2019

PSI – CASE STUDY

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

YOGENDRA SINGH RATHORE

EPGP-11-129
SECTION-A
Question 1:- Should PSI India go for a mass media campaign in its fight against
AIDS? Why?

After going through the case it can be concluded that PSI need instant action to stop the
HIV/AIDS before it gets worse, so mass media could be effective way to reduced HIV/AIDS in
India at this time. Operation Lighthouse had the mass campaign as one of its primary
communication strategies. This project was aiming specifically the post communities across
India. Operation Lighthouse Project is a five-year national HIV/AIDS awareness program
launched in 12 major port communities across India. Mass media, having tremendous outreach,
is the most suitable option to increase awareness regarding HIV/AIDS amongst the citizens of
the country, which has millions afflicted by the ailment. The mass media campaign is the best
way to spread awareness because of the following reasons:

 Primary Target Consumer: PSI India has identified male migrant workers between 18 and
34 as the primary target consumer that is most vulnerable to the risk of HIV/AIDS. It was
important to reach out to the people who were otherwise difficult to access.
 Discussion of the disease publically and safe sex can best be triggered by mass media.
 Men coming from dispersed location who were visiting brothels were increasing in
number, thus creating a challenge for IPCs to successfully contact them.
 Not only prevention is important but the need to DE stigmatize public discussion of the
disease and promote safe sex, talking about which is nearly prohibited in India

Following table the risk status of people for HIV (Exhibit 8)

Group Size HIV Risk Status

Formally employed Port 60,000-80,000 Low
workers
Casually employed port 1,00,000-2,00,000 High
workers
Sailors 20,000 High
Port Security 4,000 - 5,000 High
Truckers 2,00,000 High
Sex Workers 70,000 High
Question 2:- Is the concept proposed by Lowe Lintas a fictional character named
Balbir Pasha better for generating AIDS awareness for highlighting particular barriers
for condom use in the target population (male migrant workers between 18-34 ?

Yes, as the campaign spoke the language of the common man, it was possible for people to
connect with Balbir Pasha and if the execution is done right, it can lead to increased awareness
and better understanding of disease.

The main aim of using Balbir Pasha’s name (a fictional character) was to cover a lot of risk
situations that could lead to AIDS/ HIV to common people without naming any real person and
thus damaging his/her reputation.

If not this, the other alternative was increasing number of IPCs, increase in spending on the
training of IPCs and improving the study materials. All this was feasible but would need a lot of
time and may not provide significant results at least a year in the budget proposed.

Question 3:- Assuming the mass media campaign is approved how should the ad
budget be allocated between the different media? (Assume a campaign that runs for
three months?
In order to make the campaign a success, following conditions should be addressed:

 The amount of population that are under high risk of getting HIV
 The segment of population under high risk of attracting AIDS
 The mass media that can reach these population

Different mediums available and their price:

Media Cost($) Duration

Television 300 35 seconds
Newspaper ads 500 Per placement
Bill boards 1200 Month
Therefore, according to the above mentioned cost table we can see that Television is the costliest
among all but still the reach is more compared to the others. We have to follow a specific mix of
these media to make the campaign a success

Media Ads per month Allocation

TV 210 Highest
Newspaper
advertisement 30 Lowest
Hoardings 30 Moderate

Reasons for the mix:

Large Investment in Hoardings:

Hoardings are the most important area of coverage and we spend almost half of the allocated
budget towards it. Most of the high-risk segment comes under Truck drivers, Sailors and casual
daily wage workers. These individuals can be reached easily through billboards rather than TV
ads or Newspapers.

Medium Investment in Television Ads and ads during Film intervals:

Television is the easiest mass media covering all segments of population and we focus of prime
times to address the risk segment. The advertisements are short and need to cater to all segments
of the society (children and adults) so that everybody is aware of the disease. Thus, Video Ads
will be effective in increasing awareness of people in the medium to high-income groups.

Less Investment in Newspaper ads:

The high-risk group has a large proportion of illiterate population, which means they will never
read newspapers. Hence, newspaper ads will never reach them and as a result, investing in print
ads is redundant. However, we will advertise using print ads to ensure the public is aware of such
campaigns.