In a bid to spread computing education among the budding technocrats and entrepreneurs in the institutes, Dell has started its Campassadors programe. SME Channels spoke to Ritu Gupta, Director, Marketing, Consumer and Small Business, Dell India to know its spread and impact in the country. Excerpts…
What is the rationale behind creating Dell Campassadors Program?
India is a rapidly evolving, knowledge-driven economy. The current generation has a growing interest towards understanding the potential that technology holds. They are advocates of personal PC education and technology usage in day to day activities. The Dell Campassadors program is a part of our youth outreach program, which also includes the Back to School, Back to College and Dell Champs campaigns. The Campassador programme reaches out to a segment of technology users which holds the potential to leverage its power in both their personal and professional growth i.e. the college going youth. Through the programme, Dell appoints Campassadors who represent the brand on their campuses and showcase the use of technology in everyday life, using peer to peer engagement to learn and share through computing. These Campassadors engage with their fellow students on campus, through various activities in order to spread PC learning and education among this particular segment of technology users.
With this engagement program we want to create a deeper connect with the youth and be a part of their consideration when choosing a technology companion.
Ritu Gupta
Director Marketing
Consumer and Small Business
Dell India
How many institutes and how many cities have you covered under this programme?
Dell has appointed Campassadors for 43 colleges in 17 cities all over the country. Each college under the Campassadors programme has two Campassadors that represent the brand on their respective campuses. 2015 was the first year of the programme and we had 86 Campassadors that actively participated in all on campus activities under the programme and were successful in helping their peers to understand the new routes that PC education can open in an individual’s professional and personal lives.
What all activities do you run within this programme?
We run a variety of social media and on-campus activities that are curated to bring fun into programme. One example of a key activity is the #ColorYourCampus contest that saw participation from Campassadors over the country. The #ColorYourCampus contest was a one day national contest in conjunction with the Dell Back to College campaign.
Campassadors, along with their college mates, came together for ‘groupfies’ which had campus decorations in matching colors, and uploaded these images on the Campassador Facebook page. The Dell India Facebook fans then cast their votes for their favorite pictures on the page. The college which posted the maximum number of pictures and garnered the highest number of votes on that day, was announced the winner of the #ColorYourCampus contest. The winning Campassador was awarded a brand new Dell Inspiron laptop, fully loaded with all the latest features.
Aside from contests and speaker sessions, all Campassadors also participated in another umbrella campaign – Dell PC Literacy Days – wherein they were encouraged to reach out to communities/schools which do not have access to the personal computer, and to conduct sessions in order to build awareness around computing. On the occasion of their felicitation at the end of the programme, the Campassadors expressed a sense of achievement and personal evolution after having received the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.
Similarly, the Campassadors have participated in collaborative activities with their peers, and have organized sessions which focus on the role of technology in holistic growth.
What are the achievements of this year?
To mark the end of the first year of the Dell Campassadors program, 20 of the top Campassadors from around the country were invited for a felicitation event in Bangalore. This provided a platform where Campassadors from different parts of the country came together to share their experiences and also gain insights from their counterparts. The Campassadors also had the opportunity to interact with the brand on many levels including sessions with various company personnel. The Campassadors met with several Dell leaders from HR, R&D and Social Media & Marketing, and had interactive discussions on invention, innovation and the power of social media. This was done with the focus to further empower the young minds in the room to go and follow their dreams and to fuel their entrepreneurial spirit. It was a successful first year of Dell Campassadors and we saw participation on a large scale, both on campus as well as social media platforms.
What is the road map of this programme?
Campassadors will continue to be a part of our youth outreach programme this year. Dell believes that the youth is where our next wave technology users will come from, and we will continue to engage with college youth to inspire them to adopt personal technology that can play a key role in their overall development.
What is the net benefit to Dell at the end of the year?
Dell’s youth outreach initiatives are centred on a single cause – to build awareness for the potential of the PC to transform the way we live. With this engagement program we want to create a deeper connect with the youth and be a part of their consideration when choosing a technology companion. This programme aims at engaging a key user group which holds the capability to recognize this potential, and stands to benefit from it the most. Our objective is to create awareness on the PC and how it can help transform lives, and to establish the PC as an integral tool in the process of learning, collaborating and growing as a person, as well as a professional. This program has been, and will continue to be instrumental in engaging with youth and bridging a technological gap among this group of users, who encompass the future workforce of the country.
