If a recent national survey is anything to go by, 85 per cent doctors feel that building stronger immunity is the best possible preventive measure against virus attack on the human body. Healthcare is about educating consumers, and this is what fast-moving consumer goods company Dabur’s “Swasthya Chetna Abhiyan”— a rural health awareness drive — is all about. “In the last three to four years, the environment has become quite hostile, as it has got contaminated with flu, especially swine flu, among others. There is no cure for diseases like flu; it has to disappear on its own. So what’s needed the most is to stay protected,” says Praveen Jaipuriar, category head (health supplements), Dabur India.
For the first time in the six-decade history of its Chyawanprash brand, Dabur has roped in consumers as brand ambassadors. Its Swasthya Chetna Abhiyan has focused on health check-ups, doctors’ sessions on how to improve on immunity, tips on health management, immunity building and fighting fatigue, followed by contests. The awareness campaign has been rolled out across 270 villages and 135 haats of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, covering nine districts.
“It has identified 30 citizens from villages of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to form a team of immunity ambassadors. The team included 13 people from rural Uttar Pradesh and 17 from rural Bihar. These immunity ambassadors — chosen after a 135-day mega campaign across UP and Bihar — will be part of an initiative that will spread awareness about building a stronger immunity to fight the rising incidence of flu, viral attacks, infections in their respective villages and districts,” says Jaipuriar.
These 30 rural citizens were selected from over 6 lakh participants across 180 villages in Bihar and 90 villages in Uttar Pradesh. The programme covered six districts of Bihar and two districts of UP.
This is an extension of the ‘Immune India’ initiative that Dabur started in 2009. Last year, Dabur touched eight states with the “Immune India” initiative with Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni as ambassador. This time, the company is focusing on the hinterland of UP and Bihar with actor Ravi Kishan. While the idea has been conceptualised in-house, Impact, a communications consultancy, has executed it. And it is using word-of-mouth to educate the rural masses.
According to industry estimates, in the Rs 350-400 crore Chyawanprash category growing at 15 per cent year-on-year is led by Dabur with 70 per cent share. It is followed by Baidyanath Chyawanprash with 11-12 per cent, Emami at 7 per cent and Zandu with 3-4 per cent share.
Dabur has been quite aggressive with its below-the-line activities along with innovations on the product side. In October 2010, it introduced two variants of Dabur Chyawanprash — mango and orange. “With this, we hope to attract more consumers as it is quite rare for health and taste to come hand-in-hand.” Dabur spends 12 per cent of its turnover on marketing activities, which is on par with other FMCG companies that spend 11-14 per cent of their turnovers on advertising. “We outpaced category growth at 20 per cent last year and helped grow the category too.”
