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Sravanthi Challapalli

A campaign toreinforce theimportance ofsteel in life andnation-buildingattempts to"humanise" thecommodity.

IT'S all-pervading, you use it constantly, see it, but hardly notice it. This sounds like a riddle but was the essence of the challenge posed to Ogilvy & Mather by the Indian Steel Alliance (ISA), an association of major Indian steel producers. The answer: a warm, feel-good TV commercial that seeks to awaken the viewer's consciousness to the ubiquity of steel and the myriad applications it finds: in the shrieking alarm clock which is silenced with all the hurry a sleepy little boy can muster, in his cycle's bell, its chain and pedals, in the gate he throws open to race to school, in the clatter of a cartload of gas cylinders he passes on the way, in the girders at a construction site, in the bridge across the river, in the kitchen knife, in the railway line in the distance, in the school gong that finally, finally signals deliverance for the day ...

`The magic of steel. It's everywhere,' goes the tagline. Says Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and National Creative Director, O&M, who created the advertisement: "Steel is a huge part of our lives but it's so much in the background that we don't think of it. Our challenge was also to humanise a cold, industrial commodity, which we achieved through the eyes of a child." Pandey says the innocence, charm and fascination of a child contrasted with the "hard, cold and rather removed" character and image of steel served to endear the metal to viewers. As did the music score, which includes the various sounds of steel produced by some of the objects shown in the commercial.

The ad film, Sounds of Steel, was shot at Landour, a hill station 30 minutes away from Mussoorie by Nirvana, the Bangalore-based film production company which also shot commercials for Hutch (boy and dog), Chevrolet Optra and Santro Xing. The music was composed by Ashutosh and Dhruv.

It has to be said that the consumer is not really very involved with steel, unless he/she is building a house. So what was the need for such a TVC? Was it to draw attention away from the outrage over steel prices which skyrocketed over the past year and more and only recently came down slightly? Denying this, Moosa Raza, President of ISA, says this campaign was planned before the issue of prices came up. "It is targeted at both opinion makers and consumers to raise awareness, give it a friendly image and ultimately aid the growth of the steel sector. We want to tell people a nation cannot be built and run without steel - it's everywhere, in the bicycle, train, railway tracks - it's friendly and a part of your life." Raza adds that the campaign also aims to prevent consumers from using "sub-standard alternatives" to the metal.

ISA, comprising Steel Authority of India Ltd, Tata Steel, Essar Steel, Jindal Vijayanagar Steel and Ispat Industries, has plans to extend the campaign to portray the other new uses steel can be put to, in various areas. The ISA is planning an extension that suggests various uses for steel in rural areas, for instance — in silos, warehouses, bullock carts and earthquake-prone areas, says Raza. The ISA has no immediate plans to brand steel, though. It will run the campaign not only on TV but also in print, through posters and documentary films. The sound of steel is set to resonate in ears for a while to come.

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