The Indian silk industry faced various challenges, such as lack of standardization, poor database management, fluctuations in production, pricing, and quality, and lack of transparency in processes, which hampered the sector’s growth. Additionally, Mandis was far from farm locations, adding to farmers’ cost burden.
Strategy:
We developed an earned-only strategic media relations plan to promote ReshaMandi’s app, which helps farmers tackle major issues in the silk supply chain. Our PR campaign had three main goals: generating positive sentiment for ReshaMandi across media and influencer platforms, building recognition and increasing visibility for the brand, and assisting ReshaMandi in gaining favorable visibility among the investor community. To achieve these goals, we focused on promoting areas of the silk supply chain that were previously under-promoted, such as Ramanagara and Hosur in North Karnataka, along with well-known centers of silk weaving such as Banaras and Kolkata.
We developed three parallel threads to showcase ReshaMandi’s viability as a cost-effective product, the impact of technology in the silk and natural fiber sector, and the social impact of ReshaMandi on the life and livelihoods of farmers and weavers. We humanized the impact of technology by bringing farmers and weavers to the forefront as spokespersons of their sector, showcasing their voices through videos, news stories, and social media outreach. By doing so, ReshaMandi was able to emerge as a partner to farmers and an ally in their quest for a better livelihood from silk farming.
Results:
Our PR campaign yielded impressive results, garnering over 500 positive to neutral media coverage for ReshaMandi. We secured 69 media stories in Tier 1 media and over 480 stories in vernacular media across seven states, including Varanasi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Agra, Gorakhpur, Indore, Bhopal, Dhanbad, Kannur, Nagpur, Pune, Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Satara, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Kota, Ranchi, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Dharmavaram, and Dehradun. Additionally, our PR team secured coverage in tech-focused media, such as The Hindu, Business Standard, and Tech-in-Asia, human impact media, such as The Logical Indian, The Better India, and Apparel Magazine, responsible business media, such as The Economic Times, VCCircle, Mint, YourStory, The New Indian Express, and ET Prime, and podcasts, such as Forbes and The Hindu Business Line. We also secured coverage in agriculture media, such as Facebook Live with Krishi Jagran and Rural Voice.
Our PR campaign resulted in the rapid onboarding of farmers across states, leading to the expansion of ReshaMandi’s farmer base from just South Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. As a result of our efforts, ReshaMandi also received the highest-ever funding for any company in the silk and natural fiber supply chain. Furthermore, the Indian Government showed interest in the potential of the Silk Industry, referencing ReshaMandi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Smt. Gunjan Krishna, Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director, Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Karnataka.
