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:. Out Of The Box |
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:. Like This
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F??K
MEDIA |
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By Mayank Sen & Vishaal Shah
We have all grown up
hearing - "India - a land of unity in diversity". Damn!
That's a jaded thought, don't you think? Equally boring
is the thought of Folk Media. Using puppets? Street
theater? Folk dance and music? What the hell will all
this achieve?
While we may all be tempted to continue along a similar
line of belief, we would be grossly erroneous in our
assessment of these mediums of communication. Folk media
was and continues to remain a driving force in rural
enlightenment. In India 35% population are untaught, so
it is very imperative to cover this fraction. It has
been used successfully in the past to inform the
populace about social issues and messages. But however,
now there is a change evolving. As urban markets get
saturated companies are thinking of innovative ways to
tap the rural markets. Advertisers are using these
'boring' mediums to make this new way of communication
attention grabbing and more interactive to hook up with
a new customer base. Just to cite a few examples-
" AT the village it is a magic show with a difference.
Amidst the laughter of children, the magician breaks
into the virtues of Tiger biscuits, sometimes even
drawing them out of nowhere or making the packet
disappear. This is Britannia at its innovative best...
" In between a nautanki performance, the lights go out.
An artiste carrying a torch appears. The ray of light is
so bright that it disturbs actors on stage and one says,
"Who is there? What is it that is shining so brightly?
This is Eveready trying to make its mark..."
" A puppet show targeted at the sugarcane farmers of
Uttar Pradesh weaves a story around Round Up, a
weedicide brand. This is a Monsanto sales pitch...
The advantage of these mediums is that they can connect
very well with customers and induce them to try the
product/service. As far as reach is concerned, it is an
easy medium to connect the product directly to the
target audience, as compared to the contemporary ways.
Through folk media advertisers can easily outline their
target audience. Advertisers should comprehend, in rural
areas people are naive of some services and products
that may perk up their lives. Sometimes these
products/services may be allied
to social issues or it may satisfy the needs of
customers. To make society aware of a product is ...
extremely important, in view of the fact that it is very
difficult to bring changes in societal attitudes. In
1971 Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman combines
traditional loom to social change with commercial
marketing and advertising as well as promotional
techniques.
May be with time to come these methods can be adopted in
urban areas also and become more effective than any
other medium. Even as far as cost is concerned, it can
prove to be very cost effective. Time, venue and target
audience are the factors that affect the cost. Creating
awareness at low cost amongst consumers, maintaining
good quality is the key benefit in adoption of folk
media. Further, you can also update your presentation a
s per the latest events, audience and happenings. With
the help of latest technology, the so-called boring
medium is turning out of the ordinary and exigent after
all.
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