The Handloom School (THS) is a non-profit organization born of the need to preserve India’s handloom industry which is under threat. When power looms were introduced and mass-produced textiles became more commercially viable, they grabbed a huge market share. Unfortunately, this spelt doom for the traditional handloom weavers of India. Many weavers started looking at alternate livelihoods. Handloom weaving became a dying art. THS intervened and developed a specialized education program for young weavers. The idea was to bring handloom weavers back to the fold and to bridge the gap between traditional weaving and new competencies.
To get recognition for this program, THS had to promote its case to relevant stakeholders and get their support. THS identified The PRactice as the perfect partner to reach out to people and organizations who could further the cause.
The organic, no-marketing-dollars-spent Social Media campaign was hugely liked by readers and the engagement grew by 800%. The weavers of The Handloom School received orders worth Rs.13 lakhs during the fashion week.
As part of our Stakeholder Engagement program, we identified The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) as a key influencer and made a pitch to promote handloom weaves from Maheshwar. The Director of FDCI was convinced by our pitch and THS was offered complimentary participation in the Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW), 2017. We went the extra mile and initiated a parallel tie-up with Good Earth who agreed to sponsor the event. The collection was presented at Amazon Fashion Week, as the lead ramp show on March 15th, 2017.
Our strategy included Message Development, Strategic Media Relations, Digital Engagement, Communication Design and Stakeholder Engagement as solutions. The outcome was incredible. Leading publications carried detailed stories about India’s unique handloom art. Over 98 lakh impressions were generated! The organic, no-marketing-dollars-spent Social Media campaign was hugely liked by readers and the engagement grew by 800%. As a result of the activities, awareness grew, and the weavers of The Handloom School received orders worth Rs.13 lakhs during the fashion week. What’s more, the WomenWeave Charitable Trust also worked with us to launch of a collection of handwoven textiles.
