We want to be seen as a brand that is active in responsible marketing: Rajat Abbi

Climate change and global warming are two of the most serious factors facing the environment at the moment. And while steps are being in numerous small numbers, it will still take something of mammoth proportions to steer the world to an environment-friendly path.

Among the numerous enterprises that are working towards a cleaner and safer environment is Green Yodha. A sustainability initiative by Schneider Electric, it aims to build a community of conscious citizens, businesses and institutions to unite for collective action towards the adoption of practices in energy efficiency, renewables and solar, automation, digitalisation and a new world of electricity to meet both individual and corporate sustainability goals.

Schneider Electric focusses a lot on sustainability,” says Rajat Abbi, vice president, global marketing, greater India; member India management team; global marketing international operations leadership team, Schneider Electric. “The mission of the company is to be a digital partner for sustainability and efficiency. All the marketing programmes initiatives and strategies what we create in Schneider focusses on ways we can be responsible, even in marketing and figuring out how marketing can play a role of promoting and driving a sense of urgency towards sustainability.”

The company recently celebrated one year of the Green Yodha initiative. “This sustainability initiative of ours is where we are trying to get individuals, corporates, policy makers, influencers, etc. to a common platform and create a sense of urgency towards sustainability. And for the last year, and years to come, this is going to be our flagship initiative through which we want to reach to masses, government, and public and private sector organisations, and really create a sense of urgency within India to take actions, be it small or big, which can go  along way in fighting climate change. So, the number one point is about responsible marketing.”

The company's second strategy of marketing revolves around on ways to make Schneider Electric's digital play bigger. “In a post-Covid era, digital had become the lead channel. More and more initiatives are now happening digitally and even in our own case, more than 70 to 80 per cent of our own initiatives are all digital. We, now, have to think about how to take it to the next level and roll out new campaigns that are cutting edge but linking them back to responsible marketing. We want to be seen as a brand that is active in responsible marketing. So, even if I am doing an event or organising a seminar or doing something for my stakeholders or customers, I want to give it back to society. I want to ensure that I'm measuring my carbon footprint and creating a positive impact on the environment.”

When asked about the other green initiatives, Abbi said, “All our green responsible marketing initiatives will be under this umbrella theme but within Green Yodha, there are various facets. For eg., in the last few months, we have rolled out Green Yodha yatras in many states across the country wherein we have reached out to public, public sector organisations, government stakeholders and demonstrated through our solutions and technologies how can they convert their operations into green ones.”

He added that they are collaborating with thought leaders in the country – like Amitabh Kant [former CEO of NITI Aayog] – bringing in policy makers and participating in thought leadership platforms. They are also connecting with CXOs and C-Suite individuals and trying to create awareness about how our actions can be accelerated towards sustainability.

Abbi added, “In India, there is a law that says that the top 100 listed companies have to compile a compulsory report as a part of their yearly filing. Therefore, business responsibility and sustainability reporting has been made mandatory by the Government of India. So, we are running a campaign reaching out to these organisations and even those beyond the listed ones telling them what they need to do to become sustainable.”