On 5 and 6 April Supriya and I worked with Jabeen, founder of Sahaj, and Aaliya, her design intern on branding & communications for Sahaj. Sahaj is a business partner of Women on Wings since November 2016. For these 2 days we’ve set up a workshop about ‘how to build brands’ and ‘how to communicate with your key target groups’. That was basically what we discussed in the ‘intake’ through skype 2 weeks before.
Sahaj, an organization with a mission
Sahaj is a an organization that seeks to promote sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to artisans and securing the rights of marginalized producers and workers. Sahaj is working with tribal women artisans of eastern Gujarat and provides home-based livelihood opportunities to address the issue of annual migration. At the moment approx 500 women are working for Sahaj and earning a decent income which improves the livelihood of their families.
Reaching target audience
By building a sustainable brand and communicating in the right way, we hope that all target audiences will find its way to Sahaj and their beautiful products and will buy the products. This in turn should enable Sahaj to give work to more tribal women in the region and also in other states and help them earn regular incomes.
Eager to learn team
The small Sahaj team was very eager to learn so the first day we had already discussed many of the subjects planned for day 2. Which was great so the next day we could focus on defining key target groups, their barriers, the key messages, the media to use, etc.. In the end we had a great schedule ready which can be used from now on.
Branding = consistency
The importance of building a brand and keep the focus on consistency and continuity of using that brand towards all target groups has landed safely in Dahod, the home town of Sahaj. The next couple of weeks we will stay in touch to see if the team is still able to use all information shared in the workshop – which had been a lot in those 2 days! – and we will stand by their side to get the things moving.
Inspire with passion and love
Inspiring of the trips to India is always the fact that both parties – us, the Women on Wings team, and the business partners – love to do what we do and know exactly why we are doing it: creating sustainable jobs and income for women to increase their livelihood. And the best of it is that we share our knowledge but that the – always very eager – teams at the business partners inspire us with their love and passion for their mission.
Already looking forward to follow-up with the Sahaj team on all aspects of branding & communications. The goal is clear: growing the number of women working in arts & crafts in Gujarat.
Karen de Loos
Expert Branding & Communications
