How BPCL has been acting as a springboard for India’s budding sports talent

Bharat Petroleum has a rich history of supporting budding sports talents in their journey marked by high ambition and the determination required to achieve it. The corporation has inducted about 200 sportspersons in various sporting disciplines in the last several decades, supporting and encouraging them, while acting as a springboard for their aspirations.

On the occasion of #InternationalOlympicDay BPCL saluted its 17 Olympians, who have made the BPCL family and India proud by bringing home accolades.

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BPCL has rolled out a digital campaign – ‘Humans of Bharat Petroleum’ – to pay respect and encourage seven employees from the company who will represent the country in Tokyo Olympics 2020. Starting from June 13, 2021, Bharat Petroleum has launched a series of campaigns under the campaign, titled ‘Jeet Ka Padak’. One such component of the campaign is ‘Humans of Bharat Petroleum’, which is an ongoing series, showcasing their employees’ growth in the company on social media.

The campaign will include Olympic Trivia Quiz, musical videos on archery and hockey-two sports, wherein BPCL employees will represent the country; inspiring stories of players on social media platforms and on-ground activities, including ‘Selfie’ booth at BPCL’s fuel stations. The company has planned for traditional BTL campaigns, social media campaigns, and integrated campaigns.

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Abbas Akhtar, Chief General Manager, Public Relations & Brand, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, speaks about the company’s long association with sports and especially the Olympics, as well as how the company has been supporting budding sporting talent in the country.

Could you elaborate on BPCL’s drive to encourage seven of its employees who will represent India in Tokyo Olympics 2020?

During this one-in-the-four-year event, loyalty of the people for the country, sense of pride and adoration of sports stars, reach a fever-pitch, as they root for their favourite players and victory for their country.

The Olympic Games are watched by an incredibly broad range of people. Not just men, or sports fans, but basically everyone. The sense of nationality that the Olympics fosters is what turns the Games to a worldwide phenomenon.  Therefore, BPCL has lined up series of campaigns to take the brand to people during Olympics.

Bharat Petroleum has a rich history of supporting budding sports talents in their journey marked by high ambition and the determination required to achieve it. We have inducted about 250 sportspersons in various sporting disciplines in the last several decades, supporting and encouraging them, while acting as a springboard for their aspirations. The objective is to identify, induct and nurture talent in the country in various sporting disciplines, to elevate their level of excellence, to accelerate their journey towards scaling new peaks in their victorious march, as well as to facilitate their smooth assimilation into the mainstream beyond their sporting careers.

Today, 64 sportspersons from our family are still active in their sports discipline and 7 of these will represent India in Tokyo Olympics. We have built a major part of our campaigns around our seven players who will represent India in Tokyo. These seven players are:

Atanu Das, Archery, West Bengal

Deepika Kumary, Archery, Jharkhand

Harmanpreet Singh, Men’s Field Hockey. Punjab

Birendra Lakra, Men’s Field Hockey, Odisha

Vivek Sagar Prasad, Men’s Field Hockey, Madhya Pradesh

Lalit Upadhyay, Men’s Field Hockey, Uttar Pradesh

Varun Kumar, Men’s Field Hockey, Punjab

Deepika Kumari has recently won three gold medals in Archery World Cup Series 3, held in Paris, therefore she is a serious medal prospect for India.

What’s the objective of the campaign ‘Humans of Bharat Petroleum’?

Starting from June 13, we have launched a series of campaigns under the campaign, titled ‘Jeet Ka Padak’. One such component of our campaign is ‘Humans of Bharat Petroleum’, which is an ongoing series, showcasing our employees’ growth in the company on social media.

During the Olympics period, ‘Humans of Bharat Petroleum’ will capture the inspiring stories of our seven players taking part in Tokyo Olympics. Some of these players have overcome financial obstacles to become champions and perform in the international arena, and in the process inspire millions of others to keep persevering in their dreams despite the odds.

Deepika Kumari, for example, was born in Ranchi. Her father was an auto-rickshaw driver, while her mother is a nurse at Ranchi Medical College. Since the family was not well-equipped financially to get her all the necessary equipment needed to practice, she improvised and started practicing with bamboo-made bows and arrows. Today, she performs at the global stage and is an inspiration for thousands of girls in the interiors of the country who want to pursue sports as a profession.

Similarly, Lalit Upadhyay, the key forward attack of the Indian field hockey squad, comes from humble origins, where his father runs a small shop.

Birendra Lakra, the vice-captain of the Indian hockey team, who has been like the Rock of Gibraltar in the Indian team’s defence, comes from a remote village at Lachchada in the tribal hinterland of Odisha.

These are the sports stars who overcame insurmountable obstacles in their lives and are India’s hopes in the mega event. The objective of this campaign is to inspire millions of Indians across the country through these stories and take sports as a profession.

We will measure the effectiveness of this campaign through engagements on our social media platforms, which could trigger a conversation and motivation around sports.

What has been your communication strategy and how have you planned your thoughts about messaging for this campaign?

Through this campaign we are narrating the journey of our players – from nowhere to being sports stars. Irrespective of one’s social and financial strata, one can succeed.

As a medium of communication, we have chosen social media platforms to communicate because of very high reach, active users and direct engagement and interaction. It also has the potential to make this inspiring content viral through several collaborations. Our Facebook page is the most followed page in the oil and gas industry in India, with more than 1.5 million followers.

At BPCL, how do you identify budding talent in sports and how do they get trained to compete at international levels?

As I mentioned earlier, Bharat Petroleum has a rich history of supporting budding sports talent in their journey marked by high ambition and the determination required to achieve it. We have inducted about 250 sportspersons in various sporting disciplines in the last several decades, supporting and encouraging them, while acting as a springboard for their aspirations. The objective is to identify, induct and nurture talent in the country in various sporting disciplines, to elevate their level of excellence, to accelerate their journey towards scaling new peaks in their victorious march, as well as to facilitate their smooth assimilation into the mainstream beyond their sporting careers.

(Edited by Shanta Saikia.)

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