Tata Salt cheers Indian athletes heading to Rio Olympics with 'Namak ke Waastey' campaign

The campaign features sportspersons Shiva Thapa, Babita Kumari, Inderjeet Singh, and Avtar Singh who tell their stories and who are committed to make India proud.

Tata Salt, owned by Tata Chemicals, recently launched an integrated campaign called 'Namak Ke Waastey' that aims to catalyse conversations and generate mass support for the Indian Olympic squad. The brand aims to garner support for the Indian Olympic squad through the marketing campaign '#NamakkeWaastey', rolled out on various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube on July 13, 2016. The campaign will continue in different phases and will employ radio and on-ground activation too, to get its message across to the masses through the course of the Rio Olympics 2016.

Indian Olympic participants often hail from humble backgrounds and tirelessly work towards their goal to win a medal for the country. This they do with their sheer passion for sports and love towards the country, and often with minimal support. To encourage such passion, Tata Salt has, therefore, tied up with the India Olympics Association (IOA) as the sponsor of the Indian Olympics contingent. Through this ad campaign, the brand aims to generate awareness about less sensational sports and win mass support for the players representing the nation at Rio this year.

While expressing his pleasure in supporting the aspiring heroes, Sagar Boke, head-marketing, Tata Chemicals (consumer products business), says, "Tata Salt intends to generate support for the Olympians by virtue of its connect, stature, and reach across the nation and gather millions to cheer for the Indian Olympics contingent representing India at Rio."

The campaign supports Shiva Thapa, the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the 2012 Olympics at the age of 19, Babita Kumari, who won a Gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Inderjeet Singh, the shot putter who brought India a Gold at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2015, and Avtar Singh, the judoka who bagged a Gold in the 2016 South Asian Games, in their effort to represent India at the quadrennial event.

"The stories of (Shiva) Thapa, (Babita) Kumari, (Avtar) Singh and (Inderjeet) Singh are very inspiring. It is important to acknowledge and highlight their efforts. We also intend to generate conversations and have interactive sessions with Indian citizens around the individual sports, and the hard work that goes into the making of an Olympian," states Boke.

While the campaign brings forth the athletes' stories of hard work, determination, hope, and most importantly, the pride of representing India at the Olympics, its objective is to bring about a change in the attitude in a nation of 1.2 billion people from indifference to mass support.

"Namak Ke Waastey" is a step forward in Tata Salt's journey to augment consumer trust over the years, through innovative brand building and distinctive campaigns. The campaign went live with a series of videos, expressing the undying spirit and passion of the athletes to win. The videos have been crafted in a manner which instils a sense of empathy and pride, and drives the nation to unite and support the athletes. So far, three films have been made on Thapa, Kumari, and (Inderjeet) Singh. A film on (Avatar) Singh is to follow.

The campaign, which has been conceptualised by the creative agency Ogilvy One Worldwide, Mumbai (India), has been produced by Hungry Films. Vijay Sawant is the creative director.

According to Vikram Menon, president and country head, Ogilvy One India, a large number of Indians do not support, or even know about the Olympians who represent India on the global platform. "We all know our popular sportspersons' names, as well as their backgrounds, but how many of us really know the names, the sport they play, their backgrounds, or their challenges and difficulties?" he asks.

"The idea behind the campaign was to support the journey of these Olympians and cheer them. We are pleased to partner with Tata Salt and create the series of digital videos, which aims at giving our viewers a reality check on the story of these athletes and to encourage people to support their journey to the Olympics," says Menon.

Through its wide distribution base, 'Tata Salt Limited Edition Olympics Packs' will reach out to over seven crore households across the nation with a call-to-action, where consumers can give a missed call and record their wishes to support the Indian Olympic contingent. Tata Salt will also release a series of digital behind-the-scenes infographics and pictorials on social media platforms to amplify the message of support and nationalism.

As part of the campaign, Tata Salt has also launched the "India's Olympics Quotient" survey, which assesses the Indian audience's engagement with the Olympics and aims to spark conversations around the same. Tata Salt is also the title sponsor for the marathon 'The Great India Run: Jeet Har Kadam Par', which is symbolic of sportsmanship and mass support for Indian Olympians at Rio. The aim of the interactive initiatives is to garner maximum encouragement from the country, spread awareness about budding sportsmen, and encourage interest in sports other than cricket.