Mithapur/Ahmedabad

Gujarat manufactured Tata Salt, the Indian branded salt market, rang in the 69th Independence Day of the country by paying a tribute to the Indian Army through a record-breaking campaign called ‘Desh Ka Salaam, Sarhad Ke Naam’.

The campaign created two Guinness World Records for the loudest crowd-sourced ‘Jai Hind’ at 122.2 decibel level, under the category ‘Loudest Indoor Shout’ as well as the ‘Longest line of postcards’ with a chain of 6400 hand written messages and postcards from the nation to the Indian Armed Forces. Further, the crowd sourced National Anthem sung by over 76310 people for the soldiers was also conferred by the Limca Book of Records for being the first such initiative of its kind.

The campaign was dedicated to the jawans at Siachen who perform their duties under harsh conditions.

Tata Salt’s ‘Desh ka Salaam, Sarhad ke Naam’ initiative invited participation through radio, social media and out of home activities. The campaign paved a two-way communication highway by using social media to capture the gratitude of the civilians for the jawans, as well as the emotions of the jawans at the border.

The campaign used social media to encourage consumers to post Salute Selfies, and engage with consumers on the selfless service of our jawans. Tata Salt partnered with 92.7 Big FM to collect messages from listeners through a week long radio campaign called the Big Paigaam which panned across 40 cities. The first ever live radio station was set up at Siachen border to enable live feeds of the Independence Day celebrations to be sent across to the nation. This also enabled the soldiers’ families to send their well wishes to the sons of the nation who, otherwise survive in an area with zero connectivity to the world.

Picture1With over 5.3 lakh consumer participation through social media alone, the campaign received an incredible response with an outpour of messages for the soldiers. The ‘Desh ka Salaam Selfie’ contest received 825 selfie posts on Facebook, along with posts from celebrities like Mr. Sanjeev Kapoor. The campaign’s Facebook fan base grew to 11,290 in just 9 days of its commencement, garnering a total of 234,714 interactions through likes, comments and shares. The campaign gained 3,224,607 impressions on Facebook alone, and 326,000 impressions on Twitter. Through outdoor activities across high footfall areas, the campaign reached out to 76,310 people through cinema halls, and 1500 students through schools and colleges. A special AV created on the campaign went viral over social media, gaining 158,300 views within two days over Facebook and YouTube.

To convey the nation’s heartfelt gratitude to the jawans, Tata Salt created a montage of all the messages received through selfies, handwritten messages, videos and social media posts, and played it for the soldiers at the Siachen border. Again, facilitating two-way communication, Tata Salt captured the soldiers’ ecstatic reactions and appreciation on seeing the video and posted it on the Facebook page, thus making it a remarkable celebration not only for the soldiers but also the consumers.

Talking about the success of the campaign, Ms. Richa Arora, COO – Consumer Product Business, Tata Chemicals, said, “Tata Salt has evolved from being a packet of salt to being known as ‘Desh Ka Namak’. The ‘Desh Ka Salaam’ Independence Day campaign is dedicated to the soldiers who selflessly safeguard the nation. Through this campaign what we simply did was connect millions of people to the soldiers located at the highest peak – Siachen. The response was over whelming not just for us but also for the Real Heroes.”

– DeshGujarat