Would you have believed if officials from Vedanta Resources – one of the largest mining and now natural resources companies in India – told you they provide mid day meals for 250,000 children? Or they work closely with over 3,000 aanganwadis across states like Orissa, Rajasthan, Goa and Chattisgarh to address the nutritional needs of 125,000 children? Or that they also provide healthcare for over 2.2 million people and computer education for 1 million students.
But now you have Binno, a little girl from far flung Rajasthan, or her brothers Nandu or Gosthto to tell you that story through their lives. They are the ones brand Vedanta has chosen to highlight the sustainability initiatives as part of a mega promotion initiative.
To start with, for the first time Vedanta has unleashed a 90-second corporate campaign on national TV from earlier this week, interestingly just a week it finally received all government approvals for its Cairn buyout. But the film shot by O&M’s Piyush Pandey is just one aspect of a much bigger strategy to project the humane aspect of their operations.
Vedanta officials say Binno’s story is no make believe. It was actually shot on locations for days and it truly captures her family’s real life which has changed ever since Vedanta started its community initiatives in her town.
“Vedanta has several compelling stories to tell about the work that is being done in community and sustainability. It is bringing change and empowering the societies, thereby creating happiness for the communities around us. Our aim is to tell the world the Vedanta story under the platform of ‘Creating Happiness.’” says Senjam Raj Sekhar, Brand Director, Vedanta Group.
“Creating Happiness” is not just a campaign for the conglomerate. In the recent past, Vedanta clearly has been in a fix, fighting a negative perception battle which has been eroding its corporate brand equity. As the debate over excessive mining versus human displacement and environmental impact and its co-relation to internal security gathered political hues, Vedanta got sucked into it and in the process completely polarized civil society, institutional investors and industry.
The negative newsflows about the corporate have also been overwhelming as has been the controversies. Its mining operations in Orissa is stuck, so did its $9.6 billion mega acquisition of Cairn India which got embroiled in regulatory logjam.
And with many of its flagship projects still in a limbo in the state and no clarity emerging even now over the government’s residual stake sale in Balco, many would argue “Creating Happiness” is a timely move to steer itself out of the negativity surrounding it.
“The campaign is important given the amount of criticism it has faced. Globally, companies are trying similar things. Shell, for being an oil company, has managed to change its image to a good extent and is seen in a different light than others,” points Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Brands.
This is not the first time, Vedanta has used mass media. In 2010, at the peak of the Orissa storm, it had roped in Leo Burnett to prepare a 60 seconder and a 90 seconder television commercial to make people aware of the different CSR initiatives undertaken by the group. But cherry picking a story from Rajasthan may also serve a strategic business interest. Post Cairn, it is Rajasthan which has emerged as the key outpost for the group in India. Already group company Hindustan Zinc has its headquarters there.
Vedanta officials do not agree and say they are in fact broad basing the “Creating Happiness” campaign nationwide using social media and targeting the impressionable youths. The company has even created a Creating Happiness page on Facebook and a channel on YouTube.
The Creating Happiness Film Competition followed, which invited film students across the country to visit any of the 550 villages where the company has a presence to find their own “Binnos.” In an effort to find a million of them, so far the exercise has been successful. “I think it is good they are engaging the youth. It’s a good idea as it signals company’s openness towards people who can ask difficult questions,” feels Desai.
Thirty eigtht films shot by 114 college students and budding film makers have been shortlisted and all these three minute short features are first hand stories of Vedanta’s community welfare programme run in partnership with the government and NGOs. “All the films are on YouTube. The winning film will be chosen by an elite panel based on popular voting. We don’t know if we will televise it but there is a trophy,” adds Raj Sekhar.
But will all this work? Nabankur Gupta, founder CEO, Nobby Brand Architects says, “The campaign would make a difference if they deliver what they say. In my view, they should also actually say that come visit us and judge for yourself. They cannot stop with this campaign. It should be a complete movement by changing their image altogether. Step two of the campaign should be about their employees who work at the mines. They should show if their workers are also taken care of.”
