17 Jun 2010, 0143 hrs IST,Harsimran Julka,ET
NEW DELHI: Like all campaigns worth their salt, this one too will kick off with posters at the usual spots: village haats, river ghats, bus stops and paan shops. The radio and TV ads will take over from there until the committed band of individual volunteers carry the message personally to the masses. Only, no one will urge you to vote.
India’s ambitious Unique ID programme is entering the field donning the garb of a poll campaign, and a core committee of marketing experts have chalked out the contours of a plan to make the Aadhar brand universal. The positioning: Aadhar as a reliable family friend or someone with great strength and integrity.
One of the panelists, Santosh Desai of Future Brands, says the Aadhar campaign will be the largest ever social campaign without question as it will include children too. "The basic challenge is demand generation, as it’s a voluntary programme. But the disadvantaged in the society do feel a strong need for such an equaliser. Those will be a focus audience for us," he says.
The panel comprising top names in Indian advertising have identified about 1.5 crore retail points for communication including kiranas, music shops, halwais, auto rickshaw stands, music shops, mechanics, and cycle repair shops. About 100 major melas (like Pushkar, Surajkund), and 7100 major mandis, and 41,000 haats have also been identified as communication points.
Kiran Khalap, chairman of the Awareness and Communication strategy Advisory Council at UIDAI, says that post the registrar and agent education program, there needs to be a whole team of influencers who could potentially make people understand the need for Aadhar and mobilise them during time of enrollment. Mr Khalap, CEO of Chlorophyll brand & communications consultancy, is joined in the panel by P&G India marketing head Sumeet Vohra, and UIDAI’s head for demand generation for UIDs Shankar Maruwada.
The government plans to enroll about 600 million citizens in the next two years, and complete the 1.2 billion enrollments thereafter. The influencers will include about 30 lakh influential retailers (out of 1.5 crore total retailers), Anganwadi/Asha workers (about 1.5 lakh), rural post offices (1.3 lakh), besides the 600 district magistrates and 7,000 block officers. Besides, the Unique ID Authority of India plans to train about 1.04 lakh agents, who will directly help in the enrolling process. For that it has already invited applications from private companies.
Railway stations may also ring with songs exhorting the benefits of getting Aadhar in Hindi. Besides, sporting events like wrestling and cricket tournaments, and cinema will also adorn Aadhar ads. The government may also consider a celebrity endorser.
For its media strategy, the government will use outdoor media such as handouts, wall paintings, banners, infomercials and interpersonal media such as songs and drama for communication. Regular media such as FM radio, TV, Doordarshan, Cable operators, SMS, community radio will also be used. Interactive voice response will be used via mobile services to make people aware of Aadhar, like it’s used by political parties during campaigning. The government will use outdoor media such as handouts, wall paintings, banners, infomercials and interpersonal media such as songs and drama for communication. Percept/H is the creative agency for Aadhar’s pilot phase. India’s ambitious Unique ID programme is entering the field donning the garb of a poll campaign, and a core committee of marketing experts have chalked out the contours of a plan to make the Aadhar brand universal. The positioning: Aadhar as a reliable family friend or someone with great strength and integrity.
One of the panelists, Santosh Desai of Future Brands, says the Aadhar campaign will be the largest ever social campaign without question as it will include children too. "The basic challenge is demand generation, as it’s a voluntary programme. But the disadvantaged in the society do feel a strong need for such an equaliser. Those will be a focus audience for us," he says.
The panel comprising top names in Indian advertising have identified about 1.5 crore retail points for communication including kiranas, music shops, halwais, auto rickshaw stands, music shops, mechanics, and cycle repair shops. About 100 major melas (like Pushkar, Surajkund), and 7100 major mandis, and 41,000 haats have also been identified as communication points.
Kiran Khalap, chairman of the Awareness and Communication strategy Advisory Council at UIDAI, says that post the registrar and agent education program, there needs to be a whole team of influencers who could potentially make people understand the need for Aadhar and mobilise them during time of enrollment. Mr Khalap, CEO of Chlorophyll brand & communications consultancy, is joined in the panel by P&G India marketing head Sumeet Vohra, and UIDAI’s head for demand generation for UIDs Shankar Maruwada.
The government plans to enroll about 600 million citizens in the next two years, and complete the 1.2 billion enrollments thereafter. The influencers will include about 30 lakh influential retailers (out of 1.5 crore total retailers), Anganwadi/Asha workers (about 1.5 lakh), rural post offices (1.3 lakh), besides the 600 district magistrates and 7,000 block officers. Besides, the Unique ID Authority of India plans to train about 1.04 lakh agents, who will directly help in the enrolling process. For that it has already invited applications from private companies.
Railway stations may also ring with songs exhorting the benefits of getting Aadhar in Hindi. Besides, sporting events like wrestling and cricket tournaments, and cinema will also adorn Aadhar ads. The government may also consider a celebrity endorser.
The communication will also incur huge costs. In the first phase, about Rs 50 crore is allocated for this year. More money is likely to be released for market research. "The government may spend about 1% of its budget for UIDAI on gathering consumer and market knowledge," says a UIDAI official. The Centre has already allocated about Rs 1,900 crore for UIDAI for this year, about Rs 1,300 crore for which will go towards states. The states will utilise the money for training, communication and setting up enrollment centres.
To build the Aadhar brand, the government plans to create three moments of truth (MOTs) for a citizen undergoing a Unique ID brand experience. The first MOT (F-MOT) will be when a person hears or sees a UIDAI ad. The second MOT( S-MOT) will be when a person starts finding out about enrollment, and finally gets his Aadhar number. The third MOT(T-MOT) will be when Aadhar starts helping them in their daily interactions - with mobile operators, banks, gas agencies, ration providers, NREGA payments, etc.
As motivators, the panel has suggested free pre-natal checkups for women with Aadhar, or access to schools by children of migrant labourers, as benefits for getting people to enrol with Aadhar scheme. Besides, the finance commission will give Rs 100 as incentive to each below poverty line citizen getting enrolled in the Aadhar scheme. The Rs 100 incentive scheme will cost the government about Rs 3,000 crore.
