Jaago Re INDIA!!!

“Jaago Re INDIA!!!

May 22, 2008, Mumbai, May 22: A low key voter response was witnessed Thursday in the Lok Sabha by-election at Thane in Maharashtra, with workers of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) trying hard to ensure maximum possible turnout. Moderate size queues of 50 to 60 voters were seen at most of the 3,163 polling centres in the first four hours after balloting began at 8.00 a.m. The turnout was as low as eight to 10 voters at some booths in the country\'s largest Lok Sabha constituency, comprising six assembly segments and over 3.5 million voters.

-Indo Asian News Service

November 27, 2008, Bhopal: The assembly elections for Madhya Pradesh, which is among the four Hindi heartland states going to polls in staggered phases, concluded yesterday with just about 45 per cent of the over 36 million voters turning up to exercise their franchise. There were indeed long queues of voters in urban constituencies, but the response was subdued in vast rural areas. Balloting was sluggish throughout the day with the turnout being only 31 per cent at the end of first six hours of voting. It picked up only marginally later.

-www.gulfnews.com

Dec 24, 2008, Srinagar, India - Low voter turnout, scattered protests and a huge presence of security forces marked the seventh and final phase of state assembly elections in India's Jammu and Kashmir state on Wednesday. Election Commission officials said the turnout in Srinagar district was about 13 per cent up till late afternoon, while the combined turnout in Jammu and Samba was 30 to 35 per cent.

-South Asia News

“Agar aap votingwale din vote nahi kare rate hain to aapso rahe hain( If you are not voting on election day, you are sleeping) says the model in an advertisement to a group of young people to which the girl asked “Kisko vote Dein” “whom should I vote?” The model turns a green glass in his hand with a logo TATA TEA, the message goes “Jaago Re One billion votes”. This campaign has today caught the attention of almost all Indians, especially in the urban areas.

Election Day is considered as a holiday by most Indians. Instead of going out and vote for a suitable candidate, most prefer to be at home watching television. Some even prefer to go out and watch a movie instead of voting. But later, as a citizen, individuals never miss to crib the Government when they fail to deliver. At that time they tend to forget that it was because of their fault that a Leadership came to power. “We just tend to ignore our voting rights in a democratic country which claims to be the largest democracy in the world” said one of the Political analysts. “The problem we face is our blatant apathy towards all these issues. We just refuse to make the effort to bring about a positive change,” continued this analyst.

Objective

The initiative is named “Jaago Re! One Billion Votes” and aims at awakening the youth of this country to the importance of exercising their right to vote as a means to bring about the change they seek.

About JANAGRAHA

Janaagraha is a not-for-profit institution started in December 2001 by - Ramesh and Swati Ramanathan. From a movement to include people's participation in public governance, it has now evolved into a robust institution for Citizenship and Democracy. It now has an eminent governing board and an active Working Council that makes operational decisions for the organization.

Of the thirteen programs in Janaagraha four have advisory groups with members that are highly accomplished working professionals. Besides the staff of twenty nine, Janaagraha is supported by the energy of at least 200 volunteers at any given point in time. Janaagraha works to improve the quality of life of all the people in Indian cities and towns. It works with citizens and governments to bring about comprehensive solutions to the problems in cities. Janaagraha believe that it is not enough to have a systems approach alone; the solutions have to be rooted in democracy. It identified that one of the many issues faced by democratic system is election and to be precise – low voter turnout during elections. Thus, to achieve a mass awakening regarding all these issues, Janaagraha joined hands with TATA.

The objective of the partnership between TATA and Janaagraha is to create a platform that will motivate the vast numbers of Indian youth to participate actively in the electoral process of the country. The initiative is named “Jaago Re! One Billion Votes” and aims at awakening the youth of this country to the importance of exercising their right to vote as a means to bring about the change they seek.

The campaign’s main concept is to strengthen the very roots of Indian democracy by encouraging the citizens to actively participate in changing the quality of governance by voting and electing quality leaders. This product/campaign vision is to transform tea from a medium of mere physical and mental rejuvenation to a medium of social awakening.

The Jaago Re campaign communicates the message that merely waking up is not enough; we need to awaken to all the problems facing us, and to help bring about a positive change. The same is communicated loud and clear by its punch line “Har subah sirf utho mat. Jaago Re!”

WHY TATA TEA?

Launched in 1985, Tata Tea created the poly pack revolution in tea industry in this country. Over the years the brand has built on its success and is the market leader in terms of both value and volume. From a single product offering, it has moved to offer products at all price value points. Spanning the length and breadth of the country, appealing to a wide spectrum of consumers of all demographics, Tata Tea is today poised to take a quantum leap in terms of growth, relevance and appeal to consumers.

http://www.tatatea.com/pro_packettea_premium.htm

The four Tata Tea brands – Tata Tea Premium (largest selling tea brand in India), Tata Tea Gold, Tata Tea Agni and Tata Tea Life – were advertised and positioned uniquely. These four brands are now brought together under one umbrella brand- Tata Tea. This consolidation and unification of the four brands is aimed at communicating to the consumer a single, unified message in terms of emotional connect. The new campaign leverages the unique position that tea enjoys in Indian culture and attempts to transform tea from a physical and emotional revitaliser to a catalyst for ‘social awakening’.

As Mr. Percy Siganporia, Dy. Managing Director, Tata Tea Limited, commented:

“In India tea is much more than just a beverage; it is indeed a way of life. It is so deeply embedded in our psyche, in our roots, and our culture that we cannot imagine life without a cup of steaming hot tea. The new campaign will migrate Tata Tea from being a physically and emotionally revitalizing tea experience to one that will challenge the consumer’s intellect to “awaken” to what is around them. It will motivate people to internalize the tea experience and externalize their social awakening. It is probably the first time that any brand is taking on the mantle of social responsibility in such a manner. The campaign will also provide a poignant platform for connection with the youth.”

Birth of www.jaagore.com

Thus to create a social awakening at such a large scale the need was to select a product which is a mass product and one with which all segments of consumers associate. Voting is the biggest power in democracy and a cause with which an average citizen identifies. Hence, a natural synergy between the cause and the product. Further to encourage individuals to register to vote without having to go through public systems, a website www.jaagore.com was created.

STRATEGY, PROMOTIONS AND ADVERTISEMENT

Since the campaign size is at such a large scale, the strategy has plans to deploy a mega approach to connect with the consumer at all possible touch points. Television is the lynchpin of the campaign. Television Commercials are shown at regular interval. Each of the commercials touch upon one relevant social issue. Further the site provides all the required information on the issue, allowing consumers to interact and provide solutions. Along with television and the website, the campaign also uses radio, press, shop level visibility and the new outdoor medium of malls and multiplexes to drive home the message of Jaago Re.

To hit right on the mind of the viewer, the promotion started with a very catchy line, “Jaago re, Jaago re, Jaaaaaaaaaaaaggggoooo reeeeeee”. In its very first advertisement, it shows a youth interviewing an election candidate and asking him to awaken himself. The candidate’s taking things for granted is matched with his sleeping state. It was followed by a few small ads like naming badly constructed roads full of potholes after the contractor and the latest ad where two guys are shown distributing tea on the day of elections to a bunch of people.

Tata Tea is promoted in a very subtle but clearly memorable manner.

INNOVATION USING TECHNOLOGY

The uniqueness of this campaign is the way technology has been innovatively leveraged to address the fundamental challenges in voter registration process.

Problems that the Common Man face

There are many hurdles which citizens face in the current voter registration process, enough to test the patience of even the most determined citizen! The issues vary from getting accurate answers on -

v How the process exactly works

v Knowing your Assembly Constituency

v Where to drop your registration form

v Whether you have made it to the voter list or not etc.

Integrating the latest advances in internet and mobile technologies in a seamless manner, Jaago Re! One Billion Votes and its website www.jaagore.com, aim to provide a one-stop-shop solution to all your voting needs. The website has an easy go through interface with following features:

v It’s fairly simple and easy to navigate.

v Quite self explanatory and matter of fact

v Interesting interface

v A comprehensive list of FAQ’s and sensible bifurcation between the different kinds of voters’ query.

v Good content from information and educational point of view.

VALUE PROPOSITION

This campaign is started with a vision to transform tea from a medium of mere physical & mental rejuvenation to a medium of social awakening especially the youth. It is meant for all those who feel an itch to do something revolutionary in a positive way. A quick assessment among those who have watched the ad campaign on television shows that it propels the individual to stand up and voice his/her opinion. So its talks about the awakening of the minds each morning and to do something bold.

TARGET MARKET

The campaign focuses on empowering the youth of India to lead the change they are seeking. Undoubtedly, the driving forces behind the campaign are a bunch of passionate youth themselves.

The youth of India have the passion and potential to make a difference, what is missing is an enabling platform. This is what Jaago Re! One Billion Votes aims to provide. The campaign provides opportunities and tools to the youth to run their own voter registration drive – amongst their friends, community or at their campuses – and even track the number of people they have registered at www.jaagore.com.

After establishing the concept of Jaago Re, it was time to take it to its further levels. And the upcoming biggest event in the country is the general assembly election. This segment is educated, tech-savvy and has a modern outlook. And yet, it is indifferent and cynical towards elections, and unaware and disinterested about voting.

So 2008 campaign, One Billion Votes, aims to awaken the entire country, including the youth. To facilitate this campaign on-ground, Tata Tea has tied up with Janaagraha, which has a background in social awakening. With plans to create awareness in colleges and organizations in 35 cities across the nation, One Billion votes will create a platform to help the people vote. The take away message of their on-ground and online campaign being, "If on Election day you're not voting then you're sleeping".

PARTNERS

LOK SATTA

Lok Satta Movement is India’s leading civil society initiative and people’s movement for wide-ranging governance and political reforms. The movement is driving the electoral and governance reform agenda of the country with several notable

successes to its credit such as the Public Discloser Law and the Right to Information Act (RTI).

Lok Satta has experience in similar campaign e.g. Lok Satta launched a national platform called “Vote India” in partnership with several organizations to spearhead the campaign for political reform. Likewise it launched “Vote Police” for police reform and “Vote Mumbai is a campaign for Urban Governance Reform.

http://www.loksatta.org/sites/

PRIA

PRIA founders believed in two principles of development:

v Participatory Research believes in the intrinsic value of people’s knowledge as a basis for their own empowerment

v Participatory Development is a process whereby people are empowered for planning and implementing their own development plans.

These two principles of participation were applied in a variety of settings and contexts:

v Women’s education and their livelihood

v Forests and tribal’s rights

v Workers’ Education and Occupational Health

v Literacy and continuing education

PRIA’s vision is to develop a democratic society based on the values of equity and justice. PRIA intervenes directly at the local level in the eight states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal. With the support of its core group of partners PRIA further extends this approach to the states of Gujarat, Kerala,

Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. PRIA’s interventions in each state are woven around relevant issues and themes ensuring delivery of development through the effective and accountable functioning of local governance.

YAHOO

Yahoo! India (www.yahoo.in), launched in June 2000, has established itself as the pioneering and leading Internet portal providing value added services for Web users in India and users abroad with special interest in India.

Yahoo! India seeks to provide a compelling web experience to Internet users. A full range of tools and marketing solutions from Yahoo! India help businesses connect with Internet users and make it a ‘must-buy’ partner of choice for advertisers, globally. Yahoo! India also offers an array of communications, commerce and content services that serve as a starting point for online needs of Internet users.

The “Jaago Re” campaign is a unique campaign undertaken by TATA. Along with creating a general awareness in India regarding election, reservation and taxation system it also projected the image of TATA Tea as the brand leader in its segment. This campaign as of now has revolutionized the youth as more than 170000 users have already registered by January 2009.

The challenge before the JANAAGRAHA and TATA was whether they would be able to succeed in creating this awareness. Even if they did, how to ensure that the people actually go to vote on the Election Day and the consumer believes in and buys Tata Tea. As one of the marketer commented “the success of a campaign lies in getting the consumer to believe in it and buy or act in the manner in which the organization want him or her to act”. The test of the campaign, therefore, would be 2009 election and market share gain for Tata Tea.

Another challenge was that of reaching out to the younger generation across India in their own language. The cost of the project is yet another issue that JANAAGRAHA would have to consider. Can this cause be marketed through funds generated by all those who commit to the cause?

References:

http://www.indian-elections.com/

http://www.jaagore.com/

http://janaagraha.org/

http://www.mapsofindia.com/india-demographics.html

Author:

Prof. Suvendu Kumar Pratihari

Asst. Professor, Marketing Area

Institute of Management and Information Science

Bhubaneswar

E-Mail: spratihari@imis.ac.in, suvendupratihari@gmail.com