Mahindra Reva aim to drive positive change through 'Ask" Movement

Enabling people to rise through solutions that power mobility, drive rural prosperity, enhance urban lifestyles and increase business efficiency is the core focus of $ 15.90 billion Mahindra Group. The group has diversified presence in a tractors, utility vehicles, information technology and vacation ownership. In addition, Mahindra enjoys a strong presence in the agribusiness, aerospace, components, consulting services, defense, energy, financial services, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel and two wheeler industries.

In yet another significant move, group company Mahindra Reva has launched the ‘Ask’ Movement, a campaign that urges people to ask questions about the issues that matter. The movement is based on the idea that real progress happens when people ask the right questions and then seek the appropriate answers. The motto of this campaign is: ‘Think, and you will ask. Ask, and you will Rise’.

On the occasion of the launch of the movement, Pravin Shah, Chief Executive, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said, “At Mahindra, challenging conventional thinking in everything we do is a way of life. We have always encouraged people to ask questions because we believe that our ability to innovate and develop superior products and services is related to the questions we are asked – by our customers and our own employees. With the Ask movement, we hope to encourage people to constantly think of the questions that really matter and actually voice them, thereby paving the way for the creation of a better world.”

As for the rationale behind the movement, Chetan Maini, Founder and Chief of Strategy & Technology, Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles said, “Each human being has this innate curiosity and desire to drive positive change. At Mahindra Reva, asking questions is an intrinsic part of what we do. We have relentlessly questioned ourselves on what we can do to redefine the Future of Mobility in the years to come. The Mahindra e2o electric vehicle is our first significant step in this direction.”

Speaking to Adgully, B Karthik, Senior General Manager, Corporate Brand Management, M&M  shared some insights about the campaign and the initiative. He said, “most of our target customers are digital savvy hence the decision of launching a social media campaign came up. The mainline mediums will used for sure but the focus would stay on digital.”

Elaborating further he says, “the Ask movement has emerged from the Mahindra Group’s vision of the Future of Mobility, which was unveiled by Group Chairman, Anand Mahindra in August 2012, at the inauguration of Mahindra Reva’s new manufacturing plant in Bengaluru. At that time, the Mahindra Group had promised to launch a movement to co-create and co-imagine the Future of Mobility, and ‘Ask’ is that movement. The Future of Mobility envisions the creation of an automotive ecosystem that brings Clean, Convenient, Connected, Clever and Cost-effective (the 5 C’s) mobility solutions to customers across the world,”

At the root of the Ask movement is Mahindra’s brand idea of RISE. This has been the basis for a number of other movements including the ‘Spark the Rise’ movement which seeks to tap into the entrepreneurial spirit of India to drive positive change.

The Ask movement is another step in this direction and seeks to leverage the principles of Rise to co-create a more sustainable vision of the Future of Mobility. This movement will tap into the hunger for change in an increasingly confident India by inviting the public to ask questions about topics like mobility, infrastructure and technology.

Mahindra Reva would then funnel these questions down to issues relating to mobility and related topics and form interest groups that would seek to provide answers to these issues. In this manner, Mahindra Reva hopes to play the role of an incubator of ideas related to the future of mobility.