The Hindu Business Line : On the Jatra trail

All the world’s a stage: CavinKare has tied up with the Bardoichila troupe’s play ‘Ajanite Bhangi Gal Bukur Ghar’ (The Hearth is Broken Unknowingly) to build equity for the Fairever brand.

Sravanthi Challapalli

It’s a difficult terrain to negotiate, not just physically but even figuratively – for marketers it’s not just the hills and mountains that present a distribution challenge. The media options in this region are limited, especially w hen it comes to the print medium. The reach of media is very poor as well, as the bulk of the population lives in the rural regions. Even entertainment options are restricted with many villages sporting not even a single cinema hall, and brand-building has to get around these lacunae, going beyond the traditional media. Slowly but steadily, however, a clutch of companies is tying up with Jatra (mobile theatre) groups that are popular in the rural North-East.

The resurgence of Jatra’s popularity is helping. Says Soumik Chakraborthy, Marketing Manager of the Chennai-based CavinKare, which has tied up with the Bardoichila troupe to build the Fairever brand in Assam: “Now actors from cinema and TV also act in Jatra shows – they even take a break from their screen assignments to do this. For some of them, it’s an opportunity to go back to their roots. And it’s a great opportunity to reach out.” Opportunities that will help brands trying to make a dent in new markets as well.

Airtel has tied up with a number of troupes to cover various regions. Jatra or mobile folk theatre is an old tradition in the East and North-East of India. Visiting troupes of actors and crew members tour villages putting up shows, the themes of which have evolved with time, running the gamut from mythology and folklore to college romances.

“It’s an active platform to talk to the rural people and makes for great local connect,” says Sudipto Chowdhury, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Airtel (North-Eastern States & Assam). Not only is it an awareness and education opportunity for companies but it’s also helping a folk form that has been cash-strapped and is looking for a revival plan, he says. This is the second year Airtel is tying up with Jatra troupes for CavinKare, it’s the first.

Originally featuring stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Jatra plays are now set in modern times and themes are social and current, from Hindu-Muslim unity to college romances. The plays are staged after the monsoon ends, in September-December, but marketing starts earlier in May and June.

The village Panchayat, which pays the troupe(s) an advance, considers past record before committing to a performance, and may even hedge its risks by inviting more than one troupe. Usually, a single troupe does not perform for more than two days in the same village.

Chakraborthy of CavinKare says the entire process offers a brand-building opportunity, through sampling, co-branding of banners and seats and of course, the script of the play. In Phase 1, when the Jatra is promoted in the village, the company undertakes sampling through vans co-branded with the details of the Jatra and the brand, with the permission of the Panchayat. In Phase II, which is usually a reminder to the villages about the shows and a pitch so that the village puts its money behind the Jatra, there is more sampling, leaflets are distributed and the hoardings for the Jatra are put up.

In the final phase, when the play is staged, there could be another round of sampling, more visual branding and the message is dispersed through the content. The marketer does not get to see the script till close to the date of staging. “Our only stipulation is that the message should not be a force-fit,” says Chakraborthy.

The shows are quite technology-heavy as they use a lot of sound and lighting equipment. Chowdhury of Airtel says that tying up with marketers has also afforded the troupes a chance to be more sophisticated. “For instance, if it’s about the Titanic sinking, we could use LCD projectors to depict that on the backdrop,” he explains. Earlier, details of the cast were mentioned on a poster or a board, now it can be done on screen. Airtel has tied up with the top five Jatra troupes in the North-East and may tie up with more for wider coverage.

In the case of Fairever, the message to be communicated is that beauty will boost confidence; in Airtel’s case, it has turned out to be an educational opportunity in a rural area – through the play and in the environs, consumers are made aware of the brand, taught how to send a text message, download a ring tone … Airtel has even put up its service counters at plays in villages where there is no such facility for customers.

CavinKare’s Chakraborthy says the marketer finances about 10-12 per cent of the show’s cost. According to Chowdhury of Airtel, each of the tie-ups for the whole year will cost a couple of lakhs, and the cost of the collaterals is about Rs 2-3 lakh. Collaterals include the co-branded T-shirts worn by the crew, and so on. All the vehicles – buses, trucks, are branded. There’s branding on-stage and on the tickets as well. The troupe owner gets the sponsorship money. However, if worldly-wise agents are roped in to liaison and negotiate with the brands, they get about 30 per cent of that, says Chowdhury. There’s a central agency coming up to coordinate these deals, he says.

Earlier, it was the local brands that tied up with Jatra troupes to build a market; in the last 2-3 years, even the national brands are doing that.

The initial results seem to be good, says Chakraborthy, the distributors and retailers are talking about it far more than earlier. Not only is there the benefit of “repeat exposure” due to the branding and sampling opportunities presented by the various phases of the Jatra’s planning, but as the brand message is presented through the entertainment medium, the mind is more open to receiving it, he says.

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