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HUL’s Marketing Initiatives in Rural India

1. Clinic Plus Jatra
What is a jatra? A jatra is a 400-year-old form of traditional folk-theatre from WB.

The marketing process: The Clinic Plus Jatra program was started in October 2008. Here, brand communication is integrated into the story of the play, keeping in mind the local culture. The Jatra is publicized through extensive van or cycle promotions in very small villages. All merchandise carry Clinic Plus branding. The biggest attraction for the villagers is the performance of their favorite local stars in the Jatra. The celebrities add local nuances to the brand’s message of how Clinic plus protects your hair from “dirt, dust and pollution.”

The result: The Jatra takes the Clinic Plus message to more than 500 central villages in and around West Bengal. Each show attracts an audience of 5,000 to 1.4 lakh people. The Jatra has given the brand exposure to a core target audience of 35 lakh.

2. Lifebuoy Haat
What is a haat? A haat is essentially the rural equivalent of an
urban hypermarket.

The activation: To communicate the message of health and hygiene, Lifebuoy set up stalls at central locations in a haat and organized games embedded with health messages, such as the ‘Lifebuoy Swasthya Pariwar jigsaw puzzle.’ All visitors were then informed about a movie screening to be held in the evening.

The result: About 4 lakh people who were otherwise unreachable by conventional media were touched over a period of one and a half months.

3. Project Shakti
What is Project Shakti? HUL’s Project Shakti, started in 2001, is a rural initiative that targets villages of less than 5,000 individuals. It’s a win-win initiative that enhances rural affluence while benefiting business.

The impact: The Shakti Entrepreneur (SE) program of Project Shakti creates livelihood opportunities for underprivileged rural women, while the Shakti Vani (SV) program improves quality of life by spreading health and hygiene awareness.

The result: There are over 45,000 Shakti entrepreneurs covering over 100,000 villages across 15 states; they reach out to over 3 million homes.

©Entrepreneur April 2010

Tags:
Boyce, Clinic Plus Jatra, FMCG, Godrej, grassroot, Hindustan Unilever, HUL, India Inc, Kamal Nandi, Lifebuoy Haat, marketing, Mawana Sugars, Project Shakti, Rural, Surjya Meher