BUDGETING – Soolkaama

CREATIVE DIGNITY, India

Soolkaama — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 07:49:48 +0000

Creative Dignity is a movement that has brought together diverse creative producers, practitioners and professionals to energise the ecosystem that Indian artisans need in this time of COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 impact. The focus is to provide relief, and rejuvenation of the artisans in a bid to ensure their sustained prosperity

Trainings

Soolkaama’s Sandeep Dhopate, is part of the governing council, working with other organisations to mobilise resources in a bid to train artisan’s in digital literacy. Through the pandemic and the lockdowns Soolkaama has conducted several online workshops with artisan’s in rural towns to teach them product photography. Unlike, several online workshops where the tutors talk through a presentation, we conducted live, practical classes of showing how one could produce great product photos using cheap and locally available resources. Following are some of the results of these workshops

Social Media Strategy

Early on during the movement in May 2020, Soolkaama led the efforts to develop an advertising strategy and collaborated with an advertising agency to set up a content publishing process to promote the work done by Creative Dignity. We set up and managed a digital tool that allowed several volunteers from all over the country to share content with the agency. Soolkaama also curated the content to ensure each post was optimised for maximum impact. The tool gathered analytical data on posts published to further fine tune content quality and maximise audience reach. In just 1 month, we were able to clock nearly 15000 impressions per post and since then, the teams that have taken over the tasks have been able to take that number even higher.

Technology

Another area where Soolkaama provided support to the movement was in setting up the technical tools required to several activities such as –

Vendor Management system – This system allows artisans to set up their own personal e-stores on creative dignity’s website. Artisans and volunteers create their individual user id’s and through an easy to navigate user interface upload the product data onto the website. Online market places have their representatives set up as wholesale buyers who can browse through the products and connect directly with the seller if they are interested in any of them. This way, creative dignity is able to provide the much needed market linkages to the artisans and that too at a scale that is manageable by a small volunteer team.
Project Management system – Along with unite external stakeholders, the volunteer teams also had to communicate internally with each other across state border to make sure there was some order maintained amongst the various activities carried out by different teams. Soolkaama help set up a project management tool, that allows project leaders to set milestones, create tasks and also automate the process of tracking the progress of individual tasks. The system allows everyone on the team to know about all the projects being worked on and gives visibility to the progress of the overall movement. It is also an important tool to document the important work done by so many people. This documentation helps new volunteers to get up to speed quickly and start being productive at the earliest.
Volunteer registration system – This was another pain point within teams as project leaders from different states had their own system of onboarding volunteers. Soolkaama developed a unified online registration system that allowed visibility to everyone on the total number of active volunteers and also the projects they were working on.
Event Management system – Soolkaama set up an online event management system to help the movement publish upcoming webinars, zoom calls etc. both for internal as well as external stakeholders. Users can create their own events and invite audiences to RSVP to them. Instead of having to send out emails, we now have a system that is public and displays the events one might be interested in. The calendar is also protected in that, external stakeholders have restricted access to events or meetings that are internal.
Custom scripts – Data collection at the grassroots level was done predominantly through MS Excel sheets. This was causing a lot of data to be erroneous or inconsistent (for eg. some spelt “mumbai”, while some spelt “Bombay”). Soolkaama developed scripts that checked standard data items for consistency and put relevant validations in place to ensure data entered by volunteers in the excel sheet required minimal correction by the central data management teams.

EKIBEKI, Mumbai

Soolkaama — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 11:43:37 +0000

EkiBeki

Mumbai, India

E-Commerce website, Content Development, Identity, Strategy,

Ekibeki works towards empowering traditional Indian crafts that are at the risk of extinction. They intervene to revive them through design, skills and market interventions with the aim to build self-sustaining artisan clusters

Soolkaama consulted with EkiBeki to help them restructure their value proposition by aligning their brand messaging to match with core activities. Soolkaama also provided photography services to develop high quality product imagery which include catalog images for online market places as well as creatively styled editorial images for brand promotions.

POTLI, New Delhi

Soolkaama — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 10:45:40 +0000

Potli

New Delhi, India

E-Commerce website, Content Development, Storytelling, Marketing strategy, Business strategy, Collaborations, Social Media Strategy

The organization behind POTLI , series of Indian art & craft kits, aims to reconnect children with traditional Indian art, thereby creating awareness and expanding markets for artisan communities that depend on their art for their livelihood while helping sustain the old art forms they practice. A Fair Trade product.Potli uses simple approaches like making the craft kits fun and easy, close to nature, and children naturally love hands-on projects, all of which makes it an appealing activity. A resource like a facts sheet on the art form, with information contributed by masters in the field, is a means to help instruct and educate kids

Soolkaama consulted with Potli to first analyse existing business growth and helped the organisation chart out a revenue growth strategy which involved reaching out to the export markets and also online stockists – the two areas less explored previously by them. As part of this strategy, Soolkaama designed and developed an e-commerce ready website (www.potli.org) and also instituted a social media strategy. The social media strategy was further bolstered by a custom social media manager tool to help plan and schedule posts. The tool also helps to analyse post performance and tweak future posts accordingly to gain maximum audience reach. Working with a less than optimal tech savvy team, involved developing solutions that the existing team members could learn easily and make them part of their daily job. From uploading new products online, creating blogs, planing post content and automating post schedules, the team now handles all this work in-house.

Since launch, Potli has already bagged several export orders and there are several more enquiries for B2B trade. Through the website they have been able to restore their brand image, promote in-house activities such as online workshops which have generated additional revenues. The rebranding also included developing content such as high quality product photography as showcased in this post.

Website – www.potli.org

UGANDAN FASHION COUNCIL, Uganda

Soolkaama — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 11:36:28 +0000

Ugandan Fashion Council

Kampala, Uganda

Using local non-professional talent and low cost tools developed marketing collateral

Soolkaama was approached by the Ugandan Fashion Council to develop a project using local talent in order to produce content for the promotion of their upcoming Kampala Fashion Week (2017) in Uganda.

We created a team comprising of local designers, modelling talents who were sought asylum in Uganda but originally hailed from DRC and South Sudan and a support crew of budding Ugandan photographers. Soolkaama shared behind the scenes, lessons of planning and executing a fashion shoot, and working with constraints of minimal gear. The shoot utilised locally available resources to create interesting lighting, sets and make-up options.

MANAV FOUNDATION – Mumbai

Soolkaama — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 11:19:49 +0000

MANAV FOUNDATION

Mumbai, India

Digital strategy, content development, story telling, marketing strategy for fundraising, communication strategy to reach a wider audience.

I think we’ll be able to benefit substantially from many of your ideas and learn different ways of optimising the potential of the cyber platform and all it offers, so thank you again, for making the time and for your interest in engaging actively with us.

Binaifer Jessia,

Director

MANAV Foundation runs a therapeutic facility for the rehabilitation of people living with mental illness. Soolkaama works with the organisation regularly to document the work being done there. Being sensitive to the cause, we take care to produce work that is dignifying, uplifting and most of all respectful to the people being documented.

MBALE COFFEE – Uganda

Soolkaama — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 09:22:38 +0000

Mbale Coffee

Mt. Elgon, Uganda

Developed content for promotions, conducted storytelling workshops to ensure creation of a sustainable plan to develop advertising content using local resources

Coffee was introduced to Uganda from Ethiopia and was naturalised along the slopes of Mount Elgon. Arabica coffee continues to be one of Uganda’s major export crop. The farmer dries the coffee beans under the sun and then removes the coffee husks, sorting of the different coffee bean sizes, roasting, grinding and packaging. The process is entirely organic with no use of machinery and done collectively by the community living along the slopes of the mountain.

Soolkaama helped to document the making process and also the local life of the people involved in producing the coffee beans. We produced several high quality imagery and a few short video clips.

VIKRANT DAKHAVE – Pune

Soolkaama — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 09:08:21 +0000

Copper Craftsman – Vikrant Dakhave

Tambat Ali, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Identity development, business strategy, product design consulting, marketing and advertising, content development and digital property development.

Soolkaama also works towards identifying highly skilled artisans in India and, by telling their stories, connects them to people who value the traditional philosophy of “Making by Hand”.

Our belief is that once customers are allowed to know the person who’s hands made their product, they value their possession even more. As such, we aim to simplify the marketing of hand made products by simply telling a true and honest story of the craftsperson

Vikrant Dakhave – We are documenting the life of Vikrant Dakhave, one of the youngest remaining coppersmiths from the community of the Tvastha Kasar Samaj. We work with him to promote his work and also provide guidance on design. Through this education, we intend to encourage Vikrant to create contemporary designs that are also rooted in his family’s personal journey of being part of this craft for centuries. We engage with him on a revenue share model, as opposed to labour wages, to sell the wares with Vikrant’s branding.

SATNA JAIL – Madhya Pradesh

Soolkaama — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 08:59:27 +0000

Prisoners as weavers

Satna Jail, Madhya Pradesh, India

Collaborated with local village women, prisoners of Satna jail, and a designer duo from Australia to design, develop and document a line of locally produced furnishings. Strategised development of a sustainable model to generate premium income opportunities.

Soolkaama worked with two textile designers from Australia – Trish and Nathan Bygot on this project and together we visited Satna Jail where prisoners are taught to weave rugs made from locally sourced wool. Local women in the village of Ichol, MP then embroidered motifs on them. The motifs were inspired by local designs found in and around the village and which were rooted in the cultural history of the place.

Soolkaama was engaged as a liaison between the designers and the artisans. They worked with the designers to help them document and understand the cultural history of the area. They worked with the artisans to help them realise the economic potential the knowledge they had of their local heritage. Furnishings created during the collaboration were presented in an exhibition in Delhi. They were priced at a premium and were sold out before the end of the 3 day exhibition.

SOOLKAAMA – Madhya Pradesh

Soolkaama — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 08:30:10 +0000

Soolkaama

Soolkaama, Madhya Pradesh, India

Content Development, Storytelling, Marketing strategy

A tiny hamlet of around 30 huts in MP, about 50 Kms from Maihar MP, there lies a village of sheep and cattle herders called Soolkaama. A visit to this village is one of the first reasons why the founder of Soolkaama decided to do something about rural crafts in India. Every household here is involved in weaving rugs made of sheep wool. Organic, hand made, exquisite rugs. Sold for Rs. 400 a piece to customers in adjoining villages.

Soolkaama, the village, has no external intervention of any kind. They have no access to a marketplace. Their culture and artistic history is beautifully preserved in these hand-made rugs. The youth are not interested, as 400Rs for something that takes 10 days to make is, understandably, not a worthwhile effort. Most of the young men from the village work menial jobs in Maihar.

At Soolkaama, with minimal intervention and by documenting the craft and telling the story about the weavers, we were able to sell the products at a premium of Rs. 2000. Although not a perfect case study for Soolkaama, the positive take aways from this project gave us the purpose to do what we do today.

EXIDE INDUSTRIES CSR – West Bengal

Soolkaama — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 07:43:27 +0000

Exide Industries & Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

Dhansol, West Bengal, India

Marketing strategy, Advertising strategy, Content development. Branding strategy for local design firm which was an integral part of the project

Soolkaama was commissioned by Exide Industries and CII in the Jhargram Tribal belt of West Bengal to develop branding and marketing collateral for their CSR efforts. We teamed up with the Kolkatta based design firm, Paul Design Centrum and local NGO, Jhargram SEVA, to develop a content strategy. The commission resulted in producing video content, photo content for online campaigns and product images for catalogue printing.

The Jhargram tribal belt is inhabited by the Santhali Tribe. This tribe is listed as a PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group). Decades of civil strife between the Indian government and maoist rebel groups within the forest of this region had left this area severely under developed and the people in the remote villages struggled for years to life without fear for their lives.

But since 2012, the region has experienced stability after the rebels surrendered themselves and reached a peace deal with the government. This CSR effort was to train local village women in new design techniques to produce contemporary products using rope. The villagers have been producing rope using local sabai grass as raw material for several generations. The price they earn for the effort is paltry. With new designs and new products an effort is being made to ensure the women are able to earn a sustainable alternate source of income.