IBM advertised its employees as proud IBMers and Intel showed how its USB-inventors are different. Tata Steel is seeking to do the same.
From reja (labourer) to “driver sahiba” to becoming one of Tata Steel’s brand ambassadors on prime time television — Asha Hansda has traversed a long distance. The tribal woman, who started her career in odd jobs, underwent a two-month training to become a heavy vehicle driver under Tata Steel’s Project Tejaswini.
So when Tata Steel wanted to launch a big campaign to showcase its “values that are stronger than steel”, Hansda was a natural choice.
In the campaign, the winner of the prestigious Shram Devi award last year talks about how Tata Steel helped in her empowerment and how that has helped her to take care of her husband and two children.
The new promotion, shot in a documentary style, seeks to integrate the brand and its values with that of its employees’ lives. Each ad ends with “This is not advertising. This is life @ Tata Steel.”
The last time Tata Steel came out with a big campaign (remember “We also make steel”) was in 1989. The reason for another one 22 years later is simple: from a minnow then, the company has graduated to become a global steel major, ranked among the top 10 steel companies in the world.
Sanjeev Paul, Vice President of Corporate Services, Tata Steel, says the idea was to tell people who we are and what we stand for. Besides, the centennial steelmaker is in the midst of its biggest expansion phase and wanted to communicate the same to its stakeholders and public.
Paul says after the acquisition of Corus, now Tata Steel Europe, the number of the company’s stakeholders has grown manifold. “We were looking to communicate on a mass basis and thought of starting a brand campaign communicating the values that Tata Steel stands for,” Paul says.
So it’s not a surprise that the company launched the campaign on the first day of the Lord’s Test between India and England – the two major venues for Tata Steel’s operations. The television ads for the 360 degree campaign will come to an end in September but the print, radio, etc advertisements will continue till December.
The campaign also presents Tata Steel’s other achievers who have paved their own way to success and recognition – people such as Mark Denys, the company’s R&D Chief, Bachendri Pal, ace mountaineer and Head of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, and Deepika Kumari, archery champion – all of whom have a story to tell.
This isn’t anything new. IBM advertised its employees as proud IBMers and Intel showed how its USB inventing superstars are different.
However, some think while the intent is good, the execution of the campaign could have been far better. For example, a documentary style of campaign can hold viewers’ attention only if there is a gripping storyline. For example, very few would be able to figure out what Denys is trying to say through the clichés and how it will enhance Tata Steel’s brand equity.
Paul explains that the employees, actually, are just one part of the campaign. “In the coming days you will see the campaign unfolding and will see not only employees, but, also our stakeholders.”
As a precursor to the campaign, Tata Steel launched www.valueabled.com, a website which is a hub with polls, discussion forums, videos, comment sections etc, integrated well with the Facebook Page and Twitter account of “Valueabled”. “The aim was to build Tata Steel’s connect with the young India of today. They are important stakeholders for the company,” Tata Steel says.
