START STRONG TAMIL NADU

TitleSTART STRONG TAMIL NADU
BrandHAMAM, HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED
Product / ServiceHAMAM SOAP
CategoryA12. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) / Corporate Image
EntrantMINDSHARE Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation MINDSHARE Mumbai, INDIA
Additional Company OGILVY MUMBAI, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Sukesh Nayak Ogilvy & Mather CCO

The Campaign

India has a tradition of following a cultural calendar along with the Gregorian calendar. ‘Puthaandu’ is the Tamil New Year and is celebrated on the 14th of April, the first day of the Tamil calendar. The day is auspicious as it signifies new beginnings, is traditionally celebrated with feasting and gifting, in the hope a prosperous and peaceful year ahead. Hamam’s core proposition to 'Start Strong' was based on its ayurvedic credentials derived from its main ingredient Neem. Our idea was to get the citizens of Tamil Nadu to celebrate a Green Puthaandu, literally a ‘Green Start to the New Year’. In the aftermath of Cyclone Vardah a large part of the state’s natural green cover, Trees, was lost. Hamam invited the people of Tamil Nadu to Start Strong in the New Year by replanting 100,000 Neem Trees, in cyclone affected districts of the state.

The Brief

Overall budget : INR 5 Million Breakdown of costs : 1. Activation – Sapling Planting - Sapling cost inclusive of bag : INR 900 Thousand Cost of plantation inclusive of digging to 2 feet depth inclusive of transportation from nursery : INR 800 Thousand Cost of maintenance of the plant for a period of 6 months @ Rs. 23 per plant ( to be paid at the end of 3rd and 6th month after validation) : INR 2.3 Million Application development on android platform : INR 75 Thousand 2. Activation – Commemoration & Culmination activity - INR 870 Thousand

Creative Execution

The Hindu’s editorial team drove public awareness on the dangers of Climate Change and the effects on the environment. Solutions to combat deforestation and pollution were presented. The need to plant more trees & adoption of native species like Neem was highlighted. Print advertisements coupled with a Digital campaign helped build reach and awareness. A simple and well promoted ‘Mobile Application’ made public participation possible through a ‘Tree Adoption Drive’. This mobile application was made available across Google and Apple App Stores. Consumers were encouraged to ‘Adopt Trees’ through a Missed Call Campaign. Individual trees were assigned to each ‘Adopter/Participant’ through a GPS enabled Mobile tracker. Adopters could track the growth of their tree through regular updates posted on the app. On-ground events were created in every district where prominent citizens were invited to plant trees and draw support for the campaign.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

A total of 100,331 Neem Trees were planted across the 12 districts. The campaign drew positive support from citizens/consumers across Tamil Nadu with 75,000 trees being adopted through the ‘Tree Adoption Mobile App’. The campaign grew Top-of-Mind recall for the brand by 700 basis points, from 25 to 32. Conviction Scores grew by 300 basis points from 78 to 81. Additionally, brand trust attribute ‘Trust more than other brands’ grew by 400 basis points, from 78 to 82. Most importantly, Hamam was able to reconnect with consumers at a crucial time and in a manner which made significant impact.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

'Hamam Green Puthaandu’ was a CSR campaign conducted by Hamam Soap, a green naturals skin cleansing brand from Hindustan Unilever that enjoys an 80-year old relationship with the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hamam’s brand universe pertains to all matters nature, neem, family, protection, and skin. The campaign is relevant as an entry for Brand Experience & Activation as it invited the consumers to interact and experience the brand’s core proposition through a 360 activation campaign that involved planting Neem Trees across the state, in an attempt to replenish the green cover lost in the aftermath of a Cyclone.

The campaign targeted the entire population of Tamil Nadu. 12 districts which most affected by the cyclone were identified. Neem was chosen as the tree species to be replanted as it was indigenous to the region and would provide a good buffer zone to cyclonic winds. This plantation would also tackle the growing menace of invasive species like ‘Seemai Karuvelam’ that degrade the quality of soil and retard the growth of other native species. But, we knew that to tap into the surging social consciousness and zeal for collective activism, we would need to set-up the appropriate partnerships. First, we engineered a crucial tie-up across District Administration Councils of these affected areas to enable mandatory government clearances, on-ground and logistics support. Second, we roped in the Hindu Group of publications, Tamil Nadu’s most respected and largest media group to help build a ground swell of public consciousness, opinion and participation.