The Campaign

The increase in the number of scrap tyres in India – around 88 million in 3 years, is becoming a threat to the environment. But the issue isn't discussed much in our country. To go further than just bring the impact of discarded tyres on the environment to the notice of the general population, we decided to make recycling appealing to everyone – especially the youth of the country who are responsible for bringing about change in the world. The idea was to convert what was unwanted to the most desired. Tyres, till now abandoned, were to become lifestyle products.

Success of the Campaign

Within three days of the event the Facebook page of Soles with Souls had more than 60,000 views. People were flocking to twitter, youtube, blogs. The event was reported in 24 reputed dailies and 5 leading news channels fetching media coverage worth Rs. 30,000,000/- JK Tyre became the became the first ever Indian tyre manufacturer to take up this cause and have received more than 4000 appreciative emails. Soon the company will be retailing scrap have be organised. The government has announced a 30-40% subsidy on footwear made out of recycled tyres. Moreover, making footwear out of scrap tyres will soon be on the curriculum of FDDI.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

We teamed up with the Footwear Design & Development Institute of India (FDDI), Asia's leading footwear college. 100 promising students, the future designers of the country, were selected to participate in a week-long workshop. The youth of the country became our spokespersons. Months of hard work later, discarded tyres turned into high-fashion footwear and accessories. On April 19, Soles with Souls, a one-of-its-kind Fashion Show & Press Event, unfolded in New Delhi, the Capital of India. The event was telecasted live on leading TV channels. A facebook page was dedicated to the initiative. It was also visible on twitter, youtube and other social media.