Salman Khan on Being Human Foundation

The iconic Mehboob Studio in Mumbai is teeming with pre-schoolers on a Wednesday evening. They are on the sets of a pre-school educational video anchored by actor Salman Khan. Surrounded by the children, Khan enacts the ABCD alphabet song. He begins with "A for Apple", then says "B for Bodyguard"... The kids get hysterical as he flexes his muscles and the song has to stop for a while.

This is Khan's latest initiative to raise money for his charitable trust, Being Human Foundation. The foundation works to provide affordable healthcare and primary education. After launching Being Human apparel stores, Khan is now working on educational videos for children up to the age of nine.

While a content deal with a kids' entertainment channel could well be on the cards to begin with, Khan is partnering a music company to distribute these educational videos across the country. The idea is to make education not only accessible but also entertaining.

In an interview with Ajita Shashidhar, Khan talks about his vision for the Being Human Foundation. Edited excerpts:

Q. Can you tell us all about the Being Human Foundation?
A. The concept of Being Human came to me from my parents, who have always been active in charity. But the flip side to charity is that you are not sure that the money you are giving is going to the right person. My parents and even I have been conned several times, and that hurts. I decided to channelise giving. I have made sure that I don't give to individuals. I only give to institutions, which give me complete accountability of where my money is being spent.

Q. I have read that you are opposed to accepting donations and the primary source of revenue comes out of the sale of Being Human merchandise…
A. A percentage of (the earnings from) my acting career goes into the Being Human Foundation. I am not against donations, but I will never go and ask people to donate money. They may give me money once or twice, but they may not want to do it repeatedly. Also, there is scope for misuse of the Being Human brand name. People are capable of printing Being Human flyers and asking for money without my knowledge and eventually using the money for themselves. I want to be transparent in my dealings.

The ideal way was to get people to buy things they liked and give the proceeds to the foundation.

Q. You launched Being Human in Paris. Why Paris?
A. I wanted to launch my brand in a place where no one knew Salman Khan. I wanted to sell my products on the strength of quality and design. Our products sell in over 150 outlets in France, Belgium and Spain. We are also widespread in the Middle East. The idea is to get people to invest in Being Human apparel not just once, but repeatedly (around 10 per cent goes as royalty to the Foundation on every sale of a Being Human garment). We can do so only if our quality is good.

I must tell you that one of the reasons our women's line is taking time to hit the stores is because I rejected it as I was not happy with the design. I am obsessed with quality.

Q. How do you plan to take Being Human forward?
A. I want the Being Human brand to touch the lives of people at every moment. I am launching Being Human cafes. I also have a deal with the travel portal Yatra.com, where with each transaction, Re 1 would go to the Being Human Foundation. I have partnered with Rotomac to launch Being Human bacteria-free pens.

My vision is to make the concept of giving accountable. I want to stop the mindset of putting money in a box and forgetting about where and who the money is going to.

Q. Finally, how is Salman Khan as a businessman?
A. I am the most foolish businessman (he smiles) in the world. A good businessman would want to make profits. But I am not into the business of making profits, as whatever money I make, goes to charity.

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Another similar one

Ekta Aggarwal, Creative Director of marketing consultancy Landor, got into an autorickshaw in Mumbai that was festooned with Salman Khan's photographs soon after Dabangg 2 was released. The driver said he decked up his autorickshaw with new cutouts of Khan each time he released a film because the actor had paid for his son's operation.

For millions of fans such as the autorickshaw driver, Khan isn't just a larger-than-life superstar. He is the Bollywood bad guy with a heart of gold who helps them out when they are down and out. And the 48-year-old superstar has successfully leveraged such adulation and extended his man-of-the-masses image to create a charity and lifestyle brand, Being Human, which has almost become as big as him. "Being Human has become a cult. In fact, it has become larger than Brand Salman," says Aggarwal.

"Salman doesn't just entertain, but also empowers. Right from the kind of movies he picks to the projects he invests in, he is clear that he will only talk to the masses."

The star's social clout comes from the Being Human Foundation which provides affordable health-care and primary education to underprivileged people across the country. Set up in 2007, the foundation has teamed up with organisations such as the Marrow Donors Registry India to help patients who suffer from diseases such as leukemia and thalassemia.

It recently tied up with Coca-Cola and infotech company NIIT to help a career development centre which provides computer and electrical training to people from rural areas.

Being Human is a charity with an unusual revenue model. It does not ask for donations but raises most of its funds from royalty from the sale of Being Human merchandise. Khan has extended Being Human into a successful fashion brand that sells both in India and several stores in Europe and West Asia. Ten per cent of every sale of a Being Human product goes to the foundation. Khan recently picked up a minority stake in travel portal Yatra.com and one rupee from every transaction goes to the foundation.

Manish Mandhana, Managing Director of Mandhana Industries, which manufactures and retails the Being Human apparel line, says it is already a Rs 100-crore brand. "At the front end, it is a lifestyle brand and at the back end, it is a philanthropic organisation. All royalties from the lifestyle brand support the philanthropy we do," he says.

Marketing experts say the Being Human brand helps boost the Salman Khan brand and has slowly succeeded in overshadowing his bad boy image. Despite his successful movie career, Khan was never one of the biggest names in the endorsement business. But lately he has cashed in on his man-of-the-masses image to sell a host of products with mass appeal such as Britannia Tiger biscuits, Thums Up, Relaxo slippers and Rotomac pens. "Salman in most of his films has a Robin Hood image, which he has seamlessly carried into his real life. He actually tries to live the role he plays in films. This makes him a great brand," says Ashish Mishra, Managing Director of brand consultancy Interbrand India.

In the marketing world, the real test of a successful celebrity brand is how he leverages his status outside of his business. Football star David Beckham, for example, is not just known for playing world-class football, but has leveraged his brand to run a successful fashion apparel line, dVb. Experts say Khan is one of the few Indian celebrities who have leveraged their stardom for the future. They see Shah Rukh Khan as an astute businessman, with interests in film production and cricket, and as one of the highest paid actors in the endorsement market .

But, according to them, most of his forays outside acting are shrewd business moves and do not really contribute to building the star's brand.

Similarly, they see Aamir Khan as a social crusader but not a brand with long-term appeal. "There is a shelf life for the values Aamir represents, but he has done it in a serious way (through his films and shows such as Satyameva Jayate). There is more appeal in Salman's way as he doesn't make it boring and preachy," says Interbrand India's Mishra.

With Salman Khan's career on a roll, his brand equity is unlikely to fade soon. All his films in the past two years - Dabangg, Ready and Bodyguard, among them - have been monster Rs 100-crore hits. One of his recent releases, Ek Tha Tiger, beat all earlier films with box-office collections close to Rs 200 crore. But the movie star does not plan to stop at that: he has big plans for the Being Human charity and lifestyle brand.

He is working on an education video for schoolchildren which will be sold at video stores across the country and distributed free to underprivileged children.

He also plans to extend the Being Human brand to the food business by setting up cafes with a leading food and beverages company. A percentage of the revenue from the cafes will go to the charitable foundation. "The dream is that Being Human should outlive Salman Khan. I want to get into a space where people get up in the morning and brush their teeth with a Being Human toothbrush, have toast made with a Being Human toaster, wear Being Human apparel, hang out at our cafes and finally sleep on a Being Human pillow," he says.

Is the dream a bit far-fetched? Not really, says Mishra. "If the branding strategy is well laid out, Being Human and brand Salman definitely have the potential of outliving Salman Khan, the actor."

I do agree with this.

Originally posted by: .DejaVu

I do agree with this.

[quote] My vision is to make the concept of giving accountable. I want to stop the mindset of putting money in a box and forgetting about where and who the money is going to.[/quote]

But All I have seen of Being Human merchandise is T-shirts with Being human written on them in the simplest way. Hardly any good stuff. A person will buy one t-shirt like that but why buy another similar one. The website too doesn't advertise what all it has to offer.

^I have no idea. The other day I check the BH website and it doesn't have any webpage selling or advertising the products.

Originally posted by: .DejaVu

^I have no idea. The other day I check the BH website and it doesn't have any webpage selling or advertising the products.

^Thanx this is not the website I visited.

Originally posted by: ILoveDrama

If I am not wrong they do have watches from BH too apart from clothing...