Standard Chartered spreads the Good Deed

Standard Chartered decided to give Mumbai a new way to participate in the marathon by taking the highs of the event and letting everybody experience it.

Every year, Standard Chartered conducts the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon amidst an atmosphere of glorious exhilaration and joy. Hundreds of Mumbaikars run for various reasons, every January, and do their part to make the city a better place.

This year, Standard Chartered has decided to give the city a new way to participate in the celebration because the marathon belongs to the city. Good Deed Marathon is an attempt to take the highs of the marathon and letting everybody experience it.

Conceptualised by digital agency Flying Cursor Interactive, the campaign started on December 5, with the launch of the Good Deed Marathon film which asks people if they could do one good deed today, what it would be. People can register and submit their good deeds on Standard Chartered Facebook page ( or on the Good Deed mobile app.

According to the agency, the app, available both on iOS and Android platforms, is not only designed to let people register, but also to give people information, fun facts, content and updates on the Good Deed Marathon. The app houses a films gallery where one can see all the good deeds being done. It also has a map where every time someone registers, their name pops up.

The first 2000 people who register on the app will get a Good Deed Marathon starter pack which contains a letter and a band. The idea behind the band is to wear it, do good and then pass it on to someone else, while telling them to do the same.

People can submit their good deeds on the app through text, video, photo or even by tweeting using the hashtag #gooddeedmarathon. The whole journey of the Good Deed Marathon can be seen on the Good Deed Marathon Instagram page, http://instagram.com/GoodDeedMarathon.

Speaking about the idea behind the campaign, Debal Dutt, head, brand, India and South Asia, Standard Chartered, says, "In Mumbai, the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon will be in its 11th year in 2014. The marathon here rests on four pillars - and one of them is charity. The Good Deed Marathon is a vehicle to get Mumbaikars to feel the joy of being part of a marathon - move the marathon from the 40,000 running to the lakhs of Mumbaikars who are part of the city. We feel that the success of this initiative can be gauged not by the funds it has raised, but by the lives it has touched, by the good deeds it has enabled."

Dutt further mentions that charity partners of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, United Way of Mumbai has also partnered for the Good Deed Marathon. "This gives Good Deed Marathon a dimension that goes beyond a movement that comes with an end date. This means that people can, if they wish, take their doing good further by volunteering, spreading the word or even donating to any of the 27+ NGOs that come under the umbrella of United Way. United Way of Mumbai gives the city of Mumbai a directory of good. Our good deed marathoners can now find themselves a cause that is after their own heart. And help in any which way they want," he adds.

Another important objective behind the campaign was to bring alive the philosophy that the bank believes in, which is encapsulated in its global campaign called Here For Good. The campaign talks about how it's there for the people, for the countries it is based in, for the long term. It was important to create something that was not just in line with that, but allowed everyone to participate in the experience of Here For Good.

Explaining the brief from the client, Parag Gandhi, founder, Flying Cursor Interactive, says, "The brief was simple. To create a movement that would allow everyone to experience the high of doing good. Which is why, though being a digital campaign, the campaign needed to talk to people in different ways, across platforms and media."

PVR has joined hands with the campaign as partners and will screen the promo film during the activity period in some select theatres in Mumbai. Apart from this, the agency is also in talks with coffee shops to make the good deed band available at various outlets.

Besides, Radio Mirchi, Mirakle Courier and people like Nitesh Mohanty (The Root), Ganesh Nayak (Animals Matters To Me) and Aditi Mittal (stand up comedian) have partnered the campaign. As part of the Good Deed Marathon, Milkha Singh, Charu Sharma and Dick Beardsley will also talk about what doing good means to them.

"Some platforms like Twitter would serve as commentary to the Good Deed Marathon; some would serve as thought starters, like the films in cinemas; some would actually do good and encourage the people to do the good," informs Gandhi.

Standard Chartered believes that with this initiative, people of Mumbai can motivate, engage, showcase, involve and in some cases, even lead by example.