Delhi - Millions of homeless people in India have never experienced the comfort of a bed. Children growing up on the streets rest their heads on cold, hard pavement every night. Saatchi & Saatchi India and Springwel Mattresses came up with 'Sleep Exchange', inviting customers buying a new mattress to take their old mattress to Springwel stores across India. The used mattresses are sent to a homeless shelter, giving both the donor and the recipient a good night's sleep.
The initial message was spread via viral video, but in addition to this Saatchi & Saatchi and Springwel have initiated various social activities designed to engage the community and get the message of the Sleep Exchange campaign across:
‘Delhi Art Collab' invited Delhi residents to paint the streets with visualisations of dreams of the homeless;
‘Street Art' took place in Mumbai where artists painted thought provoking themes on the streets;
‘Micro Stories' were gathered by Springwel's photographers roaming the streets of Indian cities, in search of visual stories;
and the ‘Lives of the Homeless Photography Competition' invites photographers to interpret the lives of the homeless with their cameras.
Your pictures can make a difference with the ‘Lives of the Homeless Photography Competition'. The deadline for submissions is 15th August, and two well-known Indian photographers - Dinesh Khanna and Atul Loke - will judge the competition.
From the entries 30 images will be short-listed, and auctioned at a Street Exhibition in Delhi. The winner of the ‘Jury Category' will receive a Nikon D5100 camera and the 30 shortlisted entries will be auctioned at the Photography exhibition in Delhi. The proceeds of the auction will be given to a homeless NGO charity.
Submitted photographs will be displayed on the Springwel Sleep Exchange Facebook page, and Facebook users will be invited to vote for them. The entry with the most ‘Likes' at the end of the competition period will be declared the winner of the ‘Most Popular' Category, and will receive a Nikon P310 camera.
Upload entries on the Springwel website: http://springwelsleepexchange.com/?page_id=79
"We loved the suggestion of our advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, to donate these old, but serviceable, mattresses to shelters for the homeless, allowing us to repurpose mattress for a larger good," says Paramjeet Singh, Managing Director, Springwel.
Jaibeer Ahmad, Vice President, Saatchi & Saatchi, Delhi, says that the idea reflects Saatchi and Saatchi's philosophy of turning brands into Lovemarks. "Instead of relying on ‘-er' (better, thicker, softer) product benefits, Springwel will now be looked upon a brand that wants to make a difference to the larger community."
Says Ramanuj Shastry, Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi, "It was a joy to work with a brave client. They gave us a free hand in almost everything - from conceptualization to execution. I sincerely hope to do more path breaking work for them in future."
This initiative is being supported by Homeless Project Community of St. Stephens Hospital. The campaign is being rolled out across India, and Springwel invites NGOs willing to be part of its mission to contact us at:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/springwelsleepexchange
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/springwelsleepx
Twitter: https://twitter.com/springwelsleepx