I am a reformed marketer, and I now work in international development. In October, I spent some time in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the [second] largest country in Africa. In fact, it's as large as Western Europe, but it only has 300 miles of paved roads. The DRC is a dangerous place. In the past 10 years, five million people have died due to a war in the east. But war isn't the only reason that life is difficult in the DRC.
Ja sam reformirana marketingašica i trenutno radim na polju međunarodnog razvoja. U listopadu sam provela neko vrijeme u Demokratskoj Republici Kongo, koji je druga najveća država u Africi. Zapravo, velika je poput zapadne Europe, ali ima samo 500-tinjak kilometara asfaltiranih cesta. Kongo je opasno mjesto. U proteklih 10 godina, pet milijuna ljudi je umrlo zbog rata na istoku. Ali rat nije jedini razlog teškog života u Kongu.
There are many health issues as well. In fact, the HIV prevalence rate is 1.3 percent among adults. This might not sound like a large number, but in a country with 76 million people, it means there are 930,000 that are infected. And due to the poor infrastructure, only 25 percent of those are receiving the life-saving drugs that they need. Which is why, in part, donor agencies provide condoms at low or no cost.
Isto tako postoje mnogi zdravstveni problemi. Zapravo, stopa učestalosti HIV-a jest 1,3 posto u odraslih. To možda ne izgleda kao velik broj, ali u zemlji sa 76 milijuna ljudi, znači da ima 930.000 onih koji su zaraženi. A zbog loše infrastrukture, samo 25 posto njih dobiva lijekove koji im mogu spasiti život. I zato, djelomično, agencije za pomoć nude kondome po niskim cijenama ili besplatno.
And so while I was in the DRC, I spent a lot of time talking to people about condoms, including Damien. Damien runs a hotel outside of Kinshasa. It's a hotel that's only open until midnight, so it's not a place that you stay. But it is a place where sex workers and their clients come. Now Damien knows all about condoms, but he doesn't sell them. He said there's just not in demand. It's not surprising, because only three percent of people in the DRC use condoms.
I tako sam, za vrijeme svog boravka u Kongu, provela mnogo vremena razgovarajući s ljudima o kondomima, pa tako i s Damienom. Damien vodi hotel pored Kinšase. To je hotel koji je otvoren samo do ponoći, dakle to nije mjesto gdje ćete odsjesti. No, to je mjesto kamo dolaze prostitutke sa svojim klijentima. Damien zna sve o kondomima, ali ih ne prodaje. Kaže kako jednostavno nema potražnje. To nije iznenađujuće, jer samo tri posto ljudi u Kongu koristi kondome.
Joseph and Christine, who run a pharmacy where they sell a number of these condoms, said despite the fact that donor agencies provide them at low or no cost, and they have marketing campaigns that go along with them, their customers don't buy the branded versions. They like the generics.
Joseph i Christine, koji vode ljekarnu gdje prodaju različite vrste tih kondoma, kažu kako unatoč tome što im agencije za pomoć nude kondome po niskim cijenama ili besplatno, i imaju prateće marketinške kampanje, njihovi kupci ne kupuju brendirane verzije. Oni vole generičke.
And as a marketer, I found that curious. And so I started to look at what the marketing looked like. And it turns out that there are three main messages used by the donor agencies for these condoms: fear, financing and fidelity. They name the condoms things like Vive, "to live" or Trust. They package it with the red ribbon that reminds us of HIV, put it in boxes that remind you who paid for them, show pictures of your wife or husband and tell you to protect them or to act prudently.
Kao marketingaša, to me zaintrigiralo. Stoga sam počela promatrati kako im izgleda marketing. I ispostavilo se kako postoje tri glavne poruke koje agencije za pomoć koriste za te kondome: strah, financiranje i vjernost. Kondomima daju nazive poput Vive, "živjeti" ili Trust (povjerenje). Pakiraju ih s crvenom vrpcom koja nas podjseća na HIV, stave ih u kutije koje vas podsjećaju tko ih je platio, prikazuju slike vaše žene ili muža i govore vam da ih zaštitite ili da se ponašate pametno.
Now these are not the kinds of things that someone is thinking about just before they go get a condom. (Laughter) What is it that you think about just before you get a condom? Sex! And the private companies that sell condoms in these places, they understand this. Their marketing is slightly different. The name might not be much different, but the imagery sure is. Some brands are aspirational, and certainly the packaging is incredibly provocative.
To nisu stvari o kojima netko razmišlja prije nego ode po kondom. (Smijeh) O čemu razmišljate prije nego odete po kondom? O seksu! A privatne kompanije koje prodaju kondome na tim mjestima, one to shvaćaju. Njihov je marketing malo drugačiji. Ime možda nije mnogo drukčije, ali slikovni prikazi zasigurno jesu. Neke marke su ambiciozne i pakiranje je nevjerojatno provokativno.
And this made me think that perhaps the donor agencies had just missed out on a key aspect of marketing: understanding who's the audience. And for donor agencies, unfortunately, the audience tends to be people that aren't even in the country they're working [in]. It's people back home, people that support their work, people like these. But if what we're really trying to do is stop the spread of HIV, we need to think about the customer, the people whose behavior needs to change -- the couples, the young women, the young men -- whose lives depend on it.
I to me navelo na pomisao kako su agencije za pomoć pogriješile u ključnom aspektu marketinga: razumijevanju tko je publika. A za agencije za pomoć, nažalost publiku sačinjavaju ljudi koji čak nisu ni u zemlji u kojoj oni posluju. To su ljudi doma, ljudi koji podupiru njihov rad, ljudi poput ovih. Ali ako je ono što zapravo pokušavamo učiniti zaustaviti širenje HIV-a, moramo misliti na potrošača, na ljude čije se ponašanje mora promijeniti -- parove, mlade žene, mlade muškarce -- čiji životi ovise o tome.
And so the lesson is this: it doesn't really matter what you're selling; you just have to think about who is your customer, and what are the messages that are going to get them to change their behavior. It might just save their lives.
Dakle, pouka je sljedeća: nema veze što zapravo prodajete; morate samo razmišljati tko su vaši potrošači, i koje su poruke koje će ih navesti da promijene svoje ponašanje. To bi im moglo spasiti život.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)