After its recent #LadkiHaathSeNikalJayegi campaign that drove awareness about education for girls, the Mahindra Group has a new film, this time putting the spotlight on environmental issues. Through its latest Digital campaign, the company now seeks to build a case for tree plantation by encouraging people to #RiseAgainstClimateChange. The central idea of the film lies in the celebration of the tree, that the company reminds us is the ‘hardest worker on the planet’. Borrowing from the adage that medium is the message, the entire film set has been uniquely created using recycled waste paper, making it environment friendly and differentiated while giving out a subliminal message on waste recycling.

Talking about the insight behind its latest campaign, Vivek Nayer, Chief Marketing Officer, Group Corporate Brand, Mahindra Group, explains that the company undertakes an exhaustive social media listening exercise to know what consumers care about. “On social media, we monitor conversations that people are having and try to understand the issues that they care about. That is what we did when we rolled out the #LadkiHaathSeNikalJayegi campaign and that is what we have done now with our latest campaign. When we bring out our campaigns, we make sure we are aligned to what people are talking about. Another question we always ask is – do we have the credibility to talk about the issue? When we talk, we do so with authenticity and credibility,” he explains. Nayer adds that the film, which has been conceptualised and created by FCB Interface, will be amplified through all of Mahindra’s Digital and Social Media platforms. The company will recommend NGOs and organisations that interested people can support. “We did this with two of our previous campaigns – But This is Not Enough and #LadkiHaathSeNikalJayegi. Aside from putting out messaging on various social issues, we also list out NGOs that people can support if they want to do more to help. That’s why, for all of our films, we ensure that we communicate at scale and we target people selectively,” he says.

Credibility and authenticity are important when you make films like these, Nayer remarks. The company displayed that during the previous campaign for girls’ education because of their support for the Nanhi Kali initiative. “As far as being environmentally friendly is concerned, Mahindra has considerable experience in addressing climate change through various programmes such as the Hariyali project that has planted over 15 million trees in the last 12 years. It is our work in this area that gives moral ground and authenticity to our campaign,” Nayer points out.

The brand will use a targeted approach on Digital for this campaign much like its previous ones, Nayer says. He also adds that Mahindra has chosen a Digital only approach so as to drive conversations with the right audience on issues concerning the environment. “We want to spark conversations with millennials since they also gravitate towards brands and messaging around issues they care about. We are also targeting people who work on the environment. Nevertheless, we have kept the core message simple because we don’t want to confuse people with scientific jargon about the environment. That’s why our brief to the agency was to portray the message in a simple manner so that people will understand. What can be simpler than celebrating the humble tree? That’s a message that everyone can relate to,” he says.

Nayer adds that the film took three months to make since the entire set was made from recycled waste paper and material. After the completion of the film, the recycled paper was shredded and converted into manure, upholding the campaign’s core message. Mahindra will follow this campaign up with another film that will highlight the hazards of plastic pollution, which is set to release in the middle of this year.