Skymet Weather makes history with #HelpTheFarmer initiative

The only private weather forecasting agency in India, Skymet Weather came up with a special campaign highlighting the hurdles a typical farmer has to face in a country like India.

The only private weather forecasting agency in India, Skymet Weather came up with a special campaign highlighting the hurdles a typical farmer has to face in a country like India.

The four minute video reveals the plight of a poor farmer family, narrated from the perspective of the daughter of the house, Dhuniya. Like all farmers, her father works day and night for a high yield in the future. The video depicts the constant fear in the minds of farmer families in India. Dhuniya, insecure for her father, follows him to his farm every day before going to school to ensure that he is safe.

The little girl understands the plight of her father and is deeply concerned about his well-being. She fears that her father might do what so many other farmers have done, commit suicide to escape the misery of another crop failure. Her doubt turns into belief when one day she sees a big coil of rope in the verandah of her house. Fearing the worst, she hides the rope under a rug. The trauma of a small little girl fearing that she'd soon lose her father is quite moving.

Discovering that the rope is missing from where she kept it, Dhuniya runs to her father at his farm. She breaks down when she sees him throwing the rope over a branch of a tree but discovers later that he was just trying to put together a tube swing for her.

This video is a clear representation of the trauma and fear, farmer families have to go through. They live with a constant fear of losing their loved ones who also happen to be the sole bread earners of the family in many cases.

From this campaign, it is very evident that there is beauty in simplicity. This video showcases the sorry state of farmers in India. Unfavourable weather conditions, extreme poverty, ever increasing debts and often responsibilities of a family, have forced many farmers in India to end their lives. Their living conditions are hopeless and they are often forced to go through a lot of stress, trauma and depression due to weather conditions which are beyond everyone's control.

Rohit Singh, Digital Marketing Manager, Skymet said 'In our country, agriculture contributes over 14% of GDP. Thus, we at Skymet Weather, have taken a pledge to help the farmers and nation's economy by creating a portal which provides accurate and timely weather forecast in multiple regional languages.'

The campaign took off on Twitter on August 19, 2015 and saw tremendous response making it trend on number one for over 6 hours. The campaign managed to create over 73 million impressions reaching out to over 1,900 users in over 11,000 conversations.

On the huge success of the campaign on Twitter, Nikita Kapoor Khurana, Brand Strategy Director - Digital, RK Swamy BBDO said 'We planned this campaign considering the fact that Farmer Suicides is a very grave issue in India. A lot of farmers are losing their lives and uncertain weather is also one of the key reasons. Basis this issue we creatively portrayed a story of a little girl and her love for her father. The film is promoted exclusively on digital media and we are delighted to see the response. Our campaign #Helpthefarmer trended on Twitter for more than 6 hours at number one position; also the reach we got in just one day was more than 8.6 million.'

Ankur Suman,Senior Brand Design Director and Rashmi Ambastha, Brand Design Director said 'Mostly it's only after a farmer commits suicide; the outrage happens. But, living a life, where every day you are gripped with fear is also equally heart-rending. Based on this insight, the film has been given a treatment so real that it seems like a page from the farmer's life. The idea was to focus on the cause and the thought, where the brand becomes only the voice for the cause.'

The film has been directed by Atul Manjrekar of Anonymous Films, and produced by Smitha Baliga. Pankaj Kumar (the cinematographer for Haider) shot the film. Lyrics penned by Pankaj Bora. The background score, which plays a vital role, was created by the ace music director, Rajat Dholakia, and Ronita Banerjee, a contestant on Indian Idol Junior sung the song.

Watch this space to know more about the campaign. You can also follow Skymet on Facebook , Twitter, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn