Ambuja and ACC’s have launched its first sustainability campaign #ChangeTheStory in India. It is a platform which is aiming to bring a change in our environment by providing bubble solution to remove 2400 tonnes of plastic waste from Yamuna River.
They have also become the first cement companies to launch an AR filter game, creating an immersive experience for users by illustrating the bubble barrier technology, which is removing plastic from the Yamuna River.
In an exclusive chat with Medianews4u, Shalini Singh, Head – Corporate Communication And Sustainability, Holcim Group India speaks on the campaign, on sustainability and much more.
Ambuja Cement and ACC Limited, is a leading Cement manufacturer, what made you want to do a campaign on sustainability?
Being one of the leading cement manufacturers of India, we wanted to create a platform that addresses some of the most pressing challenges around sustainability faced by everyone and provide a nation building road map for the country’s march towards a Net Zero future.
The objective of launching the platform ‘Change The Story’, was to elevate the narrative around sustainability challenges with a sense of urgency by showcasing technology-backed solutions that offer effective and measurable outcomes.
Our first Corporate Sustainability Campaign #ChangeTheStory is a vital step in the right direction to amplify solutions that work and showcase champions who are bringing about the change. It will provide a new benchmark for the country’s cement industry and the larger manufacturing sector as a potential role model that seamlessly marries profit and purpose. The platform is set to expand its scope to include more stories on impactful change for the environment and society.
How do you think this campaign #ChangeTheStory, brings about a change in how we see our surroundings and our environment?
Climate change is a reality and it has become our responsibility to take concrete and important measures to combat this problem. The first leg of the campaign addresses the challenge of marine plastic pollution and how Geocycle India, the waste management arm of Ambuja and ACC, has implemented in India a smart and non-invasive ‘bubble curtain’ technology to remove plastics from rivers before they reach the oceans. Since the inception of this project, 500 tonnes of plastic waste leakage in the Yamuna River has been prevented so far. Further, the project is expected to collect 2400 tons of plastic from the canal every year.
The campaign emphasizes these pressing matters and hopes to build cleaner rivers/oceans in India through revolutionary bubble barrier technology. We have launched a microsite advocating the audience to adopt sustainable practices by encouraging them to take a pledge and sign up with us to help the cause.
Through our interventions, this campaign will create awareness about the need to reduce carbon emissions and will drive the change at a macro level. It will highlight the need for change and will encourage other businesses to adopt a sustainable model which will help in achieving nation’s net zero goals.
Climate Change is a huge issue globally, by this campaign what are the TG and geographies you are targeting to explain sustainability in the Indian context?
Climate Change is a collective issue, hence, we wanted to bring a change at national level. Through this campaign, we aimed to target the Indian population aged 25 years and above, who propagate green living and social change.
We targeted people through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and new age media like M Canvas (Mobile Marketing). Further, we also emphasized on the regional media to reach out to the grass-root audience in tier 1 and 2 cities as creating awareness is the central objective of this initiative.
What are the marketing strategies you will be doing for this campaign?
This 360 degree ‘call to action’ campaign has been curated keeping in mind the target audience profile and extensively leverage new age and digital media for higher impact. This integrated campaign comprises of films, press, mobile aggregator-Mcanvas, and digital campaign to talk about the first sustainability initiative – revolutionary bubble barrier technology that removes plastic waste from rivers.
This integrated campaign has been rolled out across the platforms, including print and digital. We have leveraged all of our owned platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn as our key levers to drive awareness of our campaign and launching our brand mascot ‘Bubble Sharma’.
We have launched a microsite advocating the audience to adopt sustainable practices by encouraging them to take a pledge and sign up with us to help the cause. Driving awareness across the digital platforms, we have collaborated with a bunch of micro and nano influencers to drive further engagement around the bubble barrier technology.
Digital has seen a huge surge in this pandemic, will a digital campaign reach the maximum number of people?
The campaign, so far, has already garnered over 48.3 million impressions and 21.3 million unique reach with 162% engagement rate. The campaign also led to organic trending on Twitter for #ChangeTheStory for about 2-3 hours with more than 3,000 tweets.
To maximize our reach, we wanted to create something fun in a humorous and educational manner that not only catches the youth’s attention but also drives the desired message.
Driving awareness across digital channels, we launched a video in collaboration with the rappers featuring the campaign mnemonic ‘Bubble Sharma’. We leveraged the power of music to resonate with new-age digital audiences, to showcase how the company is pushing out plastic from the rivers using bubble barrier technology. The aim was to capture the fun and spirited vibes of the rappers and inspire others to follow the suit for a sustainable future.
Apart from that, Holcim India became the first cement company to launch an AR filter game, creating an immersive experience for users by illustrating the state of marine plastic pollution and the basic functioning of the Geocycle Bubble Barrier technology. This game, which has been getting a very positive response, convinces the user to play their role in driving change by encouraging players to bubble pop their way to cleaner oceans and safer habitats for marine creatures.
What would be your Focus for 2022, and will we see many such campaigns in the near future?
#Changethestory is a long term campaign and the bubble barrier is a first leg that we have launched that will last for 2 more months. We will be coming back with many more legs of path breaking sustainability initiatives to make a difference.
Through this platform, we want to address some of the most pressing challenges around sustainability faced by all of us and do our bit to support India’s Net Zero goals. Therefore, it will be an on-going campaign as Bubble Barrier is just one of the many initiatives that we have undertaken to achieve our sustainability goal. We will also be highlighting our other interventions such as partnership with BCCI for cleaning plastic waste from stadiums, pioneering biofuel in sea transportation and many more in the upcoming quarters.ChangeTheStory platform lays emphasis on finding solutions to tackle plastic waste, resource conservation and other issues of national importance such as women empowerment, sustainable livelihoods with a sense of urgency and provide solutions that will benefit the future of society.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG9IN79ZBUs&ab_channel=HolcimIndia
https://www.instagram.com/ar/2969127656732668
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyYfJe0TkYE&ab_channel=HolcimIndia
