Latest ITC TV campaign spells out the conglomerate's business philosophy

The corporate film conveys ITC's credo that collectively it is possible to achieve more than when going it alone

As one of India’s largest companies, Kolkata-based ITC has set ambitious targets of expanding its business. And the advertisements around its various fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands have sought to create values that resonate with different groups such as mothers, children or young women. A new television campaign featuring four ads now delves deeper into showing audiences what ITC’s business philosophy is all about, and typically vouches for taking every stakeholder along as it steps ahead with the message, “Sab saath badhein”.

The four stories communicate ITC’s promise of inclusive growth and have been shot in real locations in the hinterland where the diversified conglomerate has impacted thousands of lives. While a theme film shows four children cycling up an arduous trek in a hill. As they struggle, they decide to change their approach, and go up with ease by turning their cycles into a single vehicle which they can all ride together. Children feature heavily in the three other ads, which show how ITC initiatives such water development, e-Choupal and afforestation.

According to the company, ITC under its chairman Y C Deveshwar articulated a vision of “putting India first” and crafted a strategy to simultaneously build economic, environmental and social capital for the nation, which it terms the Triple Bottom Line. The company’s businesses and value chains generate livelihoods for over six million, it claims.

Sanjiv Puri, CEO, ITC, says, “We took a conscious decision to move beyond just shareholder value creation to focus on the larger issue of societal value creation which led the company to adopt the Triple Bottom Line approach.” This approach, he adds, spurred innovation that led to unique models that create large-scale sustainable livelihoods, empowers local communities, enriches the environment and addresses the challenges of climate change. “The new corporate campaign, Sab Saath Badhein, showcases this innovative approach and our large scale interventions in e-Choupal, watershed development and afforestation.”
 

Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director of Ogilvy and Mather India and South Asia, says the campaign shouldn’t be mistaken for a CSR campaign. “It’s a campaign that elaborates on the business philosophy of ITC, which is to try and do business in a way that economy, society and environment prosper and as a result of that the country does well.” The theme film with the message of “sab saath badhein” communicates the company’s credo that collectively things can be done which aren’t possible independently.

The brief to the ad agency was to highlight how ITC’s way of doing business is unique. While companies tend to sell individual products based on specific propositions, it is important to know where a company is coming from since it has a wide range of products on offer, explains Pandey. As against relying on a brand ambassador, with this campaign  the brand itself turned into an ambassador, he adds.

ITC is India’s fourth largest company in terms of market capitalisation. Its diversified business includes five segments — FMCG, hotels, paperboards and packaging, agri business and information technology. According to ITC, it has sustained its position as the only company in the world of comparable dimension to be carbon positive (12 years), water positive (15 years) and solid waste recycling positive (10 years).