For a CSR campaign, the representative needs to emanate authenticity: Prasoon Joshi

Joshi is spearheading Vedanta’s new social impact campaign, alongside the chairperson of Hindustan Zinc and the director of Vedanta Limited Priya Agarwal Hebbar.

Mining conglomerate Vedanta has unveiled a new campaign for Nand Ghar, a social initiative under the aegis of its philanthropic arm Anil Agarwal Foundation, named after the company’s founder and chairman. 

Nand Ghar is a flagship social impact project, that works towards eradicating malnutrition among children, providing pre-primary education, and primary healthcare, and empowering rural women through skill training. To amplify the project’s reach and attract more volunteers, the brand has onboarded actor Manoj Bajpayee for its latest campaign Agar Bachpan Se Poocha Khaana Khaaya, Toh Desh Ka Kal Banaya. 

The brand has also unveiled a dedicated ad film that sees Bajpayee draw parallels between the cause and his own personal life prior to fame and stardom. The campaign is conceptualised by McCann India and spearheaded by Prasoon Joshi, who is the CEO and CCO of the advertising agency. 

In the film, Bajpayee explains how being deprived of food and basic amenities of life can impair a child’s ability to chase their dreams, something Bajpayee had to overcome in his own creative journey as an artist. While Bajpayee found himself surrounded by friends who offered a lending hand in his trying times, he encourages everyone else to do the same for the underprivileged.

Priya Agarwal Hebbar, who is the chairperson of Hindustan Zinc, and director of Vedanta Limited, says that the Nand Ghar initiative has its roots in the modest life of her father Anil Agarwal, who founded Vedanta 25 years ago. 

She says, “My father has experienced what it's like to be that underprivileged child. He has experienced hunger in his youth. And so he's always said from day one that this is something that he wants to change and work towards. As a family, he wants us to help empower and nourish India. So that's where the thought of Nand Ghar started.”

The company has committed Rs 5000 crore towards social initiatives for the next five years, as per Agarwal. The objective is to drive volunteering at the grassroots, while also seeking participation from more and more privileged folks of the country. 

“A lot of our commitment (Rs 5000 crore) is going to go towards Nand Ghar. What we aim for is to get everyone involved. Other organisations, NGOs, corporates, and even panchayats should step in and commit to doing their bit towards this cause. The outcome we’re hoping for is to see 8 crore children, and 2 crore women get positively impacted by the initiative.”

Currently, the movement, as Agarwal calls it, has garnered more than 6000 members and takes care of approximately 2.5 Lakh children and 2.5 Lakh women every day. 

“We are seeing thousands of emails for partnerships in just a week. Doctors, teachers, and experts from different parts of the world have all shown interest in volunteering for the project.”

The ambitions set out by Agarwal for the campaign would also require a lot of marketing and advertising, especially since driving participation in the initiative would be predicated on how many people are aware of it. So, what are the media channels that the brand is aiming to employ?

Agarwal answers, “Digital is really a great platform for something like this. We are already seeing a lot of action on social media, with influencers from across the world wanting to join the movement. We are already live on television, and will also place our ads in cinema halls. It is going to be a 360-degree campaign.”

From a creative point of view, Prasoon Joshi explains why the campaign features Manoj Bajpayee as the face of its communication. “For any philanthropic cause or social initiative, the representative needs to emanate authenticity. Manoj Bajpayee has also risen from similar ranks. The thought was to onboard someone who would be an authentic advocate and ambassador for the cause, especially for the first phase of the campaign where we want to sensitise people towards the issue.”

For a regular run-of-the-mill campaign, the expectations are predictable. But one can assume that a cause-centric campaign would require a different approach and execution to check the correct boxes. From the choice of the celebrity to the depiction of the matter, all elements are magnified when the core of the campaign is sacrosanct. How does an ad agency go about this? 

Joshi answers, “One has to understand, if you’re making a promise like this, you need to be passionately and personally involved in the movement. Without it, there is virtually no difference between a regular campaign and a cause-based campaign. It is also pertinent to mention, that an issue so big cannot be done alone by any brand. It requires participation. So, the aim is to stir up possibilities in people’s minds while evoking emotions.”

While having a prominent celebrity deliver a heartfelt message can add a certain degree of legitimacy to a campaign, one must also consider the fact that most celebrities are now spread too thin across brands and their advertisements. How has, therefore, the audience perception evolved towards the said celebrities in cause-based campaigns?

Joshi is of the opinion that the dynamic between celebrities and audiences has changed dramatically over the years, which has also resulted in the kind of appeal they have in campaigns. 

“Earlier we used to be in awe of the celebrities. Now, they are part of our lives, very much like someone living next door. Earlier, ads used to be very authoritative and carried a ‘descending upon you’ attitude. Now, it is as if the celebrities take the lead and want you to follow. Like a partnership.”

This as per Joshi has resulted in a very different kind of celebrity appeal in advertising, albeit still very much relevant.