Chai-Fi

Background

India was home to the second largest population of manual labourers in the world. Workers toiled for 16-17 hours a day just to make ends meet. The tiring nature of their work barely left space in their lives for anything else. Away from their families, friends and social circle, these workers led a hard life with little joy or happiness.

Idea

To address this issue, Chakra Tea launched an initiative called Chai-Fi, to bring moments of joy to workers’ tea-breaks by adding Wi-Fi. (The word ‘chai’ means ‘tea’ in Hindi.) Not just any Wi-Fi but Wi-Fi powered by tea.

This was achieved through an innovative tea kettle that generated energy when it boiled. The kettle was distributed to popular tea stalls and the Wi-Fi generated was made available to workers for free. They used it to watch favourite videos, listen to music, catch up with sport and the news and even to get in touch with family elsewhere.

Results

100 tea kettles distributed, 10,000 lives touched.

Our Thoughts

I know this is a stunt and that it’s small scale but I still love it because it seems to me to sum up how purpose-led marketing needs to concentrate on the benefit of the benefit of the benefit. Bear with me. Tea is refreshing, that’s a benefit. A tea that refreshes you so you experience a lift, that’s the benefit of the benefit. A tea that gives you a lift so you begin to feel more connected to the world, more hopeful of your chances within it, that’s a benefit of a benefit of a benefit.

And that’s what this idea seems to me to be about. It acknowledges that many people own smartphones as symbols of hope. But then it gives them the means to share experiences, to have a laugh, to feel positive. And then who knows what you might not do?