Thereareseveralover-the-topapplicationsontheInternetlikevideochatthatareusedbymillionsof peoplegloballyfor long-distancevisualcommunicationtodaythatconnectsemotionally.Acomputerwithahigh-speedbroadbandcon-nectionisanecessarytooltousethisapplication.

BackgroundWiththeintroductionof 3Gand4Gtelephony-thatgivesbroadbandaccessandmobility-in India,thereis greatpotentialtobridgetheprevailingdigitaldividein thiscountry.Themostoptimisticforecastspredictasubscriptionbase

! I

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

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.

. 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:

I Fig.2 I ReachingouttotheTargetAudience

Vanmassawarenessprogramme

0

> Tocreatea buzzaboutinthevillagesthroughvanpromotions

> Targetedatallvillagers

00 Consumeractivation

Communitycontact programmeprogramme

> ToreachallthosewhoserelativesareinDelhi

> Toreinforcethecommunicationmessagethroughcommunitymeetings

> TargetedatthosefamilieswhoserelativeshavemigratedtoDelhi

> TonarrowdowntothefinalusersofvideotelephonyPCDs

> Toinduceaction-makingvideocallsthroughhouseholdvisits

> Targetedatendusers

Targetaudience

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.

.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

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?