The Hindu Business Line : Connections that bind and bond

Sarup Chowdhary, then the product manager for a new polymer ‘polypropylene’, went to market with a message hoping to expand the demand base by 25 times within the ensuing 24 months!

Challenge: The task, as he quickly realised, was not technical; winning the faith of professionals across the industry, end-users and the Government was the key. They had to be educated and persuaded to embrace a new offering that could influence thei r own fortunes?

Authenticity, clarity and simplicity in communication demanded balancing the perceived scale and impact of benefit inherent in the message (X-axis) with their readiness to experiment with it (Y-axis).

Segmented approach

A segmented approach held the key to accessing their fertile minds as they switched over with full conviction and persisted with the pain of transition to reap the fullest benefit.

CAMEO proposition was a 30 second one-shot communication aimed at arresting the attention of a causal entrepreneur. Example: “A one time pain for a lifelong gain — switch to polypropylene and prosper from the annuity savings and needless maintenance!”

JEWEL BOX was an 80-page photo-featured album (handy booklet) for the discerning industrialist. Aptly titled ‘Product in Focus’, it devoted one page each to the 80-odd applications across diverse industry segments, enabling the readers to savour the features at leisure and envision their transition at their own convenience.

THE STAIRCASE guided the early converts in baby-steps sequentially through a transition from their current practice to the superior end-state promised. This ‘can-do’ sentiment generated favourable word of mouth and successive waves of followers as they evangelised change voluntarily.

HI-GAIN QUESTION translated the proposition into a question that was compelling enough to evoke an unambiguously univocal ‘yes’. Example: “If this new product saved forests and stemmed the outflow of precious foreign exchange, would the Government consider a lower excise duty and a higher import duty please?”

Consummate communication

Targeted at decision-makers, they were non-controversial in content and non-patronising in intent as to contain the potential adversaries at bay.

Consummate communication is beyond hype and rhetoric; comprehending the psychology of the audience is not merely an occupational necessity but an obligation the privileged few owe the uninformed majority encouraging the latter to derive significant benefits from what they ought to know but often don’t!

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