How Bangur Cement is earning goodwill during poll season with strategic campaigning

The election season has seen several brands across categories come out with special campaigns urging Indians to cast their votes. Bangur Cement’s ‘Vote Solid Desh Solid’ campaign serves as a strategic follow-up to their previous successful initiative, ‘Solid Ghar Sirf Bangur’. Rooted in the sentiment that our nation is akin to our home, this campaign draws a parallel between Bangur Cement’s role in constructing solid homes and the impact of citizens’ votes in building a solid nation. By leveraging the iconic “dhai kilo ka haath” dialogue of brand ambassador Sunny Deol, the campaign seamlessly transitions from promoting solid homes to emphasizing the importance of voting for a solid nation, thus reinforcing Bangur Cement’s commitment to both quality construction and national development.

Developed by the creative minds at McCann, the campaign aims to elevate brand awareness and stature among consumers. The strategic objective behind this campaign is not only to popularize Bangur Cement’s consolidated product offerings under the master brand but also to foster an emotional connection with the audience by promoting civic duty. Through a multi-channel approach, including an online pledge initiative and collaborations with NGOs and Self-Help Groups, Bangur Cement demonstrates transparency, accountability, and a commitment to social welfare. This initiative not only enhances the brand’s positive reputation, but also reshapes consumer perceptions of the cement industry, positioning Bangur Cement as a partner in nation-building and progress.

In conversation with Adgully, Sushrut Pant, Head - Marketing, Shree Cement, shares more insights on the ‘Vote Solid Desh Solid’ campaign,

Could you tell us about the thought process behind the campaign?

The ‘Vote Solid Desh Solid’ campaign is like a sequel to the previous campaign of ‘Solid Ghar Sirf Bangur’. This campaign is based on the sentiment that our nation is like our home. Just like Bangur Cement makes our home solid so does our vote make our nation solid.

What strategic objectives guided the development of the campaign, and how does it align with the brand's values and mission?

Our strategic objective is to build brand awareness and stature in consumers’ minds. We consolidated all our products under the Bangur master brand in January 2024 and now want to rapidly popularize it among consumers.

Our launch campaign was about the benefit of ‘solid ghar’ symbolized by the iconic ‘dhai kilo ka haath’ dialogue of Sunny Deol, our brand endorser.

Our current ‘Vote solid desh solid’ campaign is a seamless evolution where we expand the meaning of ‘solid ghar’ to include the nation, which is also a home to all the citizens. We bring this idea to life with another take on Sunny Deol’s iconic dialogue with the message that just like Bangur Cement makes your home solid, your vote will make the nation solid.

Could you tell us about the agency behind the campaign and brief share it with them?

McCann is the creative agency which has developed this campaign. Our brief was to develop a message that inspires people to vote and at the same time builds emotional association with Bangur Cement brand. We wanted the message to be sharp, direct and interesting with possibilities to amplify the campaign in social media.

In what ways does Bangur Cement aim to foster trust and credibility among consumers through its involvement in voting campaigns, and how does this contribute to reshaping perceptions of the industry?

We are building trust and credibility among consumers by lending our voice in support of an important national duty of casting our vote during elections. We have invested in a large scale omni-channel campaign to help spread awareness and build commitment towards this task of public interest. The tonality of our campaign is very direct, relatable and engaging so people can spontaneously engage with it in a positive manner.

Apart from our media messaging, we have also created a ‘vote ka vachan’ booth online, where people can pledge to cast their vote and for each pledge Bangur will donate 1 kg cement for social welfare. We have seen a great response with a flurry of pledges coming in right at the start of the campaign and they continue to increase steadily as the campaign builds up.

In addition, we are also implementing a content partnership with Network18, with informative and inspiring news content about how the nation is participating in the elections along with reminding people of their national duty to vote.

What impact does Bangur Cement hope to achieve through its collaboration with NGOs and Self-Help Groups in fulfilling the pledge?

As I said earlier, as part of our ‘Vote Solid Desh Solid’ campaign, we have created an online portal of Vote Ka Vachan where people can take a pledge to vote in this election. For each ‘vachan’ Bangur will donate 1 KG cement for social welfare purposes.

We have tied up with NGOs & SHGs to identify communities and causes where we can donate Bangur Cement for social welfare.

How does Bangur Cement ensure transparency and accountability in its collaboration with NGOs and Self-Help Groups, and how does this contribute to building a positive reputation for the brand?

We have identified NGO and SHG partners after a thorough scrutiny with validation that they have connections with communities and initiatives that would be worthy recipients to cement donations for social welfare purposes. We will continue to have thorough mechanisms for pledge fulfillment and distribution of our cement donation.

We have a live online counter of pledges being taken on our brand site. Our promise of donating 1 kg cement is being continuously shown on social media and news.

The public interest seen for this campaign along with the word of mouth that we are hearing indicates that this initiative is helping us come closer to consumers and is building a positive brand reputation.

How might consumer perception of cement companies change as a result of involvement in voting campaigns?

As a cement brand, we at Bangur Cement feel that we are partners in the development and progress of our nation. We service the needs of big constructions and infrastructure projects, while also fulfilling the aspirations of individual home builders to help build dream homes for their families.

The ‘Vote Solid Desh Solid’ campaign reflects our commitment to nation building and progress. We are reminding consumers not only of the benefit of our cement in building Solid Homes but also reminding them of their power to build a Solid Nation through their Solid Vote. We are also contributing to social welfare by donating 1 kg cement for social welfare purposes for each ‘Vote Ka Vachan’ that people take in response to the campaign.

Consumers today expect brands to engage with them beyond the product they sell. In a competitive market, people remember and consider brands that are active on media with simple and interesting messages amplified with social media engagement.