`Eternal' campaign  ( December '23,2004, HBL)

GYAN ke sangh, unnati ki umang — This is the tagline of Amara Raja Batteries' new CSR campaign, `Amaron Amaragaon — Rural Goes Digital', which recently won Ogilvy PR India a bronze at the PR Week Asia Pacific Awards in Hong Kong. As the catchline suggests, the campaign is all about empowering the rural masses. It is about bridging the digital divide in rural India by getting the farmers to make the Internet an essential part of their lifestyle, through which they can not only access important agricultural information, but also access land records, e-governance and on the whole contribute to increasing the yield.

The company has set up 20 Internet kiosks in villages across eight States (Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttaranchal and Andhra Pradesh) which are being operated by an enterprising person from the village who is professionally trained to run it as a self-sustaining, revenue-generating model. The kiosk, supported by the local Panchayat and the district administration, can also be accessed by people living in the satellite villages. The content is customised to suit the needs of farmers and the residents of the village. Also available are a host of offline services such as educational CDs with English courses, Microsoft Office courses, computer operator courses and so on. The villagers can also get passport photographs shot and printed at a low cost, get official documents typed in the local language and so on

CSR, says, G. Indeevar, Head (Automotive Aftermarket), Amara Raja Batteries, has been an integral part of the company's philosophy and the Amaron Amaragaon exercise is targeted at promoting Amaron Harvest, which is the farm battery division of ABRL. "Our goal was to make Harvest a household name and we were aware that it was a difficult task to convince our target audience through commercials and promotional materials. Therefore, we decided to reach the heart of the target audience by developing a programme which is beneficial to the community and becomes a part of the customer's psyche."

"The campaign had to be non-advertising based, as farmers are often wary of advertisements and promotional materials. At the same time it had to tie in with the technology value proposition of Amaron Harvest. For the community to actually experience technology and its benefits, we figured that a CSR programme would be most effective," says Divakar Shukla, Consultant, Ogilvy PR.

Indeevar says that the company selected markets important to the brand and then identified geographies where masses could benefit hugely out of such a facility. To set up the infrastructure, the company tied up with an NGO called Drishti, which provided technology support in terms of hardware, connectivity and developing content as per the local requirement. It also facilitated communication between the district administration and the village panchayat. "The farmers no longer need to go all the way to the district headquarters to resolve queries such as getting solutions for pest attacks, or getting a copy of the land record. All this can be done online for a nominal charge of Re 1. They can even access cash certificates, licence application forms and so on. They can also access a gamut of other services such as examination results and mark sheets, e-mail, railway and bus tickets and embassy appointments," says Indeevar.

"We decided on a self-sustaining revenue model which is `for the community, by the community'. In this way there is a sense of responsibility in the villages towards the upkeep and use of the kiosk," adds Shukla of O&M PR.

How has the brand benefited?

"Our brand now has top-of-mind recall," says Indeevar. He says that Amaron Harvest has become a household name in these villages. "The brand's recall, which earlier was less than 10 per cent, is now in the region of 25 per cent. The brand awareness has gone up by almost 85 per cent," he claims.

Future plans

Indeevar says that the future will see the consolidation of the project. "At present, one kiosk caters to 10-15 villages, but we gradually plan to step up the infrastructure so that each kiosk caters to at least 40-50 villages."

The company also plans to set up Amaron Harvest Clubs next year, which would offer facilities such as crop insurance and personal insurance. "We also plan to initiate corporate farming tie-ups with MNC food-processing companies," says Indeevar.

The company has already invested more Rs 30 lakh in this project and Indeevar claims that not a single penny of the revenue generated out of this project flows back to the company. "It is a CSR programme in the true sense of the word."