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The
effectiveness of advertising strategies Perera's equivocation in this controversial topic undermines his own counsel that 'advertising has to be judged against a marketing background'. Is it the task of the ad agency or the marketer to judge the creativity of an ad campaign? Media Advertising This can be illustrated with a practical example. Currently there is a TV advertisement run by a paint company which shows a man stealing a blue coloured panty and replaces it later with a different shade of blue. The pay-off line of the advertisement claims that the paint company can match any colour of paint. This advertisement has been produced abroad and is technically well done as it holds the viewer's attention. However, there were letters to editors of newspapers by the public condemning the ad claiming that it is out of taste in our local culture. In a country like the UK it may be a successful advertisement but in the local context it may not be an "effective'' advertisement. After all, the effectiveness of an advertisement does not rest on the advertisement but in the complex role of marketing communications and to judge the advertisement on its ''creativity'' is a futile exercise. Body movements The body movements of Sri Lankan women are different to Indians because we fall into a different culture or even a sub-culture of the Indian continent. Therefore, a different message (possibly a ridicule of the brand) was generated in that TV ad. Psychology plays a great part in cognizing a message of a TV ad by consumers and body language (acting) contributes at least 50% to the structured message of a TV ad. The nuances of TV ads are so subtle. Appealing
advertisements On the other hand the masses who watch cricket, tele-dramas or music videos want appealing or pleasant advertisements. The politics of this mass-culture may have adverse responses to using female models as sex symbols or deployment of children in advertisements. Beauty or creativity may pay a part in this mass-jungle but it is not the sole prerogative of the ad agency to create advertisements. It is a complex process involving marketing strategy. In order to achieve the marketer's objectives an ad campaign has to be fine-tuned and research plays a big part. However, balancing creative proposals of an ad agency with the objective research findings is the job of a professional marketer. Therefore 'effectiveness' of an ad campaign is a marketing decision and not an advertising decision. Godwin Perera has highlighted the importance of client/agency relationship in creating appealing ad campaigns. In the local scenario, unfortunately, there is a lack of marketing personnel who are well read and tuned to cultural nuances of the masses because our present education system encourages the passing of exams through repetitive tuition. A complaint of the advertising fraternity is that the clients kill their best creative proposals. A mere marketing diploma is hardly a qualification to help the agency to create appealing advertisements. Another reason why good advertising proposals are killed is that marketing is not a subject that is well established within the commercial bureaucracy in the country. Most organisations are headed by people with financial or accountancy backgrounds and they do not understand the importance of the marketing function. Judging advertisements (The writer is a professional marketer who started his career in ad agencies. He was a visiting lecturer in advertising at the Sri Palee campus of the University of Colombo and presently a consultant and visiting lecturer in marketing at the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka). Agromart
opens markets for rural women farmers
Like many others, the young village woman trapped in the poverty cum unemployment cycle saw the JVP as the hope for the future until a women's organisation came to her rescue. "We offered
her training facilities and a guide to marketing agricultural products.
Today she is a top entrepreneur and has even visited Thailand on
one of our study tours," says Beulah Moonasinghe, founder chairperson
of the Agromart Foundation. Helped by USAID in the first few years, Agromart - which runs the country's biggest agricultural fair - now receives funding help from the Netherlands government and the UNDP. Havoc Moonasinghe said the JVP insurgency hit Kurunegala badly. "Village youth who had nothing to do supported the JVP. Most of our good entrepreneurs were actively involved with the JVP. Some women carried JVP pamphlets and documents hidden in bread baskets," she added. Volunteers Agromart didn't get involved in the direct marketing or sale of products by village entrepreneurs. Instead village entrepreneurs were taught to stand on their own by providing them with knowledge, training and a package of services including micro loans ranging from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 150,000 without collateral. The organisation's work has come in for praise from other women's groups. "They have opened markets for rural women and created avenues to sell their products to markets in Colombo," says Sunila Abeysekera, a women's rights activists and a winner of the UN award for human rights in 2000. She said Agromart had trained rural women to improve handicrafts and compete with upmarket products in the capital. "Unlike other products sold in Colombo, the entire income goes to the village and improves the village economy." Biggest achievements The foreign trip for farmers is a rare one in a country where the bulk of the farming population in the arid north-western and central regions have not even visited Colombo or seen the sea. It was in 1989 that Moonasinghe, an exporter of garments and concentrated fruit juice, stumbled on the idea of helping rural women. She was at that time president of the Sri Lanka's Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WCCI) and wanted support for training programmes for rural women but the chamber was not too enthusiastic about the idea. "Most of my growers of passion fruit were women in the north-west region and the village was the main production base," Moonasinghe said recalling how the Agromart Foundation was initiated. Moonasinghe was at that time exporting garments, fruit juice and producing a multi-flavoured ice cream under the Venice brand. "I got linked to the village as it was my production base for passion fruit. I was selling to Carnation Foods in the United States which is now linked to Nestle." Forced to
close She decided to set up her own bakery and with the held of an Agromart loan, she purchased the necessary equipment. Several months later, demand for her bakery products rose and Sumanawathie, using profits from her bakery, started a new grocery store. Her income, according to Agromart officials, is now over 20,000 rupees a month. Farmer R.A. Chandrakanthi from Ampara learnt of Agromart when it conducted a training programme in her village. With a monthly income of 400 rupees from growing foods and cash crops in a three-acre farm, Chandrakanthi cared for her family. She had land but like most farmers lacked sufficient knowledge on farming techniques and management, which she quickly grasped under Agromart's training programmes. Subsequently her income levels rose sharply as farming methods and marketing skills improved. Success stories like this are many in the nearly 700 Agromart-led societies that exist in seven districts, each representing 1,000 to 2,000 families. These societies are run by groups of entrepreneurs who have their own trade fair and training programmes, helped and guided by Agromart. Former JVPer For second-placed winners in the annual competition, Agromart organises trips to local agricultural sites and laboratories. "In addition to our main work we also teach women civic rights, human rights and economic rights and how to cope against sexual harassment," she said. For instance, women in a society in a north-eastern region succeeded in ending alcoholism in the village by reducing demand among the men and forcing cheap illicit bars out of the area. |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Mrs.
L. Hemakanthi seen in her garden at Marawila. The young entrepreneur
was a housewife when she was helped by Agromart to set up a
self-employment business, some years ago. She is now an exporter
of flowers and foliage to the Middle East and other markets.
She was also an Agromart award winner and has visited Thailand.
