ONGC Launches On Facebook To Support Indian Olympians

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has launched itself on Facebook to support the Indian Olympians at London Olympics 2012.
ONGC, the only Indian energy major to be featured on ‘Fortune‘s Most Admired List, 2012’ is also ranked as the world’s number two exploration and production company by Platts, 2011. Founded on 14 August 1956, the energy company is also home for more than 32,000 people, who are working for it round the clock.
ONGC, apart from being an energy major company, has also invested in socio-economically responsive projects. One of the projects that ONGC has been involved in is Sports Promotion and hence it is also the Principal Sponsor of the Indian contingent for London Olympics 2012.

ONGC Facebook Page

To gain more support and to reach out to the fans, ONGC has launched itself on India’s biggest social network – Facebook. The ONGC Facebook page was launched on July 13 , 2012 and has already gathered a fan following of more than 500 fans. The page has impressed me in the way ONGC has used the Facebook timeline feature for story telling, apart from a lovely cover page. Effort has been taken to showcase the legacy of ONGC. The below screen grab is one such example:

The content that is being shared for now, has majorly focused on its objective of promoting the Indian Olympians. Pictures backed with content do the trick on Facebook and it is working for ONGC right now. The below screen grab gives a glimpse of one such content which is also being appreciated by fans:

How effective is the move by ONGC?

Businesses launching themselves on social media with an objective will definitely reap results. We saw the same happening with Seaspan on Facebook where it is using the network to spread its company’s culture and also looking to recruit people. ONGC has done a similar thing and I would refrain myself from judging it’s activities on Facebook considering the fact that the page is not even a month old.
However, it would be interesting to see how the page grows once the Olympics is over. If the company envisions this to be a community for Indian Olympic lovers then it would be spectacular.
This is a great move from ONGC to evolve with the changing times and not jump into the bandwagon aimlessly. Early days but a good start from a 56 year old Indian company!