SankalpTaru Foundation Case Study

Solution

Elevate One Media architected a 360-degree, multi-channel CSR communications strategy that ensured every phase and dimension of the NTT DATA × SankalpTaru programme received maximum visibility across every relevant media channel — digital news wire, national online media, print (mainline & regional), social media (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube), and internal employee engagement platforms.

The strategy was built on five pillars:

• Phase-Wise National Digital Media: Converting each programme milestone into a nationally distributed press release via PNN/UNI India wire with targeted placement in governance, business, and environmental platforms.
• Regional Print Media — Coimbatore: Securing dedicated coverage in leading mainline and regional newspapers serving Coimbatore — including Tamil-language dailies — to reach the local community and drive ground-level awareness and participation.
• Multi-Platform Social Media Amplification: Coordinating content strategy across LinkedIn (NTT DATA Asia Pacific, NTT DATA Inc., SankalpTaru Foundation), Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube — with platform-specific messaging, hashtag campaigns, and employee-generated content activation.
• Technology Differentiation Storytelling: Consistently positioning every media output around SankalpTaru's geotagging, blockchain, and satellite accountability framework — a uniquely compelling angle that separated this programme from every other CSR plantation drive in India.
• Employee Engagement Media: Activating NTT DATA's 40,000+ India workforce as a brand ambassador community through volunteer stories, seed ball campaigns, and LinkedIn amplification — generating authentic, high-reach earned media from within the organization.

Strategy

The strategy was executed across five coordinated media and content tracks:

Track 1 — National Digital Wire & Online News Media

The programme's flagship milestones were converted into nationally distributed press releases and editorial features:

• UNI India / PNN Wire — "NTT DATA and SankalpTaru Foundation Transform 7-Acre Barren Land into Thriving Forest in Coimbatore" (October 16–17, 2025) — flagship Phase II launch story with quotes from NTT DATA Global CSR Director and IAS District Collector.
• Bureaucrats India — "SankalpTaru and NTT DATA Plant 3,500 Trees in Coimbatore as CSR" — governance and public affairs platform coverage reinforcing district government partnership.
• PNN Digital — Full press release syndication to national digital audiences.
• in — Regional Tamil Nadu online platform extending South India reach.
• PNI News / Business News This Week — "NTT Data Employees Volunteer at SankalpTaru's Coimbatore Restoration Site Under CSR Initiative" (March 2026) — dedicated feature on 60 NTT DATA tech employees as active ecological restoration volunteers.

Track 2 — Print Media: Mainline & Regional Newspapers of Coimbatore

A critical and distinctive layer of the campaign — print media coverage in leading mainline and regional newspapers serving Coimbatore — gave the programme a local, community-facing dimension that no digital media alone could achieve.

Why Print for Coimbatore?
The Coimbatore community — the direct beneficiary of the programme — is best reached through Tamil-language and regional English newspapers that form the information backbone of daily life for the city's residents, civic officials, school and college educators, and local businesses. Print coverage in Coimbatore ensured:

• The local community saw, recognized, and took pride in the transformation happening in their backyard.
• Schools, colleges, and corporates — specifically called upon by District Collector Pavankumar G. Giriyappanavar to participate in environmental conservation — were reached through the medium they trust most.
• Government officials, local policymakers, and municipal authorities received formal, authoritative recognition of the programme's outcomes.
• The District Collector's endorsement and the programme's official inauguration were reported as a matter of public record in the regional press — adding civic authority to the story.

Print Newspapers Covered (Mainline & Regional, Coimbatore):

• The Hindu (Coimbatore Edition) — India's most authoritative English daily, Coimbatore edition — flagship mainline coverage of the Phase II inauguration, District Collector participation, and NTT DATA's environmental commitment.
• Dinamalar (Coimbatore) — Tamil Nadu's largest-circulated Tamil daily — regional-language community coverage bringing the programme story to Coimbatore's Tamil-speaking public in their own language.
• Dinakaran (Coimbatore) — Leading Tamil daily with strong Coimbatore circulation — community-oriented coverage of the barren land transformation and tree plantation initiative.
• Dina Thanthi (Coimbatore) — One of Tamil Nadu's most widely read Tamil newspapers — reaching mass community audiences across Coimbatore with the programme's environmental and civic significance.
• Deccan Chronicle / Times of India (Coimbatore/Tamil Nadu editions) — English-language mainline coverage for Coimbatore's English-reading business, professional, and educational community.

Print Content Strategy:

• Lead every print story with the District Collector's inauguration and endorsement — lending official civic authority and news value to the coverage.
• Use the "dump yard to forest" before-and-after transformation narrative as the visual and emotional hook — a compelling human-interest story with strong reader resonance.
• Include community call-to-action language: "schools, colleges, and corporates are encouraged to participate" — directly serving the programme's awareness and participation objectives.
• Feature NTT DATA's India commitment alongside local community outcomes to connect a global corporation's sustainability pledge to tangible local impact.

Track 3 — LinkedIn: Professional & Corporate Amplification

LinkedIn was the primary platform for reaching NTT DATA's corporate stakeholder audience — enterprise clients, ESG investors, industry peers, and India's technology and business community.

NTT DATA Inc. (Official Corporate Page)

• "NTT DATA #GreenArmy — 17,500 Seedballs Across 7 India Offices" (July 2024) — a viral, employee-facing post announcing the seedball creation campaign with SankalpTaru, mobilizing 1,000+ #NTTDATAChangeMakers across India offices. Hashtags: #NTTDATAChangeMakers #GreenArmy #NTTDATAIndia #Sustainability #CSR.

NTT DATA Asia Pacific (Official Regional Page — 100,000+ followers)

• Phase II launch post (October 2025) — "We're proud to take another step forward in our journey toward a greener future..." — official corporate social post on Phase II launch with full programme context and SankalpTaru partnership credit. Hashtags: #NTTDATAAPaC #NTTDATAIndia #CorporateSocialResponsibility.
• Chennai urban forestry post (October 2025) — "An amazing step has been taken for a greener Chennai by planting trees..." — highlighting air quality and environmental benefits of the urban tree plantation initiative.
• World Earth Day 2026 post (April 23, 2026) — "Great change starts with small actions. But when those actions are multiplied, they become a movement..." — featuring cumulative CSR impact across APAC, with India's SankalpTaru partnership as a flagship example.

SankalpTaru Foundation (Official Page)

• Phase I launch post (November 2024) — "We're thrilled to share that with generous support from NTT DATA, we are transforming a 2-acre former dumping ground in Coimbatore into a green sanctuary..." — emotional, community-focused launch narrative. Tags: Simar Mann. Hashtags: #TreePlantation #CommunityPlantation #UrbanForestation #CSR #Coimbatore.
• Employee volunteering post (March 3, 2026) — "At this 4-acre restoration site, 60 employees from NTT DATA added their bit of greenery to the land — contributing to a space reclaiming its ecological purpose. Grateful for your time, energy..." Hashtags: #sankalptarufoundation #employeeengagement #nttdata #coimbatore.

NTT DATA Employee Amplification (Organic)
Multiple NTT DATA India employees independently shared and amplified Phase II and volunteering posts from their personal LinkedIn profiles — including senior professionals Manoharan Selvaraj and Neha S. — generating additional organic reach within NTT DATA's global employee network and India's technology professional community.^[10]

Track 4 — Instagram & Facebook: Community & Visual Storytelling

Instagram and Facebook served the community storytelling, visual impact, and broad public awareness dimensions of the campaign.

SankalpTaru Foundation Instagram (@sankalptaru_foundation)

• Phase II launch story (October 3, 2025) — "SankalpTaru Foundation, in partnership with NTT DATA, has announced the launch of Phase II of its Community Barren Land Restoration Programme..." — photo-led post with before-and-after imagery of the Coimbatore site transformation.
• Employee volunteering story (March 3, 2026) — "From tech services to tree services. At this 4-acre restoration site, 60 employees from NTT Data added their bit of greenery to the land — contributing to a space reclaiming its ecological purpose." — a multi-image carousel post with on-site photography of NTT DATA volunteers planting trees, generating strong organic engagement.

SankalpTaru Foundation Facebook

• Phase I launch post (November 12, 2024) — "We're thrilled to share that with generous support from NTT DATA, the SankalpTaru Foundation is transforming a 2-acre former dumping ground in Coimbatore into a green sanctuary by planting 3,500 native trees! Thanks to NTT DATA's commitment and active involvement, this once-polluted site will now enhance air quality and provide a vital environmental refuge..."
• Phase II coverage amplification (October 3, 2025) — syndication of the Bureaucrats India CSR story across SankalpTaru's Facebook community.

Bureaucrats India Facebook

• CSR story amplification post (October 3, 2025) — "#CSR SankalpTaru Foundation, in collaboration with NTT DATA, has launched Phase II of its Community Barren Land Restoration Programme near Periyanaickenpalayam in #Coimbatore, planting 3,500 #trees. Phase I transformed a 7-acre former dump yard into a green space. DC Pavankumar G. Giriyappanavar, IAS, highlighted that such initiatives create awareness..." — reaching the governance and public affairs Facebook audience.

Track 5 — YouTube: Evergreen Visual Content

• "NTT Data & SankalpTaru: Reforesting with Seedballs" (August 2024) — a professionally produced video documentary showcasing the partnership's innovative seedball reforestation initiative. Seedballs — made from clay, compost, and native species seeds — were distributed by NTT DATA employees across barren, ecologically inaccessible terrains across 7 Indian cities. The film visually demonstrates the science, community participation, and environmental impact of the approach — and serves as permanent, evergreen digital content discoverable by enterprise CSR researchers, ESG evaluators, and media professionals.