Rural Marketing Case
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Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers
Q-Connect: Reaching Rural Customers with Assam Mobile Theatre
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Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers
VIK-16-0067.R1 Case Features
Rural Advertising, Event-based-promotions, Assam Mobile Theatre, Folk Media Realizing the potential of Assam Mobile Theatre, w hich has emerged as the most popular entertainment media option in Assam, Q-Connect has developed a sponsorship business model which helps brands in reaching to rural customers in Assam. After establishing the business of Q-Connect in partnership with about 40 theatre companies in Assam, its CEO - Dinesh Sibal is now looking to expand operations. He has to take decision about choosing an option of vertical or horizontal expansion. The case provides understanding about the way folk media options can be channelized by brands and important issues in implementation of event-based promotions.
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Dinesh Sibal, CEO of Q-Connect, was reading his mails on his laptop after returning back to his hotel room in Guwahati. He was in Guwahati for his regular monthly meeting with field team. One of the mails was from marketing manager of a leading consumer durables company dealing in kitchen utensils and appliances. The company wanted to use Q-Connect network to carry out demonstrations and sales of its products for its target customers in Assam. Dinesh Sibal was pleased as this was the first instance of a company reaching out to him for using Q-Connect network. He wanted to share the good news with his colleague Gulancha Baruah with whom he had built this network. Dinesh Sibal’s Background in Advertising Business
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Dinesh Sibal was born in a Punjabi family in Delhi, which was into business of printing presses. He joined family business and developed keen interest in understanding the technology and management of printing business. His understanding of technology and its role in printing business, along with a creative mindset, saw him getting inclined towards advertising field. Dinesh Sibal met Ajit Shah, branch manager in Everest, (now known as Everest Brand Solutions) – a leading advertising agency – who happened to be his brother’s friend. Ajit Shah encouraged him to join advertising and suggested him to get familiar with requisite skills to mold his future in the highly competitive environment of advertising industry. He started working as a trainee in 1982 to begin his advertising journey with Everest. Dinesh Sibal’s advertising journey progressed nicely as he learnt the ropes and was soon engaged as an executive for client servicing at Everest. As Dinesh Sibal interacted with clients, he realized that he was more inclined towards strategic decisions in advertising instead of design and execution decisions. He wanted a shift in his profile and he was inducted by Aly Latif, Account Supervisor at Clarion – India’s second largest advertising agency at that time, in his department. While working with Aly Latif, he learnt the importance of research and planning for strategic decisions in advertising and gained onhand experience of carrying out research and planning activities. In 1992, he joined Mudra Communications Ltd., which made him branch manager of Chandigarh office. His hard work helped him is raising Rs. three crore (1 crore = 10 million) business within six months. However, personal family reasons compelled him to return back to Delhi where he started handling Nestle account. During his advertising career, Dinesh Sibal also trained for the advertising strategy process of DDB Needham, USA (now known as DDB Worldwide). The time spent learning the process called ROI (Relevancy, Originality and Impact) and the work culture of the world’s leading advertising agency was an enriching experience. It was during this phase, that he learnt the importance of integration of all marketing elements leading to focused brand experience and other concepts for achieving extraordinary results from advertising.
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After spending more than ten years in advertising agencies, Dinesh Sibal started a venture named Innovaxis, which helped clients in improving brands experience. Coca Cola was one of the first clients and he went to Nigeria to help Coca Cola. The company faced a peculiar problem. Coca Cola was sold by mobile vendors at traffic signals or during traffic jams in big cities where cars were stuck for quite some time. These mobile vendors often carried multiple bottles, which did not remain cold due to hot climate by the time customers
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Dinesh Sibal, CEO of Q-Connect, was reading his mails on his laptop after returning back to his hotel room in Guwahati. He was in Guwahati for his regular monthly meeting with field team. One of the mails was from marketing manager of a leading consumer durables company dealing in kitchen utensils and appliances. The company wanted to use Q-Connect network to carry out demonstrations and sales of its products for its target customers in Assam. Dinesh Sibal was pleased as this was the first instance of a company reaching out to him for using Q-Connect network. He wanted to share the good news with his colleague Gulancha Baruah with whom he had built this network. Dinesh Sibal’s Background in Advertising Business
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Dinesh Sibal was born in a Punjabi family in Delhi, which was into business of printing presses. He joined family business and developed keen interest in understanding the technology and management of printing business. His understanding of technology and its role in printing business, along with a creative mindset, saw him getting inclined towards advertising field. Dinesh Sibal met Ajit Shah, branch manager in Everest, (now known as Everest Brand Solutions) – a leading advertising agency – who happened to be his brother’s friend. Ajit Shah encouraged him to join advertising and suggested him to get familiar with requisite skills to mold his future in the highly competitive environment of advertising industry. He started working as a trainee in 1982 to begin his advertising journey with Everest. Dinesh Sibal’s advertising journey progressed nicely as he learnt the ropes and was soon engaged as an executive for client servicing at Everest. As Dinesh Sibal interacted with clients, he realized that he was more inclined towards strategic decisions in advertising instead of design and execution decisions. He wanted a shift in his profile and he was inducted by Aly Latif, Account Supervisor at Clarion – India’s second largest advertising agency at that time, in his department. While working with Aly Latif, he learnt the importance of research and planning for strategic decisions in advertising and gained onhand experience of carrying out research and planning activities. In 1992, he joined Mudra Communications Ltd., which made him branch manager of Chandigarh office. His hard work helped him is raising Rs. three crore (1 crore = 10 million) business within six months. However, personal family reasons compelled him to return back to Delhi where he started handling Nestle account. During his advertising career, Dinesh Sibal also trained for the advertising strategy process of DDB Needham, USA (now known as DDB Worldwide). The time spent learning the process called ROI (Relevancy, Originality and Impact) and the work culture of the world’s leading advertising agency was an enriching experience. It was during this phase, that he learnt the importance of integration of all marketing elements leading to focused brand experience and other concepts for achieving extraordinary results from advertising.
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After spending more than ten years in advertising agencies, Dinesh Sibal started a venture named Innovaxis, which helped clients in improving brands experience. Coca Cola was one of the first clients and he went to Nigeria to help Coca Cola. The company faced a peculiar problem. Coca Cola was sold by mobile vendors at traffic signals or during traffic jams in big cities where cars were stuck for quite some time. These mobile vendors often carried multiple bottles, which did not remain cold due to hot climate by the time customers
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purchased them. As a result, Coca Cola was not delivering on its true brand experience of giving customers a refreshing feel. Dinesh Sibal suggested technological modification in product delivery by introducing mobile cold storage container for vendors to keep the bottle chilled and serve/sell it cold, which resulted in sales improvements and better ‘brand experience’. He stayed in Africa, Middle-East, and Europe for almost nine years after which he returned to India. After coming back to India, he worked as free-lance consultant for different clients, providing his expertise on research and advertising. One of the research project pertained to evaluation of media efficiency studies about National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Assam.
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Dinesh Sibal’s Excursion into Assam
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NRHM Assam needed to evaluate impact of behavior change communication by NRHM Assam on health care patterns. Additional deliverables of study included gauging effectiveness of communications channels and content. NRHM Assam also wanted recommendations for an optimum reach program mix for health communication in Assam. Dinesh Sibal spearheaded the research team and travelled extensively in Assam for conducting qualitative and quantitative research. He made final presentations to Minister of Health and Family Welfare in Assam Government, about the findings.
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The research findings revealed that media consumption pattern was not on the lines predicted before the start of behaviour change communication campaign by NRHM Assam started. While radio commanded good listenership with majority of the t he respondents owning radios and listening to the news and songs, television viewership was restricted due to limited and erratic electricity supply. However, surprisingly, many of the respondents mentioned knowing about healthcare messages through mobile theatre though they did not receive the message through radio and television. The respondents were able to link recall of healthcare message with NRHM Assam sponsored dance drama which was shown through couple of mobile theatre companies on pilot basis. (Refer to Exhibit 1 for history and details of Assam Mobile Theatre). The 45 minute dance drama by NRHM had Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) worker as one pivotal character who provided healthcare information useful for rural viewers in Assamese language. NRHM asked Dinesh Sibal to conduct a more detailed study of mobile theatre reach and recommend it for behaviour change communication campaigns conducted by NRHM Assam. Dinesh Sibal, while researching on Assam Mobile theatre, found that there were close to forty theatre companies which traveled across Assam conducting shows. Each theatre company was stationed for three days at one place where it did two shows (sometimes a late night third show on audience demand) every day. Generally, three different story lines were prepared by each theatre company for the season, which started in mid of August and ended by mid of April next year. Each day a different story line was performed during the theatre company’s stay in one place. Typically, a show was attended by 2000-3000 people, who paid for tickets ranging from Rs. 40 to Rs. 1200. (Refer to Exhibit 2 for some photos of crowd viewing the show.) Once Dinesh Sibal understood the scope of operations, he immediately realized potential of mobile theatre in reaching to customers in Assam. He stated,
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“Assam Mobile Theatre provided an excellent opportunity for reaching to rural audience who were otherwise unreachable by traditional media. It was a medium to be tapped by brands as nobody fully understood about the huge eye-balls that this medium generated. Barring sporadic efforts by a few local brands, hardly any effort
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was made to tap this medium. If brands could integrate their message in this medium then it would help brands in making a strong impact among target audience. The research for NRHM made me realize that people remembered messages which were presented to them in their language and in entertainment form of stories. There was a need to create a story by brands, which would ensure that people remembered the brand for a long time. It appeared to me as the right medium for disseminating message to rural audience and seemed to provide a high return on investment.”
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While Dinesh Sibal was formulating his strategy for tapping Assam Mobile Theatre, he met Gulancha Baruah who was owner of Monalisha, an agency accredited with All India Radio and Doordarshan – India’s national television broadcaster. His father, Uttam Baruah was a popular Assamese language author, who had more than 25 Assamese dramas to his credit. With family background entrenched in drama, Gulancha Baruah grew up playing different roles in drama shows since his childhood. He grew under the influence of the Assamese art and culture and, in one way or another, he was connected to this inheritance for more than 30 years. Later, Gulancha Baruah started to produce and direct drama and shows in various media channels such as All India Radio and Doordarshan. While working in this field, he also plunged into advertising by helping a couple of local brands to promote themselves through banners in Assam Mobile Theatre. He also distributed LCD projectors to few theatres which were used to broadcast television commercials.
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Gulancha Baruah was quick to understand the big picture about Assam Mobile Theatre as seen by Dinesh Sibal. He realized that both of them complemented each other. Dinesh Sibal was looking for a local partner, who could build relationships with theatre owners and other key local players. Gulancha Baruah’s previous association with Assam Mobile Theatre and background of promoting brands through it gave him a good understanding of Assam market and audience (Refer to Exhibit 3 for details of Assam state). Gulancha Baruah had also found that it was hard for him to attract big brands to enter sponsorship of Assam Mobile Theatre. He accepted the operational role of local networking and execution details of the vision set by Dinesh Sibal. With background in advertising and client handling, Dinesh Sibal was in a position to approach and build relationships with brand managers. This led to formation of company named Q-Connect. Q-Connect. Setting Up Q-Connect
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Q-Connect worked out a business model, which involved brands sponsoring theatre companies in return for communicating brand message to theatre audience. Brands could benefit by running their television commercials to captive audience before the show started. Additionally, brands could also get exposure by putting up banners and displaying their name on kapaali1 at show venue. It also envisaged high visibility for brands by incorporating brand’s name in posters and hoardings, which were used by theatre companies to promote their shows. Theatre companies, for the support extended by them, would be paid sponsorship amount.
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Once the broad contours of business model were worked out, Q-Connect faced two main challenges of getting the theatre companies and brands onboard. The first challenge was to persuade all theatre owners to be a part of sponsorship business model. Theatre owners needed to be explained about the benefits which they could gain by joining hands
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with Q-Connect. The owners also needed to be convinced that it would not compromise the image of theatre’s name. Dinesh Sibal and Gulancha Baruah started approaching theatre owners with the business model of sponsorship. Gulancha Baruah’s background in theatre and being son of Uttam Baruah, whose plays had been adopted by theatre companies, helped in gaining a favourable audience with theatre owners. After reaching out to few theatre companies, Krishna Roy, owner of Abahan Theatre (based in Pathsala) - one of the oldest and highly reputed theatre of Assam – decided to come aboard. Soon, Kohinoor Theatre – another big player in Assam Mobile Theatre - joined hands. As the words spread about two big players coming on board, acceptance of sponsorship business model became easier and all other theatre companies agreed to it. Theatre companies saw value in it as sponsorship business model planned to give them hoardings, posters, kapaali and banners free of cost, besides a significant sponsorship amount. Since theatre companies did not own LCD projector for showing commercials, Q-Connect decided to provide it free of cost.
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After getting in-principle agreement with theatre owners, Q-Connect started approaching different companies for showing them potential of Assam Mobile Theatre. For reaching out to companies, the company sent e-mailers, which highlighted the unparalleled reach of Assam Mobile Theatre. (Refer to Exhibit 4 for the e-mailers developed by QConnect.) Dinesh Sibal made corporate presentations in which he described the associated benefits and packages to the brands in communicating brand message using Assam Mobile Theatre. The first two clients were Airtel and Parle. Airtel came aboard in 2011 as they wanted to communicate about change of logo to their target audience. Airtel signed contract with Q-Connect in which they agreed for sponsorship of four theatres. Once these clients were tied up, Q-Connect made exclusive contracts with theatre companies to become their sole agents for dealing with advertising and promotions in theatre company’s premises where shows were held. Later on other companies like ITC (for its Bingo brand), SBI, Vodafone, NRHM, Aircel and Life Insurance Corporation also signed with Q-Connect. While engaging with clients, sometimes Q-Connect had to deal with local offices and in other cases, it had to reach out to their head offices in different metro cities of India.
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Communicating to Rural Customers
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When Q-Connect was conceptualized, apart from Gulancha Baruah’s experience of using banners for local brands and LCD projectors for television commercials, hardly any insight was available to Q-Connect for using Assam Mobile Theatre for communicating to rural customers. In order to plan out branding opportunities, Q-Connect followed the Aperture Concept of advertising. 2 The process of discovery for theatre property which could be commercially exploited, led them to identify five areas to place advertising. These five areas were (a) Inside walls of tent, (b) Stage of theatre, (c) Outside tent but inside theatre premises, (d) Outside ticket counter area, and (e) Catchment area of audience. Accordingly, the company worked out a number of options for advertising purposes. Table 1 lists the different advertising options for the five areas identified through Aperture Concept. Q-Connect started detailing out branding options by allocating space on hoardings, posters and kapaali for brand. Space in hoardings and posters were allocated for theatre show and brand in the ratio 60:40. Q-Connect offered it as value for money offer for brands
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as 40 percent space provided good visibility for brand. (Refer to Exhibit 5 for photos of cobranded hoarding and poster.) Brands could advertise on kapaali in a way similar to advertising done by brands on sides of newspaper name ( Exhibit 6 shows a photo of kapaali with brand’s logo). Table 1: Different advertising options identified by Aperture Concept Area for advertising placement Inside walls of tent Stage of theatre
Advertising Options
Banners Stage Curtains Video Commercials In-script mention of brand Exclusive Drama within Drama of 8 minutes duration Outside tent but inside theatre premises Kapaali branding Promotions Contests Demos/Sampling/Vending Outside ticket counter area Posters Three-sided glow signs Catchment area of audience Van activity Hoardings Posters Source: Prepared by authors based on inputs from Q-Connect
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As brands started using Assam Mobile Theatre for communicating with rural customers, Q-Connect worked with the brands to enhance the depth of their reach. It monitored in-ground implementation and provided feedback on success and failure stories. For example, it asked one of the companies to translate the video commercials in Assamese language as ground team conveyed the information about lack of understanding for commercials in non-Assamese language. Q-Connect also experimented with newer advertising options and once their efficacy was validated, it was made available to brands. (Refer to Exhibit 7 for photos of inflatable balloons and ticket counter branding which were added later.) Q-Connect realized that brands will choose various advertising options based on their requirements. For the same, it labeled different advertising options into three categories. The first category involved branding activities where companies could choose for sponsorship (pre-identified set of branding privileges), or additional branding packages or could make a la-carte choice from individual advertising activities. (Refer to Exhibit 8 for list of branding privileges under sponsorship available for 2015 season.) The second category entitled brands to take up demonstrations, sampling and promotions through stalls at the venue. In the third category, brands could take up extension activities through van activity within a radius of 30 km around the venue.
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Airtel asked Q-Connect for sponsorship and additional video commercials to announce change of logo. ITC (for its brand Bingo – Mad Angles and Tangles) opted for sponsorship and additional video commercials, inflatable balloons, three-sided glow signs, and screen banners. (Refer to Exhibit 9 for photos of three-sided glow signs and screen
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banners.) Parle used mix of theatre sponsorship, and van activity in areas peripheral to show venue for enhancing its brand experience. (Refer to Exhibit 10 for photos of van activities.) Evolution of Q-Connect
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As Q-Connect added more clients who were willing to employ Assam Mobile Theatre, it started growing as an organization. After working with 22 theatre companies in 2014, it was able to get sponsorship from different brands for 28 theatre companies in 2015. Q-Connect also evolved a system of classifying theatre companies into three categories which formed the basis of sponsorship payments. (Refer to Exhibit 11 for theatre classification system developed by Q-Connect.) It also added sales activities to its set of services offered to cli ents. Q-Connect also received repeat business from many brands like Mad Angles, Classmate, and SBI. In order to coordinate with clients based in different cities, it appointed people in Delhi and Kolkata, who were called Information Managers and supported Dinesh Sibal in dealing with clients. Gulancha Baruah officiated as Chief Operating Officer, based in Guwahati, where he was assisted by team consisting of Monitoring Coordinator, Sales Coordinator, and Stock Coordinator. Apart from office staff, close to eighty people worked in field. (Refer to Exhibit 12 for organizational chart of Q-Connect.) Even though field staff had been assigned certain key roles to perform, most of the people ended up doing multitasking.
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The three key functions in the organization are performed by Monitoring Coordinator, Stock Coordinator, and Sales Coordinator. Monitoring Coordinator collects data by recording details about locations and number of visitors to the theatre. He also coordinates with Q-Connect field staff and theatre staff to collect images of performance and brand display, which have to be submitted to clients. (Refer to Exhibit 13 for monitoring format used by Q-Connect.) Stock Coordinator keeps in touch with field staff to track the daily sales of product stocks. Accordingly, he gets in touch with branch offices of clients and coordinates with local stockists – present in the location where the theatre company holds the show – to ensure availability of stocks for sales. With sales activities becoming important, van operations had became crucial for QConnect success. Before every show, Q-Connect van, along with staff of three persons, visited the theatre to organize their advertising activities such as placing billboards, banners, entry gates, kiosks etc. in and around tent. After putting up the advertising materials, they visit the catchment area for van-based promotions of brand in which they also make announcements about theatre show. During the show, they take up selling of brands’ merchandise inside the tent. (Refer to Exhibit 14 for photos of Q-Connect staff selling merchandise.) They generally stay with the theatre team during three days of its performance wherein food and lodging is provided by the theatre company. They also coordinate with Guwahati office of Q-Connect during visit of people from brand’s office who come to theatre shows to understand the on-ground work of Q-Connect. The sales work is supervised by Sales Coordinator who often visits them to motivate them and help them in achieving their sales targets. Dinesh Sibal stated,
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“Our field team is crucial to our operations. Apart from fixing advertising at theatre tents, their role is important in ensuring that customers’ have a pleasant experience with brand. Accordingly, I have designed an incentive system wherein all margins from the sales of merchandise go to field staff and sales coordinator. I always tell them – nothing in the pocket and nothing out of the pocket.”
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Dinesh Sibal realized that sustaining Q-Connect required offering high quality services to its clients. It also needed to create long term relationships with brands for them to come back to Q-Connect. For the same, Q-Connect often undertook research, designing, recommendation, collecting and providing feedback, and other supportive activities – without demanding any financial benefits - for brands so that brand’s message could reach in a deeper, interactive and effective manner. One of the guidelines given to field staff was to ensure that there should be no ambush marketing attempts by competitors of the brands with which Q-Connect had a tie-up.
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Dinesh Sibal knew it very well that business thrived when there was trust among all members of ecosystem including brands, theatres, local partners and Q-Connect employees. For the same, he never asked for advanced payments from clients once the client signed. He believed in showing the working of sponsorship model for one month, after which the invoices were raised. He considered it important that Q-Connect provided mutual benefits for all members of ecosystem. He saw it as ideology of Q-Connect.
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Challenges Faced by Q-Connect
Implementing the ideology of Q-Connect was not an easy task - as organization faced a number of challenges. Its first set of challenge emanated from reaching out to product managers of different brands for using Assam Mobile Theatre as an effective option. Although Assam has a lot of potential for sales in many product categories, it remained low in priority for advertising spend and consequently advertising money allocated to Assam was significantly less in many product categories. With limited budget, most of the media planners chose traditional options of newspaper and television advertisements while planning for Assam. Secondly, Q-Connect dealt with number of theatre companies, it needed to ensure that the theatre companies saw value in fulfilling the commitments made under sponsorship deal signed with Q-Connect. For example, Hengool Theatre Company, after making all the commitments and signing the contract for sponsorship deal with Q-Connect, denied permission to paste brand logo on kapaali. This led Dinesh Sibal and Gulancha Baruah to detail out penalty clauses for non-fulfillment of promises. Also, as each theatre company had a different working style, legal standardization of contracts was a challenge as Q-Connect did not want to be seen as providing additional privileges to any particular theatre company. As the set of activities increased with a large number of brands and theatre companies coming on board, Q-Connect faced challenges in execution prior to beginning of theatre season in mid-August. Production of different types of advertising materials required detailed planning and coordination with offices of brands and theatre companies. Time management became crucial to accomplish timely delivery of advertising materials as multiple theatres started their show at different location. As theatre companies continued to have their shows on daily basis, without any interruptions on account of rains or inclement weather, Q-Connect could not delay dispatch of materials if it received requests from its staff or theatre companies about replacement of damaged advertising materials. Though QConnect owned two vehicles for quick delivery of advertising materials, delivery to faraway locations in hilly terrain made transportation tough to handle.
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Q-Connect’s fourth set of challenges was with respect to its employees. Employee’s educational qualifications along with limited exposure to outside world and exposure of working in only rural environment, made it difficult for them to execute plan and achieve higher sales. Additionally, continuous travel and late working due to night shows of theatre required commitment from field team for Q-Connect to deliver its promise to brands. Often, finding the team member who showed the right attitude and commitment proved to be difficult.
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Sometimes, Q-Comment also faced on ground objection from local communities. Though Q-Connect was the sole agents for dealing with advertising and promotions in theatre company’s premises where shows were held, local business players tried to exploit theatre shows at unfair cost. Q-Connect had to often accommodate such requests where it lost out on monetary compensation.
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Looking Ahead
Having established in linking Assam Mobile Theatre with brands, Dinesh Sibal was thinking of further growth. He wondered if Q-Connect should take a path of vertical or horizontal expansion. Assam had a rich tradition of different festivals, including Bihu3. These festivals, which saw community participation, presented an opportunity for Q-Connect to connect brands with local people. Organizers of cultural and other types of events (like sports competitions) were also looking for raising additional revenues, as money raised from these events was used for community purposes. Dinesh Sibal and Gulancha Baruah saw them as an attractive opportunity for expansion in Assam through its sponsorship business model. Q-Connect could help the brands in achieving hyper-local targeting using festivals and events.
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While facing these challenges, Q-Connect was clear that it would not take up advertising of political parties or surrogate advertising for liquor products. Q-Connect officials realized that audience for theatre shows did not show class and income divide. The audience coming to the theatre show was sample of the demographics of the particular region. Even late night shows, whenever they were held, saw presence of women in large numbers. Given the cosmopolitan profile of audience, Q-Connect did not want to offend the family values or political ideology.
Dinesh Sibal was aware about importance of horizontal expansions as the opportunity was present. After using Assam Mobile Theatre, Dinesh Sibal was aware of similar opportunities in other states of India where other traditional media options were prominent. (Refer to Exhibit 15 for an illustrative list of folk media options in other states of India.) While some efforts had been made to commercially use these folk media options, there was no systematic effort to tie up all players present in the state. Dinesh Sibal wondered if he could replicate the success of Assam Mobile Theatre in Bengal, neighbouring Assam, where Jatra was the common folk media. (Refer to Exhibit 16 for a short note on Jatra.)
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While Dinesh Sibal had started thinking about future growth options, he was yet to take a decision on way forward. Amidst the deliberations, he was happy to receive the request from a leading consumer durable company for reaching out to customers in Assam using Assam Mobile Theatre. However, he wanted to be sure about possibility of sale of durable products like pressure cooker through Assam Mobile Theatre before he replied back to company representatives. He recalled the incidence when advertising of cream biscuits launched by a leading FMCG player did not work out well. This happened as the target audience, comprising 5-10 year olds, were not present in large numbers during shows.
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Dinesh Sibal realized that decision to deal with sales of consumer durables category will also have implications for expansion decisions. He made a note to sit with Gulancha Baruah and discuss the issue in detail before he proceeded further.
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Exhibit 1: History and Details of Assam Mobile Theatre
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Assam Mobile Theatre has a remarkable long journey of more than 50 years. It was founded in 1963 when Achyut Lakhar started his travelling theatre company, named Natraj, which was inspired from travelling Jatra troupes (refer to Exhibit 16 for details on Jatra). The term ‘Mobile Theatre’ was introduced in late 1960s by social worker Radha Govinda Barua after watching a play in Guwahati (Assam). It has emerged as a major source of entertainment in Assam for both urban as well as rural audiences. In 2015, more than 40 Mobile Theatres Companies are operating in Assam and they cover all 27 districts doing shows.
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Assam Mobile Theatre is a major source of entertainment medium with reach to almost 5 crore viewers. The shows produced by different theatre companies have very high production value which draws audience to the show. The audience for the shows is cosmopolitan and it watches the shows together irrespective of class, income, and religion divisions. Even high profile persons, which include ministers and senior civil servants along other dignitaries, sit with general public in audience and enjoy shows. These shows last for two and half hours generally and are produced in Assamese language. Sometimes, theatre companies show ‘drama in drama’ program of 8-10 minutes before the show starts. These ‘drama in drama’ programs are produced using folk dance and music and are presented as additional feature to enhance the entertainment of viewers.
F o r P e e r R e v i e w
The dramas shown by theatre companies have varying themes comprising of mythology, socio-cultural and moral issues. The themes are not only limited to their local context but also include national and international context. These theatres have also adapted world famous plays, novels, epics, and films in Assamese language and cover wide range of subjects. Theatre companies have presented shows on Indian classics (like Mahabharat and Ramayan) as well as Greek tragedies (Odyssey) and Shakespeare’s dramas (Hamlet, Othello). They have also adapted movies like Titanic, Jurassic Park for stage performance. Some of the drama shows have been developed to include latest current affair topics like Osama-bin-Laden’s kamikaze attack on the twin towers of world trade center, life and assassination of Benazir Bhutto, hijack of Indian Airlines flight of IC-814 from Kathmandu to Kandahar. During these shows, advance modern technologies were used by various theatre companies to deliver high production value for viewers. Often, these innovations, like sinking of Titanic and use of laser technology, turn out to be surprise packages, which help in mesmerizing the audience and providing high degree of entertainment. Many well-known actors of Assamese cinema also perform in theatres. Jatin Bora, known as Shahrukh Khan of Assamese cinema, also performs for mobile theatre company for which he is claimed to charge over Rs. 7 to 8 million per season. Even, Angaraag ‘Papon’ Mahanta and Joi Baruah, who are widely popular singers of Bollywood industry, also sing for mobile theatres to enthrall audience. Adil Hussain, who has acted in hit Bollywood movies like ‘Ishqiya’ and ‘English Vinglish’ also worked with a theatre company before moving out of Assam.
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The theatre owner is responsible for organizing the team and producing the shows. Each team consists of 150-200 team members — a mix of actors, technicians, musicians, directors, cooks, helpers and others. Each theatre company assembles its team in June, two months before the commencement of season, to rehearse for the dramas finalized for the season. The team works closely for ten months (rehearsal and performance period) and travel together for the period without any break. The theatre company works as a well-
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organized unit with different team members playing important role in successful conduction of show. After finishing the show in one location, the team uproots itself and travels to next location using five-six vehicles (including buses and trucks) loaded with suitcases, wooden stages, tent bamboos, wires, poles, lights, and all that they need to deliver a mesmerizing performance. All crew members and actors build strong emotional and professional bonds between each other during these ten months of friendly environment.
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The choice of locations for shows is decided by the theatre company in collaboration with different local committees who invite the theatre companies for shows in their areas. There are many committees/societies present in Assam, who play key role in organizing theatre shows. (Refer to table below which lists different types of societies operating in Assam.) These committees pay a fixed amount to theatre companies for show and also share revenue with the theatre company on sale of tickets. It helps these committees to raise fund for their specific requirements. As a result, mobile theatres contribute to develop educational and health infrastructure in Assam by spending 40 percent of their earnings on projects envisaged by committees for the local community. Some locations have presence of multiple societies who either operate individually or in co-operation with each other for organizing theatre shows. These societies also provide other supportive activities to theatres such as electricity, workers, and security.
F o r P e e r R e v i e w
Societies/Committee Type Educational Societies/Committees Cultural Societies/Committees
Sports Societies/Committees Puja Societies/Committees
Panchayat Societies/Committees
Society operations These societies work to develop educational quality and infrastructure in their area of operation. These societies operate to develop cultural skills (like singing and dancing) among local talent and preserve cultural heritage. These societies aim to encourage local sports talent, develop sports infrastructure, and sport skills. These societies organize fairs, events, spiritual/religious events so that people can enjoy and celebrate festivals. These societies work for various panchayats so that they can support and improve agricultural practices, employment levels, and infrastructure in their areas.
Mobile Theatre is a mixture of art and commerce, and it has a great impact on social, economic and educational development of Assamese people. Assam Mobile Theatres perform multiple objectives by (a) entertaining all communities of Assam (b) spreading education and awareness among people on various social issues such as family planning, health, cleanness, AIDS etc. (c) establishing unity and integrity among people (d) providing financial support and benefit for artists and society. Prior to emergence of Assam Mobile Theatre, Jatras were quite popular and major source of entertainment for rural Assamese people. However, in recent years Assam Mobile Theatres, which are evenly present in rural and urban area, have thrown out other entertainment options with their high quality performance.
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Exhibit 2: Photos of crowd viewing Assam Mobile Theatre
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Exhibit 3: Details of Assam state
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Assam state is located in the eastern most region of India, called Northeast India. Assam is the largest state of the region which consists of seven sister states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. In India, Northeastern part is considered as a backward enclave of Indian economy due to the inaccessible terrain, poor industrial growth, limited agricultural land, language barriers, challenges to govern, and political/separatist movements. Assam, being part of this unexploited region of India, had been among one of the poor performing state of India on social and physical indicators like electricity, transportation systems, infrastructure, health, and education. There has always been a shortage of power due to lower generation of power in comparison to demand in the State. Consequently, only around 78 percent villages of the Assam have electricity connection and most of electrified villages face the problems of irregular electricity supply and continuous electricity cuts.
F o r P e e r R e v i e w
As per the 2011 census, Assam has population of 31,169,272, and almost 86 percent of total population lives in rural areas of Assam comprising of 26,395 villages. State has literacy rate of 73 percent as per Census 2011. Assam had been one of the poorest states in India, with Poverty Headcount Ratio (% of population) of 37.9, whereas this figure is 29.8 for India. However, the state has made progress in recent years amidst reduced insurgency and peaceful environment. In last fifteen years, Per Capita Income of the state has increased to Rs 49,480 in 2014-15 from Rs 13,059 in 2001. According to Planning Commission of India, the growth rate of gross state domestic product (GSDP) in Assam during 2011-12 was more than that of many developed states of India such as West Bengal, Gujarat, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, the Per Capita Income of Assam during this period was higher than that of many states like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP and West Bengal. According to the Economic Survey of 2014-15, growth rate of net state domestic product (NSDP) in 2013-14 was 15.9 percent over 2012-13 against the national growth rate of 11.1 percent. Assam's NSDP growth rate in 2012-13 was 12.5 percent which was also higher than the national rate of 11.5 percent. When accounting for population, Assam’s growth rate of per capita NSDP was 14.5 percent which was higher than per capita NSDP national growth rate of 9.6 percent. Assam is worldwide known for high quality tea plantations, which have been a major contributor to economic growth in northern Assam. Assam tea industry dates back to the year 1826, when East India Company, ruling over India, came to notice about the indigenous tea plants which existed in northern Assam plains. The cultivation of Assam tea was started in 1833 in the governance of East India Company in Lakhimpur (Assam). Over the years, tea production has consistently grown and in 2010-11, Assam produced 525 thousand tonnes of tea. Apart from tea plantations, most of the population is engaged in primary sector consisting of agriculture, sericulture, animal husbandry, and fishery. Agriculture is the mainstay of Assam’s economy with production of rice, jute, mustard seed etc., which makes agriculture sector a major source of employment in Assam. In spite of growth in service sector and some initiatives in manufacturing sector, agriculture sector continues to support more than fifty percent population of the state by providing direct or indirect employment. According to 2011 Census, the unemployment rate in Assam has been 6.4 percent whereas it was 9.5 percent for India.
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Exhibit 4: E-mailers developed by Dinesh Sibal to highlight unparalleled reach of Assam Mobile Theatre
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w
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Source: Provided by Q-Connect
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Exhibit 5a: Photo of cobranded hoarding
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F o r P
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Exhibit 5a: Photo of cobranded hoarding
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w
Source: Provided by Q-Connect
Exhibit 5b: Photo of cobranded poster
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Source: Provided by Q-Connect
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Exhibit 6: Photo of kapaali with brand’s logo
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w
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Source: Provided by Q-Connect
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Exhibit 7a: Photo of inflatable balloon
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F o r P
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Exhibit 7a: Photo of inflatable balloon
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Source: Photograph by authors
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Exhibit 7b: Photo of ticket counter branding
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Source: Photograph by authors
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Exhibit 8: List of branding privileges under sponsorship available for 2015 season
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w
• • • • • • • •
Presenting Sponsorship Gate, Kapaali, Ticket Counter 100 Hoardings with branding 10,000 Posters with branding 80 second TVC per day 10x8 Hoarding outside theatre tent 4 Banners inside theatre tent One in-script mention
Source: Provided by Q-Connect
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Exhibit 9a: Photos of three-sided glow signs
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w Source: Photograph by authors
Exhibit 9b: Photos of screen banners
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Source: Provided by Q-Connect
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Exhibit 10: Photos of van activities
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Source: Provided by Q-Connect
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Exhibit 11: Theatre classification system developed by Q-Connect
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Grade A+
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A
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18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43
• •
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B
Descriptions Presence in all 27 districts Locations equally distributed among all 27 districts of Assam Mostly deliver performance on exact date and location High production value Presence in all 27 districts Not equally distributed in all 27 district Make changes in tent locations Presence in only few of the 27 districts
F o r P e e r R e v i e w •
Source: Prepared by authors based on inputs from Q-Connect
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Exhibit 12: Organizational chart of Q-Connect
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Exhibit 14: Photos of Q-Connect staff selling merchandise
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F o r P
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Exhibit 14: Photos of Q-Connect staff selling merchandise
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w
Source: Provided by Q-Connect
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Source: Photograph by authors
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Exhibit 15: Illustrative list of folk media opti ons in other states of India
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Orissa
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Bengal
Unkla-hat
Assam
15 16 17 18
Karnataka
Bhagvatmela
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
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Andhra Pradesh
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Kerala
Bhavi
Gujarat
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Haryana
Jammu and Kashmir
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Yakshagana
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Andhra Pradesh
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Exhibit 16: Short note on Jatra
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Jatra is a Bengali word derived from Sanskrit word ‘Yatra’, which means journey. It is a traditional folk theatre form popular in Bengali speaking regions of India such as West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Tripura, and Orissa and in Bangladesh. Jatras are performed by mobile theatre groups in the form of an opera by moving from one place to another. Mostly, Jatras are performed under the open sky to entertain rural as well as urban population. In earlier form, Jatra was performed in rural Bengal during festivals and village fairs with actors performing on a raised stage and audience surrounding the stage on all sides. As Jatra made its entry into urban areas, the performances started happening in auditoriums also. Jatra season generally starts in September, just before Durga Puja (Indian festival popular in eastern part of India) and ends in June, before the onset of Monsoon season. During the season more than 55 touring Jatra troupes visit around 4000 locations performing shows.
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w
Performance in Jatra comprises of four hour long plays with music as key element. Generally, music concert involving folk music and dance, takes almost one hour to attract and entertain audience. Musicians sit on two sides of stage and they use classical music instruments such tabla4, dholak5, harmonium, flute, cymbals, trumpets etc., while most of the singing is done by actors themselves. Music performance is followed by drama performance which consists of monologues, songs and dance routines on folk tunes. These dramas are designed to deliver high quality packages of songs, dance, orations, dialogues, gestures, make up, actions, melodrama, and special effects to entertain audience. Themes of dramas are generally based on mythology, historical event, educational aspect, patriotism, social and moral issues. Sometimes, Jatra troupes also perform shows on contemporary themes such as Iraq war, London bombing, 9/11 USA terrorist attack. By some estimates, Jatra audience numbers around 12 crore, treble that of cinema audiences. In rural Bengal, sometimes, single performance of shows draws more than 10,000 viewers. However, lately, Jatra theatres have begun to shrink as television has emerged as preferred entertainment medium.
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Source: Prepared by authors from different sources
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Q-Connect: Reaching Rural Customers with Assam Mobile Theatre
5
TEACHING NOTE
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1. SYNOPSIS OF CASE
Q-Connect is an organization started by Dinesh Sibal which helps brands in reaching to rural customers in Assam - a state in north-east India. Realizing the potential of Assam Mobile Theatre, which has emerged as the most popular entertainment media option in Assam, Q-Connect has developed a sponsorship business model. In this model, brands pay sponsorship amount to theatre companies for communicating brand message to audience visiting the theatre. Q-Connect facilitates this arrangement with exclusive tie-ups with about forty theatre companies in Assam for using their property for branding purposes.
2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the case is to highlight the issues related to marketing communication in rural markets. Effective planning and implementation of marketing communications in rural context requires use of alternate media options, different from traditional media options like newspapers, magazines, television and radio. Folk media options available in different regions of India provide a good option of alternate media which can be exploited by brands to reach out to rural customers. This case can be used to explain the various aspects which need to be taken into considerations for using such alternate media options. The two main teaching objectives of this case include:
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w
After establishing the business of Q-Connect in Assam, Dinesh Sibal is now looking to expand operations. Q-Connect can build upon the existing strength of operating in Assam markets and can exploit festivals and local events for brands to achieve hyper-local targeting. The company also has the option of aggregating similar folk media options available in other states of India which can be used by brands for reaching to customers.
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Understanding the manner in which folk media options can be channelized by brands Important issues in implementation of event-based promotions
3. POSITIONING
This case is ideally suited to be used for covering marketing communication aspects in ‘Rural Marketing’ course. This case can also be used to cover aspects related to communications in rural markets context for marketing communication courses. It can be used in courses like ‘Integrated Marketing Communications’ and ‘Advertising and Sales Promotion’ towards the end of course where the instructor can explain the specialized nature of marketing communication in the context of rural markets. For instructors who take specialized course of ‘Rural Advertising’, this case can be used to illustrate the usage of event-based promotions for rural markets. Given the range of issues covered and detailing done in the case, it is suitable for MBA as well as executive education participants. 4. SUGGESTED READINGS
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The following reading can be used as recommended reading for this case:
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“Communicating in the Rural Market Landscape” (Chapter 6) from the book “Rural Marketing” by Sanal Kumar Velayudhan (2007) 5. SUGGESTED ASSIGNEMENT QUESTIONS
Students may be asked to prepare their responses for the following questions:
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What type of marketing communication is used in Q-Connect business model? Why it appears to be so beneficial? What are the challenges faced by Q-Connect in implementing its sponsorship business model? How Dinesh Sibal was able to overcome the challenges faced in connecting brands and Assam Mobile Theatre? What should be next steps for Q-Connect? Should it take up horizontal expansion or vertical expansion? Should Q-Connect take up promotion and sale of consumer-durable products?
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6. CASE ANALYSIS
What type of marketing communication is used in Q-Connect business model? Why it appears to be so beneficial?
The instructor can start the case discussion by directly asking the participants about the type of marketing communication used in Q-Connect business model. The instructor can explain that the marketing communication employed by Q-Connect, is an example of “event-basedpromotion”. These types of promotions are employed by companies whereby popular events, organized by either companies or a third party - independent of the company, are used to convey brand messages to the target audience. Events such as trade fairs, cultural fests, and sporting events like IPL (Indian Premier League), Asian Games, Rural Olympics provide presence of huge captive audience. Promotions at these events can be used as unique opportunity to integrate brands’ commercial and communication activities such as advertising, public relations, sampling, selling and direct marketing with the customers coming to events. Event-based-promotions allow brands to engage with target audience by having face-to-face interaction with customers. More specifically, event-based-promotions are employed to achieve two main purposes:
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to build brand awareness and knowledge about the product/services and for sampling and selling purpose
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In the context of rural markets in India, traditional media options like newspapers, magazines, television, and radio have certain limitations. While print media options have low penetration due to lower education levels, electronic media consumption is constrained by irregular power supply. As a result, significant reach is hard to achieve in rural areas. In such situations, event-based-promotions provide a good option to reach to target audience. Over the years, use of event-based-promotions has grown to emerge as a valuable communication medium in rural markets. The instructor can further explain about event-based-promotion by speaking about the different dimensions on which they can be categorized. On the first dimension, event-basedpromotions can be categorized as “Self-created” and “Others-created”. In ‘self-created eventbased-promotions’, brands themselves organize events to promote or sell product/services. These can include activities such as animal parade, cultural and sporting events managed by
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brands. In ‘others-created event-based-promotions’ brands ride on popularity of existing events which are organized by other bodies. These can include already existing phenomenon such as haats1, melas2 like Kumbh mela and Pushkar mela and sporting events like Rural Olympics at Kila Raipur in Punjab. Event-based-promotions can be categorized on the basis of target audience also. The two major targeted groups for event-based-promotions include “customers” and “noncustomers”. In ‘customer-centered event-based-promotions’, brand message communication or commercial activities are targeted to perspective customers who are present in events. Examples of such promotions include brand stalls in agriculture fairs for communicating to farmers and Airtel’s sponsorship program through Q-Connect in Assam Mobile Theatre. In ‘non-customer-centered event-based-promotions’ the target audience are channel partners and other influencers who do not purchase the product or service directly but play a role in influencing the target customers. Examples of such promotions include retailer meets or conferences for doctors.
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These two dimensions can be presented in the matrix depicted in TN Figure 1. In this matrix,
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First quadrant represents ‘self-created customer-centered event-based-promotions’, where brands plan and conduct events to promote their communication or commercial activities which is targeted at customers. One example of such a promotion in rural areas is Colgate Palmolive’s Oral Hygiene Program in which target group was children who were asked to clean their teeth with powder/paste and to share their feeling of freshness with others. Second quadrant represents ‘self-created non-customer-centered event-basedpromotions’ where brands plan and conduct events to promote commercial and communications activities. One such example is of Fevicol which organizes meetings of carpenters (non-customers) where they are shown and explained about latest furniture designs. Though carpenters are not direct customers of Fevicol, they influence the customers to use Fevicol for durability of furniture. Promotions by various brands via Assam Mobile Theatre can be categorized as falling into third quadrant which represents ‘others-created customer-centered event-basedpromotions’. Promotion by Airtel in Assam Mobile Theatre is an example of such an event-based-promotion. Promotions under this quadrant can have significantly high impact and low budget requirement because large audience is present without any extra effort. Fourth quadrant represents ‘other-created non-customer-centered event-basedpromotion’. Trade-fairs and expositions are examples of promotions under this category where brands try to reach out to channel partners through events which are not exclusively meant for a specific brand. It is very rarely employed as brands like to maintain exclusivity for higher communication impact when they interact with channel partners and influencers.
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Haats were periodic markets organized in villages, twice a week or on a weekly basis where sellers assembled to sell FMCG items, clothing items, general merchandise and agricultural produce. � Fair organized on special occasions.
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TN Figure 1: Categorization of ‘event-based-promotions’ on two dimensions
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Airtel promotions through Assam Mobile Theatre
The explanation of classical conditioning paradigm draws upon four concepts: •
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Colgate Palmolive’s Oral Hygiene Program
Non-Customer-Centered
After detailing aspects of event-based-promotions, instructor can ask the reasons for success of ‘others-created customer-centered event-based-promotions’. The working of brand communication and customer response during ‘others-created customer-centered eventbased-promotions’ can be explained using classical conditioning paradigm. It is a psychological theory which shows that how repeated pairing of a stimulus with second stimulus, for which people have positive attitude, perception and feelings as per their previous experience, can lead to positive attitude, perception and feelings towards first stimulus.
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w Customer-Centered
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Unconditional Stimulus (US) - A stimulus which elicits an innate reflexive (automatic) response. Unconditional Response (UR) - The reflexive response elicited by the US. Conditional Stimulus (CS) - A neutral stimulus (which does not initially elicit the UR) which will be paired with the US. Conditional Response (CR) - The response occurring to the CS as a result of paired presentations of the US and CS. It may differ in some ways from the UR.
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When classical conditioning paradigm is applied in case of ‘others-created customercentered event-based-promotions’, events become the unconditional stimulus towards which generally people have positive attitude and perceptions (unconditional response). This happens as events have their own social, moral, emotional, and financial values, which automatically triggers predefined perceptions and feelings in people’s mind. When brands (conditional response) associate with events, it helps in building a positive attitude and perception about brands (conditional stimulus) in the minds of customers. TN Figure 2
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depicts the working of ‘others-created customer-centered event-based promotions’ using classical conditioning paradigm. TN Figure 2: Explaining ‘others-created customer-centered event-based-promotions’ using classical conditioning paradigm
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Unconditional Stimulus
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Promoted product
Positive feelings and perceptions for product
Having moved to specifics of Assam Mobile Theatre, after covering vari ous aspects of eventbased-promotions, instructor can inquire with students about potential of Assam for various brands. Answer to this question will help the students to understand the reasons for brands to invest the money for promotions through Assam Mobile Theatre. For answering this question, instructor can ask the participants to read Case Exhibit 3 again which provides details of Assam. After participants have read the Case Exhibit 3, instructor can explain that Assam has huge potential for business expansion. In recent years Assam is performing well in economic terms which has helped in increasing the income of its people. Instructor can highlight some of aspects related to this from Case Exhibit 3.
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Positive feelings and perceptions for event
The instructor can conclude the explanation of ‘others-created customer-centered eventbased promotions’ by using the specific example of Assam Mobile Theatre. Assam people have developed positive attitude and feelings towards Assam Mobile Theatre due to its high production, social, and moral values which have been consistently delivered over the years. Brands are exploiting people’s previous positive experience with Assam Mobile Theatre by attaching themselves with it. When a brand is attached with Assam Mobile Theatre, it can also trigger positive attitude and feelings in people’s mind towards brands.
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Sponsored Event
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According to Planning Commission of India, the growth rate of gross state domestic product (GSDP) in Assam during 2011-12 was more than that of many developed states of India such as West Bengal, Gujarat, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. According to Planning Commission of India, the Per Capita Income of Assam during this period was higher than that of many states like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP and West Bengal.
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According to the Economic Survey of 2014-15, growth rate of net state domestic product (NSDP) in 2013-14 was 15.9 percent over 2012-13 against the national growth rate of 11.1 percent. According to the Economic Survey of 2014-15, when accounting for population, Assam’s growth rate of per capita NSDP was 14.5 percent which was higher than per capita NSDP national growth rate of 9.6 percent. Unemployment rate in Assam was 33 per cent lower than the all-India average unemployed rate as the all-India unemployment rate was 9.5 per cent whereas Assam’s unemployment rate was 6.4 per cent in 2011.
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These figures show the development and growth in Assam in comparison to national figures and with respect to other states. The discussion will help in developing appreciation of participants towards the potential of Assam as market. After illustrating the potential of Assam as market, instructor should move towards the larger picture of Assam Mobile Theatre in terms of huge eye-balls it offered. The calculations have been shown in TN Table 1. TN Table 1: Quantitative Analysis about Potential of Assam Mobile Theatre
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Description Number of days of performance by a theatre Number of shows in a day Number of shows by a theatre in a year Audience watching each show
Audience coming to watch a theatre in a year Number of theatres operating in Assam Total number of exposures generated in a year
Numbers 230 (From Case Exhibit 13) 2 (From Page 2 of Case) 460 (A * B) 2500 (From Page 2 of Case; average of 2000-3000) 1,150,000 (C * D) 40 (From Page 2 of Case) 46,000, 000 (E * F)
The quantitative analysis shows the potential of Assam Mobile Theatre and magic of big numbers which excited Dinesh Sibal to start Q-Connect. He was able to see it as a beneficial leveraging point to promote commercial and communication activities of brands for customers in rural Assam. The gathering of Assam Mobile Theatre for a larger number of audience (2000-3000) and for a larger number of days (more than 230) which compounded to give eye-balls close to 5 crore. There are other folk media options like Ramleela and Jatra in other states but they are limited by the number of days of performance or by the number of audience watching them. As a result, they are not in a position to generate the exposures which Assam Mobile Theatre does. These two characteristics of Assam Mobile Theatre make it a valuable communication tool for brands.
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What are the challenges faced by Q-Connect in implementing its sponsorship business model?
For Dinesh Sibal, starting Q-Connect was the time to face various challenges before making Q-Connect sponsorship business model work. The instructor should ask the class to list the challenges faced by Dinesh Sibal in starting the business of Q-Connect. Participants can come out with their list of points. They have been listed below:
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Lack of knowledge about local Assameese hampered Dinesh Sibal. It was a major barrier to better understand rural market and to build relationship with theatre owners, local societies, local administers, and other key role players.
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Assam Mobile Theatre had its own heritage and cultural values, so it was hard to persuade theatre owners that they could get added value by associating with Q-Connect, without compromising their quality, image and cultural values. For delivery of promised services, it was difficult to get skilled employees due to low literacy rate and poor exposure to outside world. While researching for NRHM, Dinesh Sibal knew that performance dates of Assam Mobile Theatres were almost same for all theatres. In such a scenario, distribution, transportation, and placement of advertising material at right place and right time in interior locations posed a challenge. Some challenges were also posed during local on-ground activation of promotional materials. Local societies could have accentuated the problem by patronizing local brands which could have competed with brands promoted by Q-Connect. Dinesh Sibal faced the challenge of convincing brands to use the medium of Assam Mobile Theatre. This posed as challenge as big brands were less focused towards expansion in rural areas, especially in northeast India, as they did not see the investment worthy of good return. Consequently, big brands allocated low budgets for rural markets in northeast. Dinesh Sibal had to approach corporate offices of brands for persuading them to invest in Assam. However, for many brand managers and media planners, Assam was a low priority market. These managers often gave no time or very little time for meetings with low interest. Even after meeting, many managers did not revert back to Dinesh Sibal. Designing of customized advertising offers, in which brands can get value and theatre can also see the value in it, was also a challenge. Every brand had its specific needs and goals and therefore designing a package which could add value for brand’s commercial and communication activities was not so easy. It is difficult for rural audience to understand all the aspects which brands want to communicate and the values which brands offer. Promotion of right message in right format was required to deliver better results for brands.
F o r P e e r R e v i e w
After listing the challenges, the instructor can explain to the class that the challenges faced by Dinesh Sibal for using Assam Mobile Theatre can be broadly divided into two categories. First set of challenges pertained to building network – with brands as well as theatre owners and second set pertained to execution related challenges. The instructor can also highlight that these challenges are same as challenges faced by any brand or player who wants to use folk media options for branding purposes.
How Dinesh Sibal was able to overcome the challenges faced in connecting brands and Assam Mobile Theatre?
Instructor can start this discussion by depicting the initial scenario, before the entry of QConnect, involving the key players for making use of Assam Mobile Theatre as communication medium. This scenario has been depicted in TN Figure 3. As described in TN Figure 3, initially there was a barrier for promoting brand messages in Assam Mobile Theatre as brands were not connected with theatre companies and local societies. While there was coordination between theatre companies and local societies regarding issues like venue and number of days of performance, brands were not connected with the dyad of theatre companies and local societies. Brands never cared to connect with theatre companies/local societies due to number of reasons such as large number of theatre companies and making branding material available at right place and right time in interior locations.
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TN Figure 3: Key players for making use of Assam Mobile Theatre as communication medium
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Gulancha Baruah grew up under the influence of the Assamese art and culture. He also played different roles in drama shows in his childhood. In one way or another, he was connected to this inheritance of drama for almost 20 years. It gave him better understanding about the soul and values of Assam Mobile Theatre. His previous experience with Doordarshan and radio involving dramas and show production helped him to better understand media options available in Assam. He realized and understood the importance of Assam Mobile Theatre in absence of traditional media options like magazines, newspapers, television, a nd radio. Gulancha Baruah found his own way to reach out to audience through Assam Mobile Theatre for promotion and advertising of regional brands. He promoted local brands through banners at Assam Mobile Theatres. To introduce television commercials (TVCs), he also distributed LCD projectors to few theatres to promote local brand messages. This helped him in building a friendly relationship with theatre owners.
Gulancha Baruah’s previous relationships with theatre owners, strong emotional connection with dramas and past experience of dealing with media made him a suitable person to be in partnership with Dinesh Sibal. For Gulancha Baruah, it was difficult to attract big brands for entering in sponsorship via Assam Mobile Theatre. After highlighting the key strengths of Gulancha Baruah, instructor can ask the class to list the strengths of Dinesh Sibal. The class can list the following as strengths of Dinesh Sibal.
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F o r P e e r R e v i e w
After depicting the presenting scenario, instructor can ask the participants to list the strengths/competencies of Dinesh Sibal and Gulancha Baruah. The participants can list the following as strengths of Gulancha Baruah.
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Dinesh Sibal worked with leading advertising agencies in different capacities which gave him a very good understanding of all aspects of advertising business. His experience with national and international advertising agencies exposed him to variety of problems and ways of dealing with them. Besides India, Dinesh Sibal worked in different geographies like Africa, Middle-East, and Europe. His inclination towards strategic decisions in marketing, along with wide exposure of different working environment trained him to look at different types of problems and solve them. During his professional work-life, Dinesh Sibal dealt with big brands like Coca Cola and Nestle which helped him in understanding their requirements and manage their expectations.
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After discussing the strength of Dinesh Sibal and Gulancha Baruah, instructor should explain the role jointly played by Dinesh Sibal and Gulancha Baruah in establishing business of Q-Connect. This business could not succeed unless brands are connected with the dyad of theatre companies and local societies. Neither Dinesh Sibal would be able to do it alone, nor would Gulancha Baruah be able to bridge the connection with brands. However, a partnership between Gulancha Baruah and Dinesh Sibal where each one brought his competencies to the table, was able to complete the value chain. Collaboration of Gulancha Baruah and Dinesh Sibal was a win-win situation for both because it was a connection of mutual benefits and it overcame the weaknesses of both advertising professional collectively. Dinesh Sibal’s competencies in dealing with big brands and managing their expectations were important for value chain to flourish. At the same time, Gulancha Baruah helped in arranging required resources such as skilled/semiskilled labor, suppliers, and other required resources. Local partner’s connections and experiences helped in better understanding local market and in effective decision making. The value chain due to partnership of Gulancha Baruah and Dinesh Sibal has been depicted in TN Figure 4. TN Figure 4: Completing the value-chain for making use of Assam Mobile Theatre as communication medium
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Once this basic value chain is in place, other problems can be taken care of. The instructor can ask the class about them and can also provide the explanations about addressing other challenges.
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To attract brands or to convince managers, it was essential to persuade them about the value being delivered by Q-Connect. Dinesh Sibal was able to convince the managers by showing them the magic of large numbers. He also devised customized packages, which were selected as per brand’s requirements. Q-Connect while offering its services, did not charge the company before the roll-out. Once the communication campaign was activated and managers saw the roll-out, invoices were raised. To deliver promised services in right format, at right time and on right place, Q-Connect created a team with role allocation (Case Exhibit 12). Low literacy rate and unskilled labor problem was solved by providing initial training and hands on management.
The various challenges and their addressal by Q-Connect are summarized in TN Table 2.
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TN Table 2: Challenges addressed by Q-Connect
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What should be next steps for Q-Connect? Should it take up horizontal expansion or vertical expansion? Should Q-Connect take up promotion and sale of consumerdurable products?
Vertical Expansion: Being focused in same geographic area of Assam and develop other initiatives/services for exploiting local cultural and sporting events Horizontal Expansion: Expand to other geographic areas (other states with different folk media options) and build a similar network as he has built for Assam Mobile Theatre.
The instructor can ask the participants to list the advantages and challenges in pursuing vertical and horizontal expansion. They have been listed below: Advantages of ‘Vertical Expansion’
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After the discussion on challenges and the manner in which they were addressed, instructor can move to the decision dilemma faced by Dinesh Sibal. After establishing business, entrepreneurs start to think about expanding it. Having established the business of QConnect, now Dinesh Sibal is also looking for expanding the business. While he is pursuing other untapped products/services to join Q-Connect network, he is also looking for other revenue generation sources so that he is ready to face the competition if any other player wants to compete with Q-Connect. The two main options for expansion include:
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The instructor has to highlight the presence of local partner as a key ingredient in making QConnect business model work. Presence of local partner (Gulancha Baruah) is most important in building linkages with local players (theatre owners) and for timely execution of different activities, leading to success. While conducting promotions in urban markets, organizations can bring in everything from outside but it will not w ork in rural markets. The instructor can conclude this section by highlighting that learning from the manner in which Dinesh Sibal was able to overcome the challenges are important as these learnings can also be used for other types of folk media options.
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Challenges Addressed by Q-Connect Understanding region-specific Co-opting a local partner (in this case requirements Gulancha Baruah) who is familiar with local requirements and customs. Persuading brands By presenting benefits of Assam Mobile Theatre for brands by showing its hidden potential and comparing it with other advertising mediums Additional advantage through flexible and customized packages for delivery of promised services Partnering with theatre owners By providing monetary and non-monetary value to theatres Unskilled labor By providing initial hands on training
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It provides new revenue options to generate profits.
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New opportunity to generate revenue. Economies of scope4 as Q-Connect can use the common resources employed for Assam Mobile Theatre operations. Increased negotiating power with companies due to Q-Connect’s presence in larger geographic area. By integrating the different folk media options under one company, Q-Connect will be creating an entry-barrier for other competitors wanting to enter this field.
Challenges of ‘Horizontal Expansion’
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Requirement of additional skilled person, if requirements from clients are very specific. Conflicts between service delivering teams (unforeseen labor issues). Challenges in building relationships with local partners. On-ground and political/social objections at local level. Possible loss of continuing focus in existing business model.
Advantages of ‘Horizontal Expansion’
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Challenges of ‘Vertical Expansion’
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It provides opportunity to penetrate deeper into Assam, thus providing access to wider audience reach. It will provide better reach and opportunity for brands to deliver their communication. Economies of scale3 due to increased scale of operations. Q-Connect can achieve operational efficiency as some of the activities can be carried out by same set of people. Previous experience and connections will help in delivering high quality service. Provides additional opportunity for building linkages with local bodies. This will allow Q-Connect to gauge somehow similar opportunity which may not be currently noticeable. It can lead to better utilization of resources for Q-Connect, as manpower is already available, especially when they are idle between mid-April to mid-August. Will Increase entry barriers for competitors of Q-Connect.
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Significant brainstorming will be required to penetrate other regions of India. Every region has its own cultures, people mindset and needs, so designing a package that can address everyone’s need, will be difficult to accomplish. It can consume significant time and resources in market research, planning, execution and management to implement sponsorship business model. To get regional theatres and other key role players, it is required to collaborate with right local partner. Q-Connect can face difficulty in managing and handling its horizontal expansion as multiple business markets can limit Q-Connect’s flexibility and it can be less flexible in customizing offerings to the market. Horizontal expansion can destroy values as well, because sometimes expected synergies never materialize.
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Horizontal expansion can lead to unforeseen region specific conflicts at as all players engaged in folk media may not be willing to commercialize their shows by linking themselves with brands.
After talking about the advantages and challenges for vertical and horizontal expansion, instructor can take up specific case of Jatra, where Dinesh Sibal is thinking about the expanding. Here the instructor can highlight two aspects which are conducive for horizontal expansion and third, when addressed, can enable it to happen:
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The Way Forward
Now the instructor can highlight class’ attention towards the issue of promotion and sale of consumer-durable products through Assam Mobile Theatre. Before starting the discussion, instructor can ask the participants about their mood when they visit cinema halls or amusement parks. Most of the participants are likely to say that they go to cinema halls or amusement parks to enjoy. Here the instructor can say that anything which adds to the entertainment value will be welcomed by the audience and anything which reduces it, will be disliked. The instructor can also ask about the purchases made by participants on such occasions. Most of the participants are likely to talk about the eatables and beverages. Instructor can use the insight from both these questions along with the objectives of eventbased-promotions (to build brand awareness and knowledge about the product/services; and for sampling and selling purpose) to explain the framework in the form of matrix (explained in TN Figure 5). In this matrix, first dimension consists of the two product categories – durables and non-durables and second dimension consists of two objectives of event-based-promotions. The instructor can conclude the case discussion by relating the specific example of Assam Mobile Theatre with this framework. •
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However, Dinesh Sibal has to also understand the trend of reduced attraction for Jatra (as mentioned in last line of Case Exhibit 16) which is different from Assam Mobile Theatre (refer to last para of Case Exhibit 1) which is the preferred entertainment option for Assam. Here Dinesh Sibal will need to take a call about entering Bengal for organizing Jatra against the basis of Jatra’s future potential.
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Large number of days of performance for Jatra – 9 months (Case Exhibit 16) Large number of audience watching Jatra – upto 12 crore (Case Exhibit 16) Finding a local partner in Bengal on the likes of Gulancha Baruah for Assam
•
In first quadrant first, awareness and demonstrations of services and non-durables products can be promoted effectively via Assam Mobile Theatre because it does not adulterate the entertainment values of audience visiting Assam Mobile Theatre. These activities are primarily focused towards increasing brand awareness and brand loyalty the way Airtel did to make audience aware about revision of its brand logo. Second quadrant represents selling of non-durable products, especially FMCG product like eatables and beverages which can be consumed immediately. These products enhance the audience experience and can be sold via Assam Mobile Theatre. Mad Angles, Tangles and Parle products fall under this category. In third quadrant, companies can take up demonstration of durable products such as televisions and mobile phones. These products may be demonstrated via Assam Mobile theatre but these products may not add much value to audience experience.
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The fourth quadrant represents the selling of durable products via Assam Mobile Theatre. It will be difficult to achieve because of risk associated in purchasing durable products and higher budget required to buy these products. When the audience is visiting Assam Mobile Theatre, most of them may not be carrying significant amount to buy consumer durables and therefore sales are likely to be low. Also, audience may not be in mood to engage for purchase of durable product as they would like to think through (due to higher risk) before they make the purchase call.
TN Figure 5: Framework for explaining audience’s acceptance for different products in ‘event-based-promotions’
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Demonstration
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Sales
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Durable products
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7. KEY LEARNINGS / CONCLUSION
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Services and Non-durables products
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Folk media options where each show can generate a large number of audience and operates for a large number of days can compound to give huge eye-balls which is often overlooked. The dyad consisting of two partners (one with the ability to deal with big brands/managers and other with the ability to link with folk media players) is important for completing the value chain for ‘event-based-promotions’. Presence of local partner is key for execution at local level and to ensure placement of advertising material at right place and right time in interior locations.
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8. TEACHING PLAN (Assuming 90 minutes of class)
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Discussion on event-based-promotions – 15 minutes Explaining ‘others-created customer-centered event-based-promotions’ using classical conditioning paradigm – 5 minutes Discussion on potential of Assam as market – 5 minutes Quantitative analysis about potential of Assam Mobile Theatre – 10 minutes Challenges faced by Dinesh Sibal – 10 minutes Discussion on addressing the challenges – 20 minutes Advantages and challenges of vertical expansion – 10 minutes Advantages and challenges of horizontal expansion – 10 minutes Discussion on promotion and sale of consumer-durable products – 5 minutes
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9. PROPOSED BOARD PLAN
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A tentative board plan is given in TN Exhibit 1.
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TN EXHIBIT 1 Board Plan
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Left Board
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Categorization of event-based-promotions
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CustomerCentered
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NonCustomerCentered
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Selfcreated
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Advantages
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Challenges
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Otherscreated
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Quantitative analysis about potential of Assam Mobile Theatre
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Right Board VERTICAL EXPANSION
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Centre Board Challenges faced in starting Q- Connect
Scenario before entry of Q-Connect in Assam
HORIZONTAL EXPANSION
Advantages
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Scenario after entry of Q-Connect in Assam
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Challenges
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