Anna Hazare, a brilliant marketer

Makes headlines across the world:

350,000 Facebook hits in just two days and 45,000 twitter followers:

Millions take to the streets of India and largest rally in Mumbai :

Rohantha ATHUKORALE

Coming from a marketing background I tend to view the happenings of the world from a lens that can be different to many. Last week's developing story of the Anna Hazare episode in India was unique to my mind.

A man who does not own a computer and 74 years of age, with little knowledge of the modern techniques of marketing was able to get millions of people on to the streets of India and make it to all the news media of the world as the man who was successful in bringing the largest democracy to one's knees, intrigued me as a professional marketer.

Some call Anna Hazare the second Gandhi of India who has been able to move the middle class of India into action.

After serving 15 years in the Indian Army Anna Hazare voluntarily retired from the ninth Maratha Battalion and returned to the drought prone Ahmadnagar, at the age of 39. He found that farmers were struggling to survive and pioneered the rainwater conservation project that made the little hamlet he lived into the international map as the model village for rainwater harvesting.

In my view he was a man who had the thirst to find out the deeper reason for one's existence. He continued his quest for addressing the key issues of the people of India. Given his success in the Rainwater project Anna Hazare moved into a more challenging task of fighting against corruption in India.

In my view he has taken this fight to the highest level where the government power exists. Leaving aside the political dimension, last week's episode from a marketing perspective was really interesting.

Let me capture some key pickups.

Just like any consumer brand the success hinges around how an idea gets communicated to the world. Some use conventional forms of communication like TV advertising while in the recent past we have seen the use of U tube to do this role. Whichever method of communication one uses, there has to be a strong proposition that hinges around a strong brand. In the case of Anna Hazare, what I saw was that his message was to highlight and make the policy makers combat corruption and his weapon was the technique fast unto death. The pick up to marketers is that we have to be very clear on the reason that you give a consumer to purchase a brand. And then develop a strong weapon that can be used to get consumer attention.

If I am to cite a Sri Lankan brand Orange light bulbs ideally fits this template. The weapon used was that from every purchase a sum is allocated to help the blind. Even though the company had to go through a overnight change of brand name, it was able to retaine its market leadership in Sri Lanka.

Timing

A man who does not own a PC with absolute precision decided to fast unto death last week against the cause of corruption that exists in India that garnered a set of followers right up to the Thihar jail. When he was released the same night, he refused to come out until the conditions by the government was in line to his ideology. But, by this time the whole of India has erupted to his call and millions were on the roads of India with all social media vehicles upbeat on the cause. Be it Facebook, Utube or Twitter the momentum had been garnered. On Sunday Mumbai saw the biggest crowd in its history parading in support of his cause.

I guess the pickup from Sri Lanka's business landscape is the telephonic industry. It is worth 1 billion dollars per year and contributes to 5 percent of GDP indirectly. The fixed and mobile phones connectivity is at 20.8 million which means that it has captured a Sri Lankan's heart and mind with timing and sharp brand marketing just like what Anna Hazare did in India.

Middle Class

Be it the 2G scam or the Commonwealth Games the cause has been taken by the middle class and not the upper end of consumers. This is similar to what was seen in Iraq and Syria that championed the Arab Spring. Some say that last week's development was the Indian Spring given that it has now spread to Sydney, Seattle and Paris.

Be that as it may politically, from a marketing perspective the pickup is that unless the Early Majority is won by a brand we cannot say that a brand has captured a market.

I can see this in the Sri Lankan market with the diffusion of the Blackberry and I-Pad where the brand has moved forward from the consumer groups of innovators and early adaptors and now entering the early majority that means that the mark has been made in the Sri Lankan market place by this global brand.

No PC

Even-though Anna Hazare is not modern management savvy at 74 years, he had a core team supporting him across the value chain. From the time of fast, arrest by Delhi police, Thihar Jail, released and brought in a procession across the centre of India via freedom gates and then to the open air park where the 15 day fast began. The core team that propagated his idea and today it is in the centre stage of media not only in India but globally.

I guess the pickup is the same for a brand. A core set of consumers must be garnered so that they become the brand ambassadors that generates the market hype. In Sri Lanka one brand that really demonstrated this trait is the household brand Singer. The brand has won Most Popular brand award for a sixth at the People's Awards 2011 edition.

It's worth investigating the logic behind this success especially in the semi urban and rural areas of Sri Lanka. It cannot be just the pricing mechanism. I strongly believe it is the overall brand proposition and selection of outlets together with the core set of customers that have propagated the idea in every village and town across Sri Lanka.

Global

Anna Hazare was termed the second Gandhi of modern times and may be a man at the right time at the right place. But his core challenge was to fight the echelons of power on the alleged 39 billion dollars of corrupt deals that had engulfed brand India.

What is significant to me was when globally the economic meltdown was just taking form with the US stock exchange losing 12,000 points with so many stock markets declining and wiping away as much at 3 trillion dollars in just two weeks, this one man made it to all the global media and moved the world. As at yesterday the protest campaign had moved global with Sydney, Seattle and Paris joining in.

I guess the pick to us in the world of marketing is that if we really want to make a mark in a given market, the passion and commitment must be ruthless. My pick from Sri Lanka is the Munchee brand. Even with all the policy issues the company has revolutionalised its brand with new products and cutting edge brand building initiatives that has resulted in the business winning a multitude of awards be it the President's Export awards, National Business Excellence awards or the SLIM Marketing Excellence awards just to name a few, which demonstrates that with commitment even a challenging task can be conquered.