ICC will once again be working with Room to Read and will also partner with UNAIDS and UNICEF to deliver the global cricket AIDS awareness partnership ThinkWise. The organisations will be joined for this tournament by ‘Chance to Shine‘, the Cricket Foundation‘s programme responsible for getting cricket back into state schools across England and Wales.

    During the tournament the ICC will work with the three partners hosting a variety of coaching clinics and visits involving players from the eight participating teams, while also providing tickets to matches and highlighting each of the initiatives at various match days throughout the event.

    At this year‘s ICC Champions Trophy, the governing body will celebrate its decade long association with UNAIDS to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS which ultimately led to the foundation of the ThinkWise partnership with UNAIDS, Unicef and the ICC in 2009. To celebrate that partnership, the ICC will be dedicating the final of the tournament to the ThinkWise campaign.

    The other two initiatives, of Room to Read and Chance to Shine will also be show-cased at a number of matches throughout the tournament. Room to Read is a global non-profit organisation, working to promote literacy and gender equality in education across Asia and Africa. Room to Read began its operations in 2000 and, to date, has reached more than seven million children globally by empowering them with quality education. It aims to reach 10 million children by 2015. Room to Read commenced its association with the ICC in 2011 with the vision to benefit children in cricket playing nations and enhance cricket‘s positive contribution to local communities.

    ICC CEO David Richardson, said of the three partnerships for the tournament, “I am delighted once again that the ICC is partnering with ThinkWise along with Room to Read to continue promoting both the importance of HIV and AIDS awareness and the education of children around the globe.

    We are also happy to welcome Chance to Shine, an ECB supported initiative run by the Cricket Foundation to help continue building a legacy of promoting cricket and creating opportunities amongst the younger generations in England and Wales.”

    Chance to Shine CEO Wasim Khan said, “We‘re delighted to be selected as a local charity partner for the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. Chance to Shine is keeping cricket alive in UK schools, bringing cricket to two million young people and teaching them key life skills such as team work, leadership and respect.

    Our campaign is inspiring children through cricket and what better way to excite them about the game than having the best international teams competing on home soil this summer.”

    Room to Read chief development officer Dr Geetha Murali said, “Room to Read is thrilled to be an ICC charity partner at the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. In a few short years, our partnership has benefited thousands of children through the establishment of libraries and publication of children‘s books.

    “The magic of cricket is one that speaks strongly to children across many of the countries where we work. Through this partnership, our ambassadors Virat Kohli, Angelo Mathews and Shane Watson are actively promoting reading to inspire children to open up their books and minds, and ensuring that children can benefit from the power of education. We are thankful that cricket has become such a transformative and unique tool in our fight against illiteracy.”

    Senior advisor to the UNAIDS executive director, Djibril Diallo, commented, “Like cricket, the partnership with ICC is about getting results. As we mark 10 years of action on AIDS through cricket, we have seen how cricket can unite billions of people across the globe. Through the ThinkWise global cricket AIDS partnership, we continue to encourage young people to get the facts, protect themselves and be leaders in eliminating stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV.”

    Unicef HIV and AIDS chief Craig McClure said, “Unicef has been a longstanding supporter of the ICC/ThinkWise partnership and over the past seven years we have worked together towards achieving an AIDS Free Generation throughout the world. We have come a long way, but the battle against AIDS is not over yet. The ongoing commitment to preventing HIV and breaking down the stigma towards children and families who are affected is critical.”

    The ICC Champions Trophy, featuring Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies, will be played across three world-class venues – Cardiff Wales Stadium, Edgbaston and The Oval – over 18 days from 6 – 23 June 2013.

  • Citizen Dentsu consolidates under Dentsu Communication

    MUMBAI: Dentsu India has announced that its social communication division Citizen Dentsu will be consolidated under Dentsu Communication.

    Launched in April 2009, Citizen Dentsu aims at government and semi-government clients, as well as creating corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes for its corporate customers.

    The media communication conglomerate aims to build Citizen Dentsu as a ‘Centre of Knowledge’ with specialised skill sets and strategic capabilities that would address the specific sector requirements and focus on building currency for causes, and thereby deliver value-added communication solutions for social clients.

    The agency has also got Rajendra Singh on board as senior vice president.

    Dentsu India Group EC Rohit Ohri said, “Our investment is going to be on ‘innovations’, so as to create currency for social issues. I’m delighted to have Rajendra Singh on board to lead this new initiative.”

    Dentsu Communications CEO Arijit Ray added, “Our endeavour has been to put together a team with the right mix of cross-category and cultural learning and passion for social marketing. I am sure Rajendra and his team will strive towards building and crafting simple and breakthrough solutions that will add value to various community groups and stakeholders.”

    Singh’s last tenure was with JWT, where he worked for 10 years. Apart from a set of mainstream clients, Singh has headed JWT’s social communications division called Thompson Social for five years. He has worked on a multitude of social programmes, from issues like HIV/Aids, Polio, child health and safe motherhood, health and hygiene to causes such as environment, education, food safety and drug usage for clients like UNICEF, World Bank and Nike Foundation.