The Hindu Business Line : How green is my valley?

YOU could not miss the latest ONGC advertisement. It was crafted in green around the front page of many national newspapers and included a little teaser at the bottom of the page. It included the masthead area, but only to the extent of colouring it green. The last page told the story of how ONGC had been adjudged as India's "greenest" company.

Forget, if you can, the media innovation and the raw display of financial muscle. Forget if you can, the look and feel of the advertisement. What struck me was the fact that ONGC was spending so much to communicate a rather unlikely message for an advertiser. More so, for a public sector advertiser.

Frankly, I was impressed, to say the very least. This brings us to the aspect of the social responsibility that manufacturers have and how, if at all, they are using advertising to address the issue.

Firstly, do manufacturers believe they have a social responsibility? Quite honestly, I do not think they are foolish enough to think they don't. Sure, the nature of some business may impel them to behave like mammoth ostriches and bury their massive heads in the sand. Tobacco companies would obviously fall into this category. No cigarette manufacturer believes he is not causing great harm to the health of his consumers. Yet the size of the business constraints make them argue endlessly, spend large sums of money on legal battles and try and subtly move into other lines of business while the going is good. All the while of course, milking the existing tobacco business to the last drop. I am not excusing their behaviour. I am only explaining it.

Take liquor companies, for example. I never tire of quoting the example of Seagram's, which has an ongoing advertising campaign that talks of the need to exercise moderation in the consumption of alcohol and also on simple safeguards like never driving after drinking. I also recall a campaign of Bacardi on the same lines. One headline read "Bacardi and Coke mix. Drinking and driving don't."

Now these are classic examples of companies which realise they have a social responsibility and go about fulfilling it. Typically, when one thinks of responsibility to society, one immediately thinks of those industries that are not `clean.' Oil, coal, nuclear energy, chemicals, cement and the like would fall into this category. Pharmaceuticals would fall into a slightly different category. Here, the law is stringent and insists on trials and clearances before marketing. There are also provisions of the law that spell out the need to specify contra-indications and such, and above all, the need for a doctor to prescribe certain drugs. In a country like India — as these are all in the realm of theory — the consumer gets a raw deal. Doctors do not explain things to patients. Chemists do not insist on prescriptions. The manufacturer is content to follow the law to the last punctuation mark in the four-point-condensed font he uses to spell out everything he is required to. The spirit of the law is something they seem to be alien to.

Cement companies often degrade the environment they manufacture in. Gujarat Ambuja Cements will always stand out as a beacon to other cement manufacturers in this respect. I recall the promoter Narottam Sekhsaria telling me many years ago that after installing the most modern pollution control equipment there was, he instructed his managers to plant a rose garden on the premises. If the rose garden flowered, that would be the most real evidence that the equipment was actually working. I was awestruck by the commitment the young man was showing to society. I was also very happy to see advertising from Trikaya after that spelling out precisely what he had told me. I genuinely believe that such things go a long way in building the equity of the brand.

Shell has been at the forefront of globally advertising its commitment to the environment. A very sound long-term strategy from an oil company. Worldwide, consumers have been outraged at the horrific effects that result from oil spills and the like. As oil drilling is normally undertaken in remote locations one does not get to see what happens to the environment around these drilling sites. A sustained campaign with ecology and the environment at the heart of it really helps Shell score valuable brownie points in the minds of the consumer. Consumers who are increasingly keeping all these factors in mind as they drive into a petrol pump. With the Indian petrol retail scene about to hot up with a real choice soon available, the oil majors would do well to keep the Shell strategy in mind.

At the end of the day one might ask what needs to be done. Well, manufacturers should be conscious of the environment they live in, and also be seen to be conscious. This is where advertising and public relations could play a vital role. Manufacturers should keep the public informed of steps they are taking to be good neighbours. After all, no one wants to buy from someone who is polluting their backyard. On the other hand, the fact that they are not polluting could end up being a valuable differentiator to them.

So why should ONGC, which does not have any real consumer interface, spend so much to advertise its green status? Well, social responsibility requires it. Public accountability demands it. Most important, in the long run, the green image could translate into greenbacks.

Now that could be a compelling argument!

(The author heads Canco Advertising.)

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