CASE STUDY: Vritti i-Media’s free agricultural advisory for Maharashtra’s farmers

April 28th, 2012 | Posted by vrittivaani in Client campaigns - (1 Comments)

Farmers are our bread-baskets. To ensure their well-being, the Central government is increasingly creating several knowledge facilities like the Kisan Call Centre that enlightens farmers about various government schemes, farming tips, and more. Several state governments are mirroring these initiatives to provide similar facilities at the local level.

The Concerns

For Maharashtra, the welfare of farmers in the state is a critical issue at an economic as well as socio-political level. Thus, following the steps of the Central government, the department of agriculture under the Maharashtra government has established an agro advisory feed in 2011. The ultimate objective of the initiative was to provide expert agricultural advice to farmers in Maharashtra. The problem was disseminating this information to rural audiences. For the most part, villagers live in media darkness. Due to illiteracy, they cannot or may not be inclined to read useful and informative printed material. Due to poverty or inadequate local infrastructure, they may not have access to broadcast media like TVs and radios.

Traditionally, melas and haats have been preferred modes of rural communication, since they allow communication with a large number of people with minimal effort. However, such events do not offer an appropriate ambience for educating farmers. The solution was determining where rural folk congregate in adequate numbers and could be in a receptive state so as to readily assimilate the communication.

The Remedy

The audio medium emerged as a perfect mode of broadcasting informative messages, while district bus-stations were thought of as apt venues for the exercise. To this end, Vritti i-Media’s audio advertising network at Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus stands became an effective point of contact with the non-metro audience. Sound reasoning supported the selection of this peculiar medium. As media like OOH and public address systems are not dependent on power availability or literacy rate in villages, it is one of the surest ways to connect with rural audiences. MSRTC buses are among the main modes of transport for farmers in rural Maharashtra. Bus stations are, therefore, essentially transport hubs that gather huge numbers of people. This makes them opportune for mass communicating information and promotions. The agro advisories are suggestions by the state’s expert agriculturists and broadcasted in a format where they are intertwined with bus timing-announcements at regular intervals.

Through these advisories, farmers were able to gain knowledge about purchasing quality seeds, recognising the quality and quantity of produce in the coming harvest, simplified information on market prices and seasonal crops, as well as the correct use of fertilisers and hybrid seeds. More importantly, since farmers need financial education to increase their financial stability, the medium is also used to inform farmers about various beneficial government plans, the procedure of application to these programmes and the advantages they may gain from them.  In the absence of such an initiative by the state government, farmers would have no means to receive such valuable information.

The Vritti i-Media Edge

Vritti i-Media, being the only agency authorised to run audio advertisements at MSRTC’s bus depots, offers an effective audio medium to advertisers at more than 80 locations in Maharashtra. This medium touches about 10.3 crore people a month. Therefore, the agro advisory initiative has met success in keeping local farmers updated with the latest technologies and techniques in farming and increasing their awareness about conducting agriculture viably.

The audio medium of public address systems at MSRTC bus-stands has ensured the customisation of information. The medium facilitated the dissemination of information or advice specific to the location where it is heard, making the messaging relevant to the types of crops grown in the region. For instance, for the Konkan region, which is the highest cultivator of mangoes, messages are customised to provide solutions for better mango cultivation or how to get rid of the specific pests likely to affect the mango produce given the local climate and solutions. Since this timely, location-specific manner of information dissemination picked-up among farmers in Maharashtra, the state government has received overwhelming response very quickly. The farmers are reaping the benefits of this initiative at no cost, while performing the mundane task of travelling to their destinations. This widely successful campaign enabled the Maharashtra Government to receive a Gold award at the National Awards on E-Governance.

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Public address systems at bus stations: the latest means of promotion

September 14th, 2011 | Posted by vrittivaani in Media Coverage - (1 Comments)
The public address systemsuddenly comes alive with an announcement; a pause of a few seconds and then there’s music. Immediately after the music, there’s an ad hawking a brand, followed closely by an announcement. This may well be in-store radio at a swanky mall or supermarket in Mumbai. But it isn’t. It’s actually the PA system inside a teeming state transport bus station in Satara district in Maharashtra. Nothing extraordinary, one may assume, for a system announcing the arrival and departure of buses from the depot. But what’s interesting is instead of garbled announcements that hurtle even faster than a state transport bus at breakneck speed, the message is clear and audible without static. And it’s controlled from a hub situated hundreds of miles away in the city of Pune. From there, in a classic example of technology meeting a media platform, an online network relays the bus timings, commercials and music across 88 state transport bus terminuses in Maharashtra.”There are no music jingles in this medium. One takes a normal pitch voice and the brand gets repeated every 5 seconds in a 20 second ad. One can’t even play on low or high pitch as audio quality is critical in the din inside the bus station,” says Veerendra Jamdade, CEO, Vritti Solutions, the company behind the automated public address system. Vritti Solutions began as an IT solutions provider but quickly transformed into applying these to media. A passenger information system developed by the company caught MSRTC’s ( Maharashtra State Road Transport Corp) eye and they asked Vritti to do a pilot across 19 bus stations in the state in 2007. Installed across the state today, the system touches around 3.5 million passengers using the state transport network.

Rajesh Radhakrishnan, director at Vritti Solutions who also handles marketing, says that while the tier 2 & 3 towns may not exactly be media dark areas, audio and audio-visuals works best especially at a catchment like bus stations. Back in 2007, the company was clocking a turnover of Rs 50 lakh. In 2010, it touched Rs 6 crore with the automated public announcement service providing the lion’s share of the revenues.

In small towns and villages, marketers often find themselves challenged when it comes to choosing the right media. In such a scenario, targeting roadways – the lifeline of connectivity – is a force multiplier. For instance, using the automated public address in bus stations in Maharashtra, brands like State Bank of India (SBI) ran a campaign on loans. “While the 20 day campaign generated Rs 550 crore worth of enquiries, the communication also gave examples of a sarpanch (headman) of a village talking about availing loans and repaying on time. That way SBI was able to touch upon NPAs (non-performing assets) arising out of non-payments,” says Radhakrishnan of Vritti.

In June 2010, Uninor launched its services in Maharashtra and the target market was small towns and villages. “There are no regional newspapers that reach out to these markets nor are there local radio stations. Yes, television penetration is high, but it’s not cost effective,” says Rajeev Sharma who is circle business head – Maharashtra & Goa at Uninor. It was during the Pandharpur yatra, a religious congregation that takes place in July-August in Solapur, Maharashtra, that Sharma sensed the opportunity of using bus stations to target the masses travelling for the festival. “Bus stations are huge catchments, but the outdoors in and around them are completely taken by the local brands. The automated audio that’s digitally controlled thus ensuring audibility, one can say proved to be the clutter breaker in announcing the brand to the audience,” he states.

However, audio medium has to complement other below-the-line activities that marketers undertake, because at best, even in the case of automated public address, it spreads the message and generates word of mouth. But conversions, trials and usage at POS happen through on-ground activation. “Media such as public address cannot be a substitute for other activities. It has to ride tandem with activities like van media, road shows at the mandis, bus stations or the town circle. Conversions happen when people are able to see and touch the product,” says Khurram Askari, CEO, Insight Connect, a small town & rural marketing specialist agency based out of Hyderabad.

Vritti’s experiments with a digital audio systems shows that technology can play a role in reaching out to the far flung markets. But the usage of technology has to be in line with the touch points that the people in these markets are accustomed to and use regularly. Else the chasm between India and Bharat will continue to grow.

Source: Economic Times

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