At Cannes this year, the Grand Prix winner in the outdoor category was the hoarding of Nedbank (one of the largest banks in South Africa) that was fitted with solar panels. The electricity generated from those panels was used to power the kitchen of a local school. The line on the hoarding read ?What if a bank really did give power to the people??
The campaign made its point and how!
The social?if not commercial?dividends from such a campaign could be highly rewarding, yet it?s surprising that very few such initiatives actually get rolled off in India. The reason perhaps is that there are few takers.
Of course, there are examples of detergent brands creating clothes banks and beauty brands doing their bit against domestic violence, but agencies and brands back home tend to short-circuit what can be broadly termed as non-profit advertising or even paid-for socially-relevant campaigns. Indeed, a recent TAM Media Research report shows a 17% dip in volume in social sector advertising in print during January-June 2007. Interestingly, over 40% of this was put out by government agencies.
Anyone who has worked in the advertising industry knows that in every agency there are certain bootleg concepts that don?t find takers and typically these relate to social advertising. Last year, Grasshoppers, a Delhi-based agency, rounded up all such concepts to put a display under ?Ourchive? the proceeds of which went to an NGO.
?If a few could come forward to fund some such campaigns that are lying in the cans, we can unleash forces of change in many areas,? says Sumanto Chattopadhyay, group creative director, O&M (Mumbai). ?Print media managers are often less accommodating. But with viral marketing through the Internet or via cellphones, it?s now possible to create an i pact even on a small media budget,? he asserts.
There are a few agencies that accept pro bono work. For instance, O&M?s award winning (Bronze Lion and Spikes) campaign for the Indian Association For Promotion Of Adoption & Child Welfare (IAPA) even bagged free airtime from a few TV channels but such cases are few and far between.
Even more rare are brands that may not have any direct association with a cause, yet are keen to build strong media properties around public goodwill, such as the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon, which, according to reports, has turned into one of the largest charity events in recent years. On a smaller scale there is Schwabe India?s recent, ?Sh….don?t spread noise pollution? campaign, which is trying to make a point through message stickers. Yet another example is that of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) that persuaded several TV channels to give free airtime for a campaign that informed Indian masses about their Constitutional rights.
?This is different from initiatives that come under the broad corporate social responsibility (CSR) umbrella,? clarifies a Delhi-based advertising professional. ?What we are talking about is devising advertising that serve the dual purpose of putting across a message and doing so in a socially meaningful manner. And in the process drawing a lot of attention, which is very important given that we live in the age of ad avoidance.?
To be sure, India has one of the richest traditions when it comes to CSR?for some business houses social and community development activities have been a key focus area even before CSR became fashionable. Among recent examples, is Tata Salt?s Desh Ko Arpan programme (DKAP) that contributes 10 paise from the sale of each 1 kg pack (bearing DKAP logo) sold in a month every year to a socially relevant cause.
In 2007-08, the beneficiary was Nanhi Kali, a project jointly managed by the Naandi Foundation and the KC Mahindra Education Trust for education of girl children, says a Tata Chemicals spokesperson.
Procter & Gamble, likewise, has a global programme, P&G Live, Learn and Thrive for children in need under which it runs Project Shiksha in India. Into its third year, the programme has benefited more than 65,000 children at a spend of roughly Rs 5 crore.
The major brand contributors to the programme are P&G?s Tide, Ariel, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Rejoice, Vicks VapoRub, Whisper?a fixed portion of their sales go into funding the programme. Aired on Sony Entertainment Television, Project Shiksha even has an animated mascot called Vidya and a music video rendered by Shaan, Bappi Lahiri and Renuka Shahane.
Other worthy examples are Hero?s Project work on AIDS and the Pulse Polio campaign that has Big B and Aishwarya Rai?s endorsement.
The bottomline?there is an awareness but it?s yet to gather steam.
Rajasthan Patrika?s 10-year-old Concerned Communicator Award (CCA)?an annual event that rewards ?creativity with a cause??opened to international agencies last year encouraged by the response it generated in 2006. And reports are that CCA 2007 has received over 4,000 entries in a single category (against Bombay Ad Club?s 2,500 last year and AAA?s 3,500 this year under various categories) so the date had to be extended on request from international agencies.
For starters, they?ve received entries from some 12 countries for CCA 2007, including Sweden, Oman, UAE, Slovenia, USA, Puerto Rico, Egypt, Malaysia and Pakistan. ?Engaging the attention of the media and the corporates is an important first step and this is what we are attempting to do through this forum,? says Siddharth Kothari, director, Rajasthan Patrika, the organisers of the award.