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Thereareseveralover-the-topapplicationsontheInternetlikevideochatthatareusedbymillionsof peoplegloballyfor long-distancevisualcommunicationtodaythatconnectsemotionally.Acomputerwithahigh-speedbroadbandcon-nectionisanecessarytooltousethisapplication.
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BackgroundWiththeintroductionof 3Gand4Gtelephony-thatgivesbroadbandaccessandmobility-in India,thereis greatpotentialtobridgetheprevailingdigitaldividein thiscountry.Themostoptimisticforecastspredictasubscriptionbase
! I
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ofabout350millionwirelessbroadbandsubscribersby2015.Thisstill leavesaboutabillionpeoplewithnoaccesstohigh-speedInternetservices.
Researchindicateda needfor long-distance,socialcommunicationchannelsamongstthepeopleat thebaseof thepyramid.Thereis significantmigrationofpeoplefromruralareastourbanlocationsforlivelihood,skillenhancementoreducation.Forsuchpeople,continuouselectricitysupply,maintenanceofcomput-ers,spaceandtheminimumlevelofcompetenceneededtomanagetheseassetsarebarrierstotheadoptionofweb-basedapplications.Sofar,thesepeoplehavehadtorelyonlong-distancetelephonecallsasthesolemeansofcommunication.
3Gtechnology,deployedforyearsaroundtheworld,hasthepotentialto meetthisrequirementofvisualcommunications.Currently,itsglobaluptakeisbeingdrivenbytheneedformobilebroadband.Currently,thereareno"killerapplica-tions"forbaseofpyramidsegment(BoP)duetocomputerliteracy,languageandculturalbarriers.3Ghasthepotentialtobeusedforvariousapplicationsintheformofbothvoiceanddata.Despitethelaunchof3Gservices,theacquisitioncostofthistechnologybytheBoPconsumerisveryhighas:
. Bothpersonsusingthistechnologyneedtohave3Gdevices.
. Bothpersonsneedtoactivate3Gservicesontheirphone.whichhavehightariffs.
phvivnewi1
MJtheus;
Figvid
Hence,allequipmentmanufacturersandtelecomserviceprovidershavebeenworkingondevelopinga viablebusinessmodelthatwouldput thistechnol-ogywithinthereachofthemasses.EricssonIndiaPvt.Ltd.approachedMARTin2010toconceiveanddevelopa newbusinessmodelaroundsharedvideotelephonyusingtheexistingPublicCallOffice(PCO)footprintinthecountryfortaking3Gservicesto ruralmarkets.
Marketing Challenges
Thefollowingwerethemarketingchallengesfacedwithrespecttoimplementa-tionof3Gservicesinruralmarkets:
.Affordability.Veryhighperceivedandexperiencedacquisitioncostof 3Gtechnology..Awareness.Lowlevelofawarenessaboutapplicationsof3Ganditsben-efits..Availability.Thenecessaryequipmentmaynot beeasilyavailable..Accessibility.At thetime of the initiationof the study,onlyBSNUMTNLhad
thelicenceto provide3Gservicesandtheirnewnetworksbeingdeployedwereavailableonlyuptodistricttowns.
The MART Approach
MARTfolloweda three-stepapproachto overcomethesechallengesandachievethebusinessobjectives:
1.Research.It studiedtheprofileof PCOusersandanalysedtheirtelecomusagebehaviour.
2. Strategy.It designeda pilotfor testingandassessingvideotelephonyforthelow-incomemasses.
3. PilotImplementation.It demonstratedtherelevanceandutilityofvideotelephonytomeettheemotionalneedsofmassesand,intheprocess,gen-erateanewbusinessopportunityforPCOowners.
The Business ModelThereisadefiniteneedforavisualcommunicationchannelintheBoPmarket.
ThePCOwhichheraldedthetelecomrevolutionin India30 yearsagois nowasunsetindustry.Thisis dueto thehighpenetrationof mobilecommunica-tion,whichisslowlywipingoutPCOs.MostPCOshavestarteddiversifyinginto
Th
ThEsue
1.
2.
3.
Thediertob
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hotocopying,mobilesalesand/orrepair,saleof rechargecoupons,etc.tosur-ive.It isonlythelow-incomegroupthatstillusespcastomakecalls.Thebusi-essisnotbooming,butisstillrelevant.pca ownerswerewillingtoexperimentlithnewtechnology,hopingforanewopportunitytodrawbackcustomers.
IART'sresearchreinforcedtwoinsights-theneedforvisualcommunicationsinIeBoPsegmentandtheadoptabilityof thepca boothasaplatformforsharedsage.EricssonIndiaPvt.Ltd.gavethegoaheadto projectAamneSaamne.igure1showsthestepsMARTusedtoconvertpca shopsintoAamneSaamnedeobooths.
I Fig.1 I ConvertingpcastoAamneSaamneVideoBooths
Handsetselection
---v--
[ Collaterals(Creatives)
~
he Communication Campaign
IemarketingcommunicationcampaignwascrucialinmakingthisconceptaIccess.MARTusedathree-prongedstrategyforthiscommunication:
Categoryneedawareness.Createanemotionalconnectforthemigrantmenwhooftenmisstheirfamiliesandlovedones
Givingvideotelephonyas oneof thesolutionforthatneed.Demon-stratethetechnologyasameanstofill uptheiremotionalvacuumBrandIntroduction.Visualandremindermediumto inducemigrantstotrythetechnology
IeaccompanyingvideoshowshowMARTuseditslearningfromthetargetau-mcetodevelopthecommunicationstrategyandimplementthispilotprojectbringthedesiredbehaviourchange.
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. LaunchingthePCOforVideoTelephony- Merchandisingthe PCOto raiseexistingcustomer'sinquisitiveness.
Create'talkoftown'amongthetargetaudience- ForcommunicationatthePCO(pCObackdrops,danglers,standees,posters)
. EducatingthePCOcustomersandtargetpopulation- Posterswithdifferentthemes(twotypesoneshowingwifefromvillage
talkingto hishusbandinmetroandotherparentsfromvillageto soninmetroandthirdposterhavingall addressesof videoboothsI.e.callofactiontomakecall)
- Leafletswithaddressesofbooths&benefitsofvideotelephoneapplicationastakeawayswhichpeoplecankeepintheirshirt'spocket
MARTdevelopedfivetypesofcollaterals:leaflets,posters,standees,bannersanddanglers.Themessage/punchlinesweredevelopedto:
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I Fig.2 I ReachingouttotheTargetAudience
Vanmassawarenessprogramme
0
> Tocreatea buzzaboutinthevillagesthroughvanpromotions
> Targetedatallvillagers
00 Consumeractivation
Communitycontact programmeprogramme
> ToreachallthosewhoserelativesareinDelhi
> Toreinforcethecommunicationmessagethroughcommunitymeetings
> TargetedatthosefamilieswhoserelativeshavemigratedtoDelhi
> TonarrowdowntothefinalusersofvideotelephonyPCDs
> Toinduceaction-makingvideocallsthroughhouseholdvisits
> Targetedatendusers
Targetaudience
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Scale and Result
Thetotaldurationof pilot implementationwasfour months,fromresearchto pilotimplementation.Thescaleof thepilotwaseightPCDs-fourin Delhi(clusterswheremostof themigrantsfromBegusarai,Biharlive),andfourinBegusarai,Bihar.Thefollowingresultswereachievedthroughthisproject:.Understandingtheusageandattitudeofpeopletowardscommunication.Understandingtheneedforsocialcommunicationsat thebaseof pyramid
anditspotentialmarket.Demonstratingtheuseofvideotelephonyboothsasviablebusinessmodel
Table1capturestherelevantstatisticsregardingtheoutcomesoftheproject.
Aboveallelse,withthehelpof3Gtechnology,thispilotbroughtabouta changeinthebehaviourofmigrantsfromBiharintermsofcommunicationmodes.Thisprojectwonthenationalruralmarketingawardin 2010 fromRuralMarketingAssociationofIndiaintheICTcategory.
Inconclusion,videotelephonyis thelowesthangingopportunityfor3Gserviceprovidersacrosstheglobeto improvethepenetrationof technologyin theBoPsegment,thus,renderingit a potentialserviceforadoptionbythemasses.Thebusinessmodelwillcontinuetorevolvearoundsharedusage.Thispilotshowcasesaproofpointforallstakeholdersinvolved-policymakers,serviceproviders,ruralentrepreneurs,andtheecosystematlarge.
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.introducea solutionto the need,Le.,to be ableto seethepersontheyare
talkingon phone---PehleSirfBaal,Ab PhoneParHiMulaqaat,
. detailthe benefitsof the applicationin a simpleandeasy-to-understandmanner-BaalKameKiKhushiDikhayiDeAbPhonePar,and
. avoidpeoplemisunderstandingthisservicefrommobileinsteadoffrompca
boothsandcountervillagers'perceptionsaboutnewtechnologybeingcos~y
and unaffordable---PCOSe KijiyeapnonSe MulaqaalBSNUMTNLKecallDaronPar.
MARTusedothercommunicationprogrammesaswell(seeFig.2).Theseincluded:
. Promotionusingamobilepublicaddresssystem
. Cycle-rickshawpromotion
. Communitymeetings
. One-to-onehouseholdmeetings
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I Table1 I TheReachoftheAamneSaamnePilot
Reach Number
Peoplecontactedthroughthepromotionalcampaign
Totaldemocallsmade
Callsmade(Behaviourchange)
Totalcalls made
2,355
392
127
519
Discussion Questions
1. Whatwerethekeybarriersto theadoptionof 3Gservices?Howdidthisprojectachievetheacceptanceofanewconcept?
2. WhywerePCDstargetedinthismodelasthedeliverychannel?"Therolloutof3GservicescanrevivethePCDbusinessinruralIndia..Giveargumentsinfavourofandagainstthisstatement.
3. Whattriggeredthe actualbehaviourchange?Whichcommunicationap-proacheswereeffectiveinbringingaboutthischange?Whf?
4. Whatcouldbetheotherpossibleruraldeliverychannelsthatcouldbeusedfordeliveringvideotelephonyservices?