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 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.

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.