In Tanzania, a non-profit organization is using airtime as an incentive for increased condom sales. “Ongeo Zaidi na Salama,” or “Talk More with Salama,” offers mobile airtime incentives to shopkeepers who stock and sell condoms (Salama, which means 'safe', is the largely PSI-distributed Tanzanian condom brand), bringing greater visibility to safe sex practices.
The program, run by Population Services International, an organization widely known for pioneering condom social marketing since the 1970s and 1980s, was developed in reaction to the lack of condoms in Tanzanian stores.
85 million condoms at 100,000 retail outlets were sold in 2009, with the vast majority distributed by PSI. Because the PSI-distributed condoms are subsidized, they are considered lower-value by the shopkeepers than other products as they have low profit margins. Retailers were also reliant on the PSI agents to push and deliver the product and were not incentivised to proactively requests re-supplies when their condom stocks ran low. As a result, promotion and requisition (and sales) of these Salama condoms is not a priority for shopkeepers.
The organization felt that if shopkeepers were incentivized to buy, stock, and promote the PSI-distributed condoms, that the added visibility and availability could result in increased sales and ultimately safer sex practices. Daniel Crapper of PSI Tanzania who gave a presentation on Ongeo Zaidi na Salama for the SHOPS/mHealth Alliance online conference says, “We wanted to find a way to motivate the retailers to actively ensure that they would stock our condoms when they came to wholesalers.”
In order to do so, the organization recognized that there was high mobile penetration among vendors (in rural areas more than 70% of shop owners had mobile phones, with urban rates even higher where 80% of shop owners used mobiles), and that mobiles could be a good way to reach out to the shopkeepers. To target them, the organization developed a scratchcard system that rewarded vendors with mobile airtime.
New boxes of condoms came with scratchcards; when vendors set up the displays they kept the scratchcards and texted in a code to PSI. Users had to enroll in the system, but once they enrolled they received eight cents for each card, with bonus money for every tenth card they submitted. See the chart below for an illustration on how the enrollment system works:
PSI works with three of the five mobile operators in Tanzania, and working, with a technology vendor, developed this "loyalty reward scheme" - talk more with Salama.
In addition to encouraging shopkeepers to stock and promote condoms, the program also allowed PSI to have an instant look at the availability of condoms, since they could see where stocks were low. High-risk areas could be targeted for additional supplies and were monitored for condom sales. PSI monitors slaes per head of population, for example, and sales by ward. So far, more than 900 retailers have enrolled in the program, and each region of Tanzania is represented. The project is now out of the pilot phase and is focused on rolling out more aggressively across the country which started in June 2010.
Airtime For Selling More Condoms: Social Marketing Tricks and Tips from Tanzania Locations
In Tanzania, a non-profit organization is using airtime as an incentive for increased condom sales. “Ongeo Zaidi na Salama,” or “Talk More with Salama,” offers mobile airtime incentives to shopkeepers who stock and sell condoms (Salama, which means 'safe', is the largely PSI-distributed Tanzanian condom brand), bringing greater visibility to safe sex practices.
The program, run by Population Services International, an organization widely known for pioneering condom social marketing since the 1970s and 1980s, was developed in reaction to the lack of condoms in Tanzanian stores.
85 million condoms at 100,000 retail outlets were sold in 2009, with the vast majority distributed by PSI. Because the PSI-distributed condoms are subsidized, they are considered lower-value by the shopkeepers than other products as they have low profit margins. Retailers were also reliant on the PSI agents to push and deliver the product and were not incentivised to proactively requests re-supplies when their condom stocks ran low. As a result, promotion and requisition (and sales) of these Salama condoms is not a priority for shopkeepers.
The organization felt that if shopkeepers were incentivized to buy, stock, and promote the PSI-distributed condoms, that the added visibility and availability could result in increased sales and ultimately safer sex practices. Daniel Crapper of PSI Tanzania who gave a presentation on Ongeo Zaidi na Salama for the SHOPS/mHealth Alliance online conference says, “We wanted to find a way to motivate the retailers to actively ensure that they would stock our condoms when they came to wholesalers.”
In order to do so, the organization recognized that there was high mobile penetration among vendors (in rural areas more than 70% of shop owners had mobile phones, with urban rates even higher where 80% of shop owners used mobiles), and that mobiles could be a good way to reach out to the shopkeepers. To target them, the organization developed a scratchcard system that rewarded vendors with mobile airtime.
New boxes of condoms came with scratchcards; when vendors set up the displays they kept the scratchcards and texted in a code to PSI. Users had to enroll in the system, but once they enrolled they received eight cents for each card, with bonus money for every tenth card they submitted. See the chart below for an illustration on how the enrollment system works:
PSI works with three of the five mobile operators in Tanzania, and working, with a technology vendor, developed this "loyalty reward scheme" - talk more with Salama.
In addition to encouraging shopkeepers to stock and promote condoms, the program also allowed PSI to have an instant look at the availability of condoms, since they could see where stocks were low. High-risk areas could be targeted for additional supplies and were monitored for condom sales. PSI monitors slaes per head of population, for example, and sales by ward. So far, more than 900 retailers have enrolled in the program, and each region of Tanzania is represented. The project is now out of the pilot phase and is focused on rolling out more aggressively across the country which started in June 2010.
Post new comment