Good Knight goes on aggressive anti-dengue drive

India today has become the epicentre of global epidemic of dengue, harbouring the largest number of dengue infections in the world and its incidence has increased 30 fold in the past five decades. Taking cue from the current scenario and in order to seek a solution to this growing menace, Godrej Consumer Products took an initiative to create awareness about the seriousness of dengue and help in eradicating the menace through the launch of a new nationwide campaign ‘Subah Bolo Good Knight’.

GCPL and Nielsen conducted a survey across 16 Indian cities to assess perceptions of dengue, its causes and how people in the country cope with the disease. The report revealed startling facts, the most significant being the vulnerability of kids to get affected.

The Good Knight Dengue Awareness Report also reveals that 85 per cent of the respondents know dengue is a life-threatening disease, but around 92 per cent population is unaware that day mosquitoes cause dengue. What’s even more startling is that 80 per cent population agrees that mosquitoes are visible during the day but only eight per cent use any repellent format during daytime. The report also states that 76 per cent of parents think that children are most vulnerable to dengue, while 70 per cent are of the opinion that their child was more prone to dengue in their classrooms. But only 28 per cent mothers believe that their child’s school uses mosquito repellents in the classes. Further, 87 per cent mothers want the child’s school to take the responsibility of educating children about the risks of dengue.

Based on the findings, Godrej has launched ‘Subah Bolo Good Knight,’ an awareness campaign that aims to reach out to 10 million school-going kids across the country and aspire to sensitize parents to adopt preventive measures against the spread of dengue. The campaign will run through TV, print and social media platforms.

In our discussion with Sunil Kataria, Business Head India and SAARC, he stated, “Time is the only challenge. The biggest challenge is 92% of population are unaware that dengue is caused by day mosquito. There is a deep rooted belief that mosquitoes bite only in evenings and nights. To change this belief will take time. It is not one or two month campaign. I think it will run for at least a year with little modifications. The housewives mostly protect their families from mosquitoes. So they are our main target audience. But the problem is that dengue is caused by day mosquitoes, and at that time the kids are in school. So mothers are helpless over here and that is the reason we are partnering with schools also to raise awareness”.

The campaign will also reach rural markets through the usage of mobile phones and Facebook. The company is also planning to execute a range of below-the-line activities focusing on around 3,000,000 rural outlets through outdoor billboards, posters, displays and in store signage. On challenges when targeting rural areas, he adds, “The biggest challenge for rural areas is the reach of medium and secondly it has to be in Indian languages. In rural areas, the biggest opportunity is through mobile. It plays a much broader role. Mobile has become more of interactive medium and we are going to leverage on that a lot. With this, there is already a deep rooted wholesaler dealer program named ‘Pragati’ of our company running in smaller villages. So shopkeeper comes and buys from this market with which they have long standing relationships. Secondly, retailers also visit such markets, so that’s the best way to do promotion”.

On marketing activities, he further adds, “Reaching consumers directly through above-the-line marketing activities is tougher task. Hence, one has to leverage on below-the-line activities, so it becomes complementary activity. It’s not one versus another. BTL activities become more innovative in rural areas as it needs to talk to them directly. So we also have radio spots running in rural v/s urban areas. The day to day challenges are very different for both rural and urban areas so one has to have different approach for both.”