Counters with a conscience

However Kishore Dabi,owner of Om Super Market in Aundh,says,“It’s only a handful of people,who go out of the way to be a part of such schemes. Usually they don’t bother to buy products that are a part of such schemes. If it is by default,then they are happy. A general image of corporates that they always aim at profits and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities are just an obligationalso contributes to people being skeptical about buying the products.” Vijay Bansal,owner of Agrawal and Company has a different take on it all though. “In our country any purchase is made after fulfilling the following three criterias in order – budget (economy),choice (quality) and finally charity. So,a campaign like this works on a default. Pantene or Olay are reputed brands that are used by many,therefore people are buying it and not because of charity. Had it been that way it would have reflected in the sales of such products.”

Confirming the dealer’s viewpoint,Debabrata Bhakat,a finance professional,says,“If I buy a product that mentions that proceeds will go for charity,I am unaware of the actual percentage that will go to the organisation. But if I really want to contribute I will do that on my own. Why go through a business house?”

Manish Chandan,owner of Chandan’s store,says,“Apart from one or two companies,no other company is having such offer. Moreover,indirect charity comes last in the priority list of a consumer who is looking for a product that is his or her money’s worth.”

A spokesperson of one of the companies that regularly adds the charity tag line to their products however says that the measure has been successful on all accounts. “Our research shows that in these cases consumers have responded positively and that among all the social issues that consumers would like to contribute to,the education of children is what concerned them most. We will therefore continue with the work.”

There are some companies that extoll customers to contribute to a cause through the services they offer. For instance the ITC Group claims that they consume and recycle more solid waste than they create.

Niranjan Khatri of ITC Group explains. “We reduce our water consumption,recycle our water for secondary needs. For example,bath water is used for horticulture /flushing and we do rain water harvesting and make check dams in rural India for mitigating water shortages for the farmers. The same principle applies to sequestration — We reduce our energy consumption,use renewable energy to the extent of 30.6 per cent of our total energy consumption. All this is definitely done with cooperation from our customers,who are free to be a part of this in their own way.”

So is this marketing or charity or just an extension of the companies’ CSR activities? However,it seems to be a win-win situation for everyone – the brand,the customer and the final recipients of the entire exercise.