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S. Mishra and K. Vijaya Lakshmi
experienced marketing professionals. The idea was to assist the SHG members
so that they are confident to continue the activity in long term.
(c) Financial incentives were offered to the LEUs, so they could create a sustainable business from the activity. LEUs were able to purchase the filters from Tata
Swach for the reduced cost of Rs. 799. The filter was then sold at the market
price of Rs. 899 to the customers, leaving the LEUs with a profit of Rs. 100.
(d) On-field Promotion and Demonstration: A separate team of demonstrators
was recruited for running live group demonstrations on the streets outside the
homes.
(e) Delivery and Post Delivery: A daily tracking system was developed to track
record of houses visited, hot leads identified and sales of the filter. The date of
booking was recorded to help the LEUs determine the date of bulb replacement.
Customers were given a toll free number of Swach filter in case of any issues.
Lessons Learnt
• Need for Financial Incentives: As per our initial research, there was no apparent
requirement of financial incentives as the product fell in an affordable range for
the consumers in urban slums. However, it was realised that affordability never
ensured acceptance and adoption of the product. In some cases, they were used
as small ticket payments (INR 5 for 10 L of water delivered at home) for their
daily quota of water from a local RO supplier. Consumers preferred making daily
payments to purchase water daily instead of paying a bulk amount for a filter
which proved to be expensive in the long run with compromised water quality.
Thus, in order to encourage adoption of water filters, the need for financial
incentives was felt. But the absence of microfinance institutions in the study
area, however, prevented this intervention.
• Technologies need to be customised: While the purification technology is not
an aspect that has a major bearing on the consumers decision-making, the term
RO (reverse osmosis) has become a household name. It has acquired a brand
value people associate with purity, even though it may not be a reputed company
or product. There are local vendors riding this wave and supplying sub-standard
water to communities, as seen in Madanpur Khadar. In addition, the raw water
TDS levels in Madanpur Khadar are high and have an impact on taste, even
though they are well within permissible limits as per the BIS standards. Due to
access to demineralized water (even though it may not be bacteria free) from
the local RO plants people have acquired a different taste. The perception of
safe water is so directly linked to taste that some families rejected the Swach
filter on this account. This issue was not faced in Ambedkar Camp, where the
raw water TDS levels were lower and did not distort taste.
• Need for Behaviour Change Communication for Demanding Safe Water:
As expected, there was a lack of awareness on the need for safe water in many
households. Even where there was recognition for the need of safe water, it rarely
converted into practice due to a variety of reasons ranging from differential priorities, to the lack of awareness about options or the lack of acceptance that their
S. Mishra and K. Vijaya Lakshmi
experienced marketing professionals. The idea was to assist the SHG members
so that they are confident to continue the activity in long term.
(c) Financial incentives were offered to the LEUs, so they could create a sustainable business from the activity. LEUs were able to purchase the filters from Tata
Swach for the reduced cost of Rs. 799. The filter was then sold at the market
price of Rs. 899 to the customers, leaving the LEUs with a profit of Rs. 100.
(d) On-field Promotion and Demonstration: A separate team of demonstrators
was recruited for running live group demonstrations on the streets outside the
homes.
(e) Delivery and Post Delivery: A daily tracking system was developed to track
record of houses visited, hot leads identified and sales of the filter. The date of
booking was recorded to help the LEUs determine the date of bulb replacement.
Customers were given a toll free number of Swach filter in case of any issues.
Lessons Learnt
• Need for Financial Incentives: As per our initial research, there was no apparent
requirement of financial incentives as the product fell in an affordable range for
the consumers in urban slums. However, it was realised that affordability never
ensured acceptance and adoption of the product. In some cases, they were used
as small ticket payments (INR 5 for 10 L of water delivered at home) for their
daily quota of water from a local RO supplier. Consumers preferred making daily
payments to purchase water daily instead of paying a bulk amount for a filter
which proved to be expensive in the long run with compromised water quality.
Thus, in order to encourage adoption of water filters, the need for financial
incentives was felt. But the absence of microfinance institutions in the study
area, however, prevented this intervention.
• Technologies need to be customised: While the purification technology is not
an aspect that has a major bearing on the consumers decision-making, the term
RO (reverse osmosis) has become a household name. It has acquired a brand
value people associate with purity, even though it may not be a reputed company
or product. There are local vendors riding this wave and supplying sub-standard
water to communities, as seen in Madanpur Khadar. In addition, the raw water
TDS levels in Madanpur Khadar are high and have an impact on taste, even
though they are well within permissible limits as per the BIS standards. Due to
access to demineralized water (even though it may not be bacteria free) from
the local RO plants people have acquired a different taste. The perception of
safe water is so directly linked to taste that some families rejected the Swach
filter on this account. This issue was not faced in Ambedkar Camp, where the
raw water TDS levels were lower and did not distort taste.
• Need for Behaviour Change Communication for Demanding Safe Water:
As expected, there was a lack of awareness on the need for safe water in many
households. Even where there was recognition for the need of safe water, it rarely
converted into practice due to a variety of reasons ranging from differential priorities, to the lack of awareness about options or the lack of acceptance that their