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MUMBAI: City based college National Institute of Industrial Engineering (Nitie) from Mumbai beat out the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad to win the Lessons in Marketing Excellence initiative organised by CNBC TV18 and HUL. The initiative which took place over several months gave the opportunity to B Schools to deal with real world issues.
The final challenge was to create a campaign for Unique Identification (UID) that is being spearheaded by Nandan Nilekhani of the Unique Identification Authority of India. Each Indian under the initiative will have a unique number and the two teams had to create a marketing campaign that would reach out to every Indian. Nitie noted that a community based social marketing imitative was the way forward. The thing to bear in mind is that different age groups have their limitations. Adults for instance do not like thumb impressions. So behavioral changing communication is key. Kids can be targeted using posters, stickers and cartoon strips.
For women the message would be that a UID would empower them. They would no longer just be influencers. To reach tribals the students advocated tying up with NGOs and health workers. Slum communication needs to involve the municipal corporations and a top down approach. It is also key to track word of mouth in general to dispel any rumours. The overarching theme of the campaign would be Mera Pehchaan Mera Vimaan. This time won on the basis of several parameters including clarity of thought and measurability of solution.
The judges were Hindustan Unilever executive firector, HPC Opal Vittal, HUL executive director, foods Shrijeet Mishra, . Rama Bijapurkar, an Author and thought leader on Market Strategy and Consumer Issues in India, Ad filmmaker turned director of Paa and Cheeni Kum, R. Balki and CNBC Awaaz editor Sanjay Pugalia.
The theme of the campaign that IIM Ahmedabad proposed was Pehchaan Ek Fayda Anekh. They noted that in rural areas child benefit is high on the list of parents? priorities. This could be used to push UID. In urban areas one could do several things like celebrity campaigns, celebrity UID days. They also advocated an Each One Preach One initiative. This would involve having a rich person talk to somebody who is poor like a rickshaw driver and inform him of UID and its benefits. Interestingly the team also said that of they just had Rs. 100 to spend they would start with pamphlets.
Nilekhani expressed his appreciation of the effort that went in by both the teams. ?We can use these suggestions. The UID will allow for better delivery of services and cerate equal opportunities.? Another expert noted that there was a disconnect between the campaigns presented and the actual reality of those living below the poverty line. Ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar felt that the programmes need to be more proactive. Television and posters may be enough to reach those who are below the poverty line which is around 240 million. Sam Balsara noted the enormity of the task that lies before Nilekhani. Many people are media dark. ?It will be a task to reach people not exposed to media. Also the brand name is a key communication point. So UID needs to be re-branded as another name.? It was also suggested that mobile phones could be used as a marketing tool. So one cannot buy a mobile phone or a Sim card unless one has UID.
