WASHING

HANDS FREQUENTLY

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the course

Marketing II

Instructor: Prof. Dheeraj Sharma

Academic Associate: Mr. Javed Shaikh

Submitted on October 14, 2015

Group A8:

Siddharth Daga
Chandra Palekar
Debesh Kuanr
Biplob Rana
Navin Kumar Gurnani
Rishi Adepwar

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, AHMEDABAD

 WASHING HANDS FREQUENTLY
For the purpose of this assignment, we shall assume the role of an NGO
Water & sanitation are among the most important determinants of public health. In most developing
nations, unclean water supply and poor sanitation expose men, women and children to a multitude of
diseases that lower productivity, and can be fatal for those with weak immune systems such as children
and the elderly. In fact, 31% of all deaths in South Asia are due to infectious diseases. Globally, 1.8 million
people die every year due to diarrhoeal diseases and 88% of such death can be attributed to unsafe water
supply, and poor sanitation and hygiene practices. Young children and their mothers in developing
countries fail to wash their hand adequately after contact with fecal matter. The magnitude of the problem
is more in urban slums with reduced access to safe water and sanitation. At the same time, it has been
reported that clean water and hand-washing are the most cost-effective method for prevention of such
diseases. Handwashing with soap can reduce the occurrence of diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory
infections by as much as 30 and 40% respectively. Incidentally, these are also the primary causes of child
deaths in India. It has been estimated that only 31% of Indians use improved sanitation. (The
corresponding figure for rural India is 21%).
Thus, spreading awareness regarding sanitation and hygiene by washing hands frequently is the true
purpose of our NGO. We shall explore how we shall go about in further detail below.
CONTOURS OF THE SCHEME:
Dimensions such as Reliability and Assurance in terms of improved health and education are considered in
preparing a plan for introducing and enhancing the behaviour surrounding hand washing.
Children in the age group of 5 to 15 from rural areas and belonging to R3 and R4 classes (as developed by
MRSI) are chosen as the target segment. Thus, the children are treated as the users. Since villages in India
have a very community-oriented society, wherein the opinions of the elders are highly respected, involving
the Panchayat and Sarpanch in the promotional activities can increase their impact. They effectively serve
as the influencers and gatekeepers to the rural market. Even the family elders can play a significant role in
influencing the hand-washing behaviour of children. This is particularly true of mothers whom we see as
the buyers and influencers. Furthermore, we believe that awareness among children can be increased not
only through proper guidance from elders and teachers but also through promotional activities directed at
them.
The efficacy of the scheme can be measured by the following testing methods:
1. Comparing the occurrence of diarrheal diseases before and after the introduction of scheme
2. Surveys to ensure if the families, especially children follow the suggested practices: This may also
include observational studies, although we understand that such studies may not provide us with
unbiased data because our very presence might induce more hand-washing in the observed
3. The rate of increase in use of hand washing products
4. Presence of at least one hand-washing product in the house
5. Exams can be introduced in schools to test the knowledge and importance of hand washing behaviour
among children.
COMMUNICATION PLAN:
MEDIA
The message that handwashing is beneficial is to be transmitted through an optimized mix of radio, TV,
and other channels. These media can prove to have low cost per capita and be highly memorable, which
can help raise the political and social profile of hand washing.
Mass media such as posters, comic books, brochures, soap distributors and public marketing events can be
used to do the same depending on their area specific usage. However, as per the cost management plan
we will be focusing on the later part and the Government will be contacted to facilitate the communication
through TV and Radio as a part of its cleanliness campaign.
Different promotional schemes can be applied in different localities and the results can be compared to
find out the medium, which has the maximum impact in a given context. The specific aspects to be
evaluated include (i) self-reported recollection of exposure to hand washing messages (ii) knowledge
about the best way to wash hands (iii) availability of soap and water in the home at a place convenient
for hand washing at critical times (iv) self-reported hand washing with soap (v) observed hand washing
with soap (vi) environmental contamination and (vii) child health.
These promotional activities can include:

Event Content Purpose

CSR events Approach different corporate organizations to Overall increase of awareness
organize events in order to promote social and in a defined approach
environmental concerns
Public Channels Using government agencies to deliver messages Provide maximum reach to the
about hand washing behaviour through various message and include it in
health centres and schools school curriculam and job
description of health agents
Meeting with Photograph village chairperson washing hands to Gain support of leadership and
village support the campaign prominent individuals
chairperson
Community Speech by village chairperson by door-to-door visit Showcase approval of
events and putting street plays. leadership Use emotional
motivators such as nurture,
disgust and status
School events Demonstration of correct method of hand washing Educational purposes Children
and Explaining its importance using flipcharts may influence the habits of
Ensuring presence of adequate facilities in schools the family Ensure access to
for washing hands sanitary facilities Generate
interest Rewards for taking
Posters put up near classrooms and washrooms
part in the campaign
Games promoting good hygiene practices
Gifts/Certificates for participants
Soap producing Tie up with organizations producing soaps in order Create awareness about
companies to advertise the products as well as the behaviour sanitation products

COST MANAGEMENT MODEL:
As an NGO, our stated objective is to spread awareness regarding hand-washing among children in the age
group of 5-15. The desire is to reduce the occurrence of infections and help improve public health. In order
to be able to contribute in a meaningful and significant manner to this cause, it is imperative to ensure our
long run sustainability and competitiveness. As is typically the case with NGOs, profit is not a motive and
we need to ensure that (i) value derived out of each Rupee spent is maximized or alternatively, costs are
minimized & (ii) sufficient funds are generated to enable us to reach our targets.
COST MINIMIZATION
The first step towards cost minimization is cost identification. Costs can essentially be categorized as
below:

Personnel
Costs

Oce &
Infrastructure Material
Costs
Costs
Type of
Costs

Services
provided by Travelling
Costs
3rd Par_es

Figure 1: Costs involved in running the NGO
Of these, we estimate the primary costs shall be incurred on personnel, material & travelling and therefore
explore them & ways to reduce them in further detail.

Cost Description Measures for reduction

1. Hiring volunteers instead of full-time
employees
2. Increasing the productivity through
Personnel Salaries & benefits of staff workers and
linkage of pay to performance or
Costs management
achievement of goals
3. Reducing staff turnover to minimize
training costs
1. Waste reduction & elimination
Costs associated with promotional
Material 2. Renegotiation of purchase prices
material such as pamphlets, posters,
Costs 3. Exploration of substitutes and
boards & others
alternates
1. Reduction of off-site meetings &
Costs associated with travel due to conferences
Travelling
project & programs, staff training, off- 2. Exploring sponsored travel wherever
Costs
site meetings & conferences possible
3. Exploring tie-ups & partnerships

COST ANALYSIS FOR 3 YEARS
We would start by hiring 10 representatives who will be given a minimal salary of rupees 5000 per month.
There will be an office manager who will also handle the accounts, allocation of village, progress tracking,
and issue management. He will be given a salary of rupees 10000 per month. There will be a dedicated
team of who will have a key role Sponsorship. Their salary will be tied up with the sponsorship gathered. A
bracket of 5 to 10% will be allocated based on prior experience and time spent the NGO. Most of the
visiting activities will be managed via sponsorship funds. Funds will be also collected via funding activities
from FMCG companies who will be trying to push their product during our engagement with the village
people. Also, government bodies will be approached to take advantage of NBA and NRHM schemes.
Material and travelling cost will be managed via sponsorship funds and tie-ups. Taking a conservative
approach, we would be hiring 1 office manager and 10 more representatives every year. The Sponsorship
activity and the various tie-ups with FMCG companies will keep the keep us on track.

Sponsorship team of 5
Rupees 10000+50000 have to manage a

Year 1 per month for oce

manager and
representa_ves
sponsorship amount of
around 100000 per
month to keep the NGO
aoat

Sponsorship team of 10
Rupees 20000+ have to manage a

Year 2
100000 per month sponsorship amount of
for the oce around 200000 per
manager and the month to keep the NGO
representa_ves aoat

Sponsorship team of
15 have to manage
Rupees 30000+ 150000 per

Year 3
a sponsorship
month for the oce
amount of around
manager and the
300000 per month
representa_ves
to keep the NGO
aoat

MARKET SIZE REACH
The representatives will be the key drivers of reaching out to people and they will be instructed by the
office manager to visit the villages. Prepaid Money cards will be allocated to the representatives to manage
funds during their visit. India has a rural population of 742,490,639 [1], which is also the population size of
our target segment. Now, there are about 638,000[2] villages in India. This gives a cover area of around
1100 plus people in each village. The larger villages will be covered in 4 days, medium in 3 days and smaller
in 2 days. This will include travel time, village presentation and activities. The representatives will work for
6 days a week. Giving us an average of 2 villages covered per week per representative. Ten representatives
will cover 2 X 10 X 52 => 1040 village per year. Next year this number will reach 2080 village and the third
year will have 3120 villages. Each village will have an average of 1100 people means 220 households thus
covering 228800 household i.e. more than 1 million people in the first year. This will make us reach a
market of 6 million people in the first 3 years of operations.


REVENUE GENERATION
There are three important ways of generating/raising funds to provide for our operations.
1. Government: The Government of India operates a centrally sponsored scheme called Nirmal Bharat
Abhiyan as well as the National Rural Health Mission. These measures are aimed at improving public
health through improved sanitation and hygiene. The Government of India could be approached to
allow us to act as third party service providers in achieving its targets. The arrangement would involve
us providing expertise and services in the field of promoting awareness in exchange for funds. In order
to ensure a sustainable relationship, the following measures can be taken:
a. Joint setting of quantifiable & qualitative targets such as villages & schools reached &
households visited.
b. Government officials to be allowed to accompany & observe NGO employees in their activities.
c. Submission of detailed, periodic reports of steps taken and targets achieved.

2. Donations/Sponsorships: The funds can be generated from individuals, trusts & institutions willing to
donate to the cause. Such sources will necessarily need to share our vision of a disease free India. They
can be approached individually, or en masse by arranging a conference or a seminar to raise awareness
to the issue of poor sanitation among rural children. The drawback of this method is (a) the difficulty in
securing the first few rounds of funding as we will not have a proven track record or a strong
establishment to generate trust & (b) uncertainty surrounding the sustainability & uniformity of
donations year after year. At the same time, if we were to get recognized for our efforts, the donations
would become much easier to come by.

3. Partnerships with Producers of Handwash Products: The awareness raised by our efforts is likely to
result in an increased usage of handwash products in two ways (a) More children shall be interested
in washing hands & (b) the children will wash hands more frequently as well. The result will be an
increased demand for handwash products made by FMCG firms such as HUL, RB and so on. Such firms
can be approached to explore a partnership wherein we shall benefit from the funds provided by these
firms and the firms will benefit as follows:
a. Increased sales for their products
b. Increased brand goodwill and reputation
c. CSR target realizations

COMPETITION
Considering that we are providing a social service, competition is not a relevant threat to us. Also, given
the sheer size of the target market, there is actually a need for other NGOs and bodies to help promote
awareness regarding the needs and benefits of hand-washing.
DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL STRUCTURE:
BASES SELECTION: OVERCOMING DISCREPANCIES
The distribution points will be selected keeping in basis about the various discrepancies, which can occur
Discrepancy of quantity: The revisits by the members of the NGO to the villages and conducting seminars
will be on a month on month basis in order to not overdo the activities, which might hamper the relations
with the village leaders and lose the sense of trust built.
Discrepancy of Assortment: Since, we will be promoting the use of hand wash; people in the village might
have other concerns such as availability of water. Hence, along with promoting hand wash, our village
representatives will also help the people understand proper usage of water conservation. Rainwater
harvesting can also be one the measures used.
Temporal Discrepancy: Instances may occur that the people in the village may not be ready to for the hand
wash which can be due to various reasons (draught, natural disasters). Hence, a clear segmenting of
villages will be done by the village representatives who will factor in temporal discrepancy accordingly
prioritize the order in which they will visit the village.
Spatial Discrepancy: Since, there may be chances that the product may not be readily available in the
access of the village a clear distribution network tie up with various FMCG companies needs to be
established where their product will be promoted by our representatives.
MARKETING CHANNEL

FMCG Distributors
NGO
Representa_ves

The Channel Distribution will be such that the various FMCG companies have a distribution network which
can be tapped to reach out to villages. The companies will be ready to comply because it is a win - win
situation for both the FMCG Company as well as the NGO. The company is able to make its product the
customer along with we would be able to promote our importance of hygiene and health.
CONTACT EFFICIENCY
The rural representatives provide contact efficiency in educating the villagers where the FMCG companies
wont have to contact individually but rather directly with us. Their costs are reduced and core competency
is developed.
CONTINGENCY MEASURES:
1. Water contamination and lack of soaps/hand wash: Having a steady supply of clean water is
imperative for the success of this programme. The source of water in rural areas i.e. tube wells, taps
and small water tanks must be kept clean at all times by the regular use of disinfectants and changing
water frequently. In case of unavailability of water or contamination resulting from any natural disaster
or any other factors, we should ensure an emergency supply of water in the form of water tankers. We
can also tie up with various FMCG companies like RB, Unilever etc. to provide hand sanitizers in case of
non-availability of water. There should also be a plan in place as to how this water shall be distributed
in case of an emergency. The contact information of the relevant authorities of our NGO shall be made
available to the people through display in schools, hospitals or other frequently visited places. The
same goes for supply of soaps, liquid hand wash etc. We should maintain adequate soaps to meet
sudden spikes in demands owing to any unfavourable situation.
2. Proper drainage system for water post hand washing: The accumulation of dirty/contaminated water
post washing hands needs to be properly drained off to ward off any contact with people. As an NGO,
we can associate ourselves with the local governing body or government initiatives to ensure that a
suitable drainage system is in place. Alternate drainage channels should be built to ensure proper
drainage during floods, clogging etc.
3. Breakout of diseases: In the event of an outbreak of a disease stemming from the lack of hand washing
practices or contamination of water, we can provide medicines to stop the spread of the diseases. This
can be done by asking people to voluntary donate the less-frequently used medicines which are not
likely to be used frequently. We can also procure medicines through the local government bodies or tie
up with the local clinics/hospitals to cater to this demand in a worst-case scenario.
ROADBLOCKS:
There are certain roadblocks that can be envisaged in the delivery of this service:
1. Language Barrier: There are 22 scheduled languages, 100 non-scheduled languages and 216
mother tongues each language having multiple dialects requiring multiple translations and
associated problems.
2. Access to Buyers and Influencers: Poor access to women respondents for male marketers in the
rural setting is an impeding factor in effective delivery of service. This can be overcome by involving
women in the campaigns.
3. Geographical Dispersion: There is wide geographical dispersion with low population density.
SUCCESS FACTORS:
The key success factors in the implementation of the hand-washing programme are:
1. Training and education: It involves imparting the right kind of hand-washing techniques to the main
stakeholders (parents, children, teachers, local government bodies) through seminars, meetings at the
village level, schools etc.
2. Availability of basic necessities for hand washing: This includes access to clean, running water, hand
wash/soaps/alcohol based hand rub at the point of care and clean towels.
3. Periodic evaluation and feedback: The NGO will undertake constant surveys/observation to monitor the
progress of the hand-washing programme. The key indicators like fall/growth in the instances of water
borne diseases, change in number of people washing hands, frequency of hand washing will be monitored
to ensure that the programme serves its purposes.

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