Question: Which manufactured consumer product has the deepest market penetration in rural India?

Answer: Matches

In fact, 97% of rural households purchase matches on a monthly basis. Matches are a unique product because of their high, constant demand and low price point. Their ubiquitous presence provides fascinating insights into India’s rural distribution networks, and offer potential ways to inform and interact with India’s relatively untouched market.

Several innovative businesses with rural focus have floundered because either their message or their products failed to reach the end-user. One of the largest barriers to introducing new products into rural markets is the lack of reliable distribution channels. Matches, however, have probably the most pervasive distribution network of any manufactured consumer product in India; they find their way to every village and nearly every household, regardless of how remote or how poor.

What is more interesting is that most of India’s matches are manufactured in southern Tamil Nadu, and are sold as far away as Jammu and Kashmir. To understand match distribution in India is to understand India’s most basic, underlying distribution system. How do they reach the end-user? How many distributors do they go through? How long does it take? How much margin is added to the price of the box of matches each time it exchanges hands? Understanding how matches reach the rural consumers from Kashmir to Kerala can provide valuable insights for scaling up other products and services.

Matchbox distribution can be relevant for product piggybacking, whereby manufacturers hitch a new product to established distribution channels. Piggybacking is becoming an increasingly common way to deliver products and services to the base of the pyramid, allowing for a broader reach in rural areas at a reduced cost. Are there any products or services that can piggyback on matches?

In remote rural communities, where television, radio or even street names are almost non-existent, relaying information is a pressing issue. Matchboxes may contain the solution. The typical designs on most matchboxes in India show only the manufacturer’s logo and some text about the contents. What if that space was used to relay information? Imagine the possibilities of spreading new health/educational information or advertising to 97% of rural families on a monthly basis. Simple pictorial designs would pique interest and accommodate India’s vast differences in literacy rates and languages. Awareness of important topics such as the installation of chimneys to reduce smoke inhalation or cleaning and covering water containers to prevent stomach ailments could be spread to households across India, and potentially save lives.

Matches’ universal presence in rural villages provides unique opportunities to reach and interact with India’s underserved market. By tracking their distribution from manufacturer to end-user, we can assess the potential for piggybacking additional products and for designing innovative messaging of crucial information. Sometimes, taking a closer look at even mundane objects can spark innovative solutions and approaches to serious challenges.

Richard Woodbridge is a member of the Rural Market Insight team at the Centre for Development Finance, a division of the Institute for Financial Management and Research.

Editor’s note: The following conversation is part of an ongoing series for ThinkChange India where we speak to social entrepreneurs firsthand. The ThinkChange India staff is committed to providing our readers with first-hand insights from groundbreaking changemakers. Readers will be able to see other conversations under our TC-I Changemakers tab.

During SoCap09 in San Francisco, I had an opportunity to converse with Annapurna Mamidipudi, one of the founders of Dastkar Andhra, an organization in Andhra Pradesh that works with weaver cooperatives.  Their activities range from production to marketing assistance to training and research.

According to Annapurna, there are over 200,000 weavers in Andhra Pradesh and engage in the second-largest industry (after agriculture) in India, but 90% of the handloom weavers live on less than $2 a day.  Although they are producing quality goods, they do not know how to reach centralized markets.  The handloom industry can work as an engine to bring people out of poverty, and Dastkar Andhra (DA) is working with cooperatives to ensure that the engine is working just right.  In addition to marketing, DA also does policy and advocacy work on behalf of weavers, holds design workshops, and imports appropriate technologies.

After hearing DA’s background, I was curious about what it takes to get an organization off the ground.  For DA, it took three years to really establish itself.  During the first year, the DA team worked with cooperatives to teach them about inventory management and other necessary skills; during the second year, the focus was more on researching what the market wanted; and, during the third year, DA took pre-orders based on market needs.  They needed funding for the first three years, and found support from Dorabji Tata Trust and ICCO Netherlands.

But how does an organization convince larger funding agencies to get involved? As Annapurna explained, in the 1990s, no one was talking about sustainability. DA had a goal of scaling to 1 crore, and by the second round of funding, they found that they were indeed sustainable enough to achieve that goal.  The ICCO funds toward experimentation and research and development were also extremely valuable in moving the organization forward.

Speaking of scale, I also asked Annapurna about plans to expand.  She stressed the importance of scaling locally and strengthening cooperatives.  There is a need to have local organizations in other states take up the work, because it is necessary to have people present.  Scale also means building a brand.  In order to build scale, the organization needs the capability to read and service the market.  The brand for DA represents a contemporary, environment-friendly, and aesthetic product, and the team hopes to make it a recognizable name for a larger market segment.  Overall, as Annapurna said, they believe in taking their time rather than rushing to scale up.

The other aspect of DA that makes it unique and successful, according to Annapurna, is its diverse team and women leadership, which helps keep them on track.  And as for next steps, DA is looking for people to connect their products to new markets.  If you’re interested in checking out DA’s products, visit their store in Hyderabad (Daram), various exhibitions, or through their exports.

UnLtd India, the organization that helped develop the Social Entrepreneurship conference that we covered extensively before, is hiring a Communications Coordinator.   If you’re savvy with media, writing, and marketing, see below.

JOB TITLE : COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR (PART TIME TBA)

ORGANISATION: UnLtd India

LOCATION: Bandra West, Mumbai

PURPOSE: To design, develop and effectively implement UnLtd India’s communications strategies.

BACKGROUND

UnLtd India finds, funds and supports India’s next generation of social entrepreneurs – individuals with the ideas, passion and entrepreneurial skills to bring about long-lasting solutions to the country’s social problems.

UnLtd India works with start-up social entrepreneurs to help them grow as leaders and create high-impact, sustainable organisations ready for scaling and further investment. It does this through providing:

• Seed funding, to pay for critical early start-up costs and to support the entrepreneur as they take their organisation to a sustainable level.
• Hands-on coaching and training, covering business and financial planning, fundraising, legal structures, governance, marketing and HR management.
• High-value connections, linking our entrepreneurs with others like them, mentors, subject-matter experts, and further funders or investors.

Website: www.unltdindia.org

Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/unltdindia

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/UnLtd-India/48998163199?ref=ts

PURPOSE: To promote effective external communications.

The post-holder will:

• Develop UnLtd India’s capacity to engage effectively with potential and existing funders and investees; the media and the wider general public.
• Work to ensure effective planning and delivery of public advocacy and communications activities against agreed objectives.
• Develop and implement best practice in UnLtd India’s communications work.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Development and planning

• Work with the Co-Directors and the rest of the UnLtd India team to: Develop, design and implement UnLtd India’s public advocacy and communications strategies, ensuring that these are developed in a participatory way and advance our strategic objectives;
• Continually develop and promote best practice in UnLtd India’s planning and delivery of public advocacy and communications work;
• Implement mechanisms to promote effective communication between the UnLtd India team members;
• Plan effective and timely communications activities that link to UnLtd India’s organisational objectives and are designed to communicate with target audiences;
• Develop new and innovative ideas on how to communicate most effectively – including through reports, briefings, website and other electronic formats, seminars, audio-visual etc – in accordance with the best practice.

Responsibilities

To manage, develop and update UnLtd India communications assets to include:

• Regular maintenance of the UnLtd India’s online presence including the website, YouTube channel and social networks;
• Coordination of video shoots for corporate and investee films;
• Management of key marketing resources including photographs, case studies and statistics.
• Managing the production and dissemination of UnLtd India’s supporter newsletter;
• Managing the production of organisation communications materials including leaflets and annual review.
• Manage the dissemination of UnLtd India’s publications and activity reports to all relevant targets in Government, media, and civil society;
• To establish, manage and develop UnLtd India’s relationship with key writers and opinion formers in domestic and international media to include:
• Daily monitoring of Indian media – identifying key opinion formers and journalists in the press, broadcast media and journals;
• Meet and pitch stories about UnLtd India and our investees to journalists;
• Researching and writing of press releases and press articles for the media and relevant NGO outlets;
• Develop and implement best practice in media relations to ensure UnLtd India maximizes its opportunities to gain relevant coverage and raise its profile in the media.
• Recruit, manage and supervise communications interns
• Oversee management of a media contacts database.

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

The successful candidate will need:

• A good understanding of the discourse on social entrepreneurship and/or development issues in India;
• At least two years experience working on advocacy issues in a government, international organisation, media or NGO setting;
• High level communication skills, including writing for a variety of communications outputs;
• Experience of liaising with media and gaining media coverage;
• Proven ability to work across teams and plan and manage the implementation of communication strategies, including the timely completion of external briefings and other communications;
• Excellent written and spoken English and Hindi;
• Good understanding of online media.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

To apply please email full CV (no longer than 2 pages) together with covering letter outlining relevant experience and explaining why you want to apply for the role (no longer than 1 page). to: recruitment@unltdindia.org

Deadline for applications: Friday May 22nd, 2009

Unfortunately due to UnLtd India’s resource policy, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Editor’s Note: Guest blogger Lindsay Clinton is an Associate Vice President at Intellecap, where she is the Managing Editor of Beyond Profit and Microfinance Insights. Prior to joining Intellecap, she worked as the Marketing and Communications Director at The White House Project, a women’s leadership organization based in New York City. Lindsay writes a semi-regular column in the Austin American Statesman, and blogs at http://indiarevisited.blogspot.com

Last week, over 400 social entrepreneurs, social investors, and socially motivated types converged to talk shop in Bombay (that’s Mumbai for you progressives).  The Sankalp Social Enterprise and Investment Forum brought people from across India, and some very committed folks from abroad (who we hope used some sort of carbon off-setting system), to discuss how we can create inclusive wealth for those living at the base of the pyramid.

Because I was part of the team presenting the event (Intellecap, of course), I didn’t get a chance to attend many of the small sessions, but I did get to listen to some of the larger panel discussions, featuring the likes of Sequoia Capital,* the Rockefeller Foundation, Monitor’s Inclusive Markets Group, the MINT (India’s Wall Street Journal partner), etc. (The smaller sessions featured 50 emerging, growing and high impact social enterprises!)

There was the usual talk about scale and impact.  You really can’t escape these buzzwords nowadays.  But, something else struck me.  During a post-mortem session with a colleague who attended the event, another theme emerged: bridges vs. barriers. Whereas an objective of for-profit business is to build barriers to entry, in social enterprise, we try to build bridges, open the floodgates, let the light shine in.

Take for example, this anecdote.  Intellecap, the company that publishes Beyond Profit, is a for-profit social business that facilitates investment, provides advisory services, and creates knowledge-all within the for-profit development space.  Whether we are working with rural cotton farmers, a microfinance technology solutions provider, or a global foundation, we aim to provide positive outcomes related to the global imbalance of power and wealth.

I found it odd when, during my first few weeks at the company, a team from a firm I considered a direct competitor came into our offices for a chat.  They sat down in our conference room, and we had a 3-hour discussion about what we do, how our company is structured, who are clients are, etc.  Would McKinsey ever do the same with Boston Consulting Group?  Would Goldman sit down with Merrill to talk about the ins and outs of the business?  Me thinks not.

But, Intellecap, and many other social businesses, although for-profit and competitive, are primarily concerned with providing social value.  So, making connections and building bridges to entry is part of our work.  It means that our target market-the poor-will have better access to opportunity at the end of the day.  It means that we can provide lower cost services and products to the customer we are trying to benefit.

For-profit businesses with no social focus hold their cards much closer to their chests.  Coke isn’t going to share their secret recipe for cola with Pepsi!  It would be insanity.

So, many of the discussions at Sankalp were based on this premise of shared information, partnership, inclusivity.  Sound a little too Kum Ba Yah?

Let me know what you think.

* Wait, Sequoia?  Yes, because of the microfinance investments, we wanted to hear from the big guys who are straddling the fence between financial and social.

Indicorps, known for its one-year fellowship program, is now launching a new Young Professional Initiative program that allows young Indian professionals to apply their time and skills to a short-term project.  The five-month program includes a one-week orientation, a mid-term workshop, an immersion component, and regular reflections.  If you are ready to get your feet wet with a challenging service project in a way that will also advance you professionally, be sure to apply for the Young Professional Initiative:

Get out of the cube (even if only for a few months) . . . And help change India!

Indicorps invites YOU, a young Indian professional, to commit your time and skills to India!  Young Professionals Initiative (YPI), a new sabbatical program at Indicorps, allows you to meaningfully bring your knowledge and talents to your land of heritage.  This pilot program of YPI gives you an opportunity to participate in short-term, goal-oriented service projects that can have an enormous impact.

The projects include:

• Legal: Amend Gujarat court processes to reduce sizeable backlog of cases
• Finance: Assist a socially responsible start-up to create robust franchise systems and strong local entrepreneurs
• Information Technology: Integrate information systems for bottom of the pyramid start-up business
• Marketing: Capture stories to generate interest in Ahmedabad’s unique 600-year heritage
• Environmental Planning: Reinvigorate urban environmental policies for walled-city of Ahmedabad
• Education: Formulate innovative public-private partnerships to increase the adult literacy rate
• Education Policy: Strategize comprehensive action plan for statewide vocational programs

YPI hopes to empower young professionals to understand that their potential extends beyond ‘traditional’ jobs.  As with all Indicorps programs, YPI Associates will be constantly challenged and encourage to explore their roles as changemakers.

The program begins with a week-long orientation and includes a mid-point and close-out workshop to track progress and share experiences.  Successful candidates for YPI will have at least three years of work experience in a capacity relevant to their applicable project.

YPI Term: 1 July to 1 December 2009

For more information and to apply, please visit us online at:  www.indicorps.org/ypi.  Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis (preference will be given to applications before 1 May 2009) until the start date.

Please contact us at ypi@indicorps.org with any questions.

D.light Design is looking for a Head of Sales & Marketing:

D.light Energy Pvt. Ltd. is looking to hire an experienced and creative Head of Sales & Marketing (India) to rapidly develop a pan-India distribution channel capable of reaching deep rural, while building a powerful global brand from the ground up. This position is based in Noida, UP India and will report directly to, and work closely with, the Country Head (India) to continuously launch innovative and affordable lighting and power consumer products and marketing strategies.

You can read further at Nextbillion.net.

Today, as part of my “Strategic Marketing for Public and Nonprofit Organizations” class, we heard from David Dodson, founder of Project Healthy Children.  Although his talk was specifically targeted for those interested in leading nonprofit organizations, I found his comments relevant for emerging social entrepreneurs as well.

In particular, he posed four critical questions for those thinking of starting a new venture:

1) Is it (the idea or the organization) sustainable?

2) Is it cost-effective?

3) Is it scalable?

4) Is it measurable?

I thought these were particularly salient points, especially given the impulse to form organizations on the basis of what he called “emotional needs” rather than “market needs.”  He placed particular emphasis on the second question, stressing the point that “cost-effective” does not necessarily translate into “cheap,” but rather, implies that the organization is “investment” oriented, whether in the form of human capital, organizational capacity, physical infrastructure, etc.  He also emphasized the fourth point, stating that if the outcomes aren’t clearly defined, they cannot be measured, which poses the organization at the risk of “mission creep.”

The final point he made can be encapsulated in the following statement, “I say no to everything that’s not relevant.”  He emphasized the importance of not “following the money trail,” and investing time, resources, and effort only in those efforts that are relevant to the organizational mission and vision.  He cited examples of having turned down potential partnerships and funding opportunities in favour of maintaining organizational focus, and leveraging the organization’s strengths.  On this point, he asked a critical question, “Can we see a future where we can be better than anybody at this?”  Obviously, that requires that the organization remain on course, and learn how to say “no.”

Thank you to Professor Marla Felcher for challenging us to think critically about what it means to be effective leaders and marketeers!

As you may notice on the sidebar, we have a new featured survey for you all to participate in. Here is some additional information directly from the survey makers:

NGOs: Dig into your strengths and opportunities AND win great prizes!

Ethos Advisors and NGO Post have created a short survey to assess the needs to the NGO community and identify concrete solutions to improve motivated, high-impact NGOs across India. And we’ve got three great reasons to complete the survey:

1. A free assessment tool for your NGO. The survey is based on questions that leading NGO’s around the world have asked themselves and, by finding the answers, have found new ways to succeed and scale. Take a moment and complete this survey to better understand your stregnths and opportunities.

2. Tell us and tell the world: what are the new tools, websites and training that you need? This is your chance to help funders, service providers and corporate CSR departments design and customize new services for the NGO sector based on the information you share.

3. Submit to Win Excellent Prizes!!! Including:
-A new fuly-customized website for your organization based on cutting-edge technology that is simple and easy-to-use.
-Be selected as Grassroutes.in featured NGO that includes a custom Media Package that tells your organization’s story and an independently managed marketing     campaign for any purpose you choose
-Be featured in the CitiZen Section of the Deccan Chronicle

Hope you all take the survey.

The Centre for Development Finance (CDF) announces some very exciting internship opportunities for this summer.  If you’re looking for something more long term, word has it that CDF will likely be releasing postings for BoP related full time positions in the coming weeks… check back for more information!

Total Immersion Programme in Finance and Development (TIP/FD) - Summer 2009

CDF invites internship applications for the Summer 2009 IFMR “Total Immersion Program in Finance and Development (TIP/FD).”

Description of the program follows and application requirements follow below and in this CDF TIP document, and to apply please use the following link.

The TIP F/D provides undergraduate and graduate students interested in microfinance, development finance, and economic development an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in working on issues relating to access to financial services for urban and rural poor in a developing country. Interns will participate in a structured, two-week course directed by leading researchers, IFMR Centre Research Associates, and practitioners from the Indian government, microfinance institutions (MFIs), and NGOs. The course will be followed by eight weeks of work on a CDF projects which will consist of either field-based research, policy/sector wide studies or data analysis.  Past interns have completed stand-alone projects or worked to initiate, implement, and scale-up existing projects or pilots at the Centre.

The list of summer internship projects can be found online here and in this CDF Project Descriptions document. Interns may also be placed on another of CDF’s ongoing projects.

Internships are unpaid, although CDF will assist with housing and food or provide a small stipend of up to Rs 10,000/month toward living expenses. All interns are encouraged to obtain funding to cover international travel and personal expenses during the internship period.

This year, the TIP/FD will take place between June 8 and August 14, 2009. Applications will be accepted until April 15, 2009, although we encourage interested applicants to apply as soon as possible to ensure the best matching of interests and skills.

Positions of Particular Interest to the TCI Readership: RIG: Understanding BoP Consumer behavior in Rural India: (two interns)

The interns will play a leading role in the development and testing of market research tools for rural BoP consumer segments in India.  Priority sectors will include energy (decentralized renewable energy, cooking and lighting solutions), water, and sanitation.  Interns should be prepared to spend a significant amount of time in rural areas and should have experience in marketing, market research, and/or ethnographic research.  Competitive applicants will have or currently be pursuing a relevant masters degree and possess a strong interest in market-based solutions to poverty reduction. Applicants with working knowledge of one Indian language preferred.

RIG: BoP Business Development & Technology Deployment: (one intern)

Building upon a current collaboration with the World Resources Institute and CDF, the intern will play a leading role in distilling key insight into business development and technology deployment in the BoP energy sector in India. As part of this broader effort, the intern will focus on critical challenges to demand aggregation in rural markets. Competitive applicants will currently be pursuing or have recently completed an MBA, MPA, or MPP and possess a strong interest in market based solutions to poverty reduction.

ESF: India’s Renewable Energy Landscape (one intern)

Working closely with CDF’s Rural Infrastructure and Governance (RIG) and Environmentally Sustainable Finance (ESF) groups, the intern will map policy landscape for renewable energy in India.  As part of this broader effort, the intern will develop a comparative assessment of state level renewable energy policy in India.  Additionally, in conjunction with RIG and ESF staff members, the intern will develop a specific research question that adds value to CDF’s work in the renewable energy space. Competitive applicants will currently be pursuing or have recently completed a relevant graduate degree and have a strong interest in environmental policy.

Candidates interested in these positions are requested to copy david.fuente@ifmr.ac.in when they submit their applications.

I read Atanu Dey’s take on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in India in response to a question put forward by Sramana Mitra on her blog Why is the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India not coming together as well as it needs to?

Atanu makes a strong pitch for leveraging existing solutions for development, reasoning that India has not yet reached a stage where we need “cutting edge research and development.” It is sufficient to implement known innovations, he conjectures. A compelling argument but I feel there are a lot of points that need to be bought out in this respect.

To start with, let us understand that we are talking about two things “Does India need (more) innovation?” and “Why does India not innovate as much as it needs to?” And, in my opinion, the answer to the latter does not lie in the former.

Coming to the first question, India does need more innovation, in fact it needs lots of that. Why? A few reasons:

1. India cannot simply follow the development process that US followed. It can take cues but trying to imitate exactly the same cycle will lead to half baked results. To be sure, innovation does not necessarily imply high technology. It also implies a technology/concept that apart from being “innovative” is implement-able too. We did not have to go through the “pager usage phase” to reach “cell phone mobility” even though we did try that. Lets take up rural innovation. We need to innovate and find out ways to increase yields on small land holdings. We need to innovate when it comes to connecting villages to the national mainstream using IT and Internet. Innovation not just in terms of technology but in terms of pricing, marketing, sales & distribution. Isn’t the Amul cooperative model innovative? Ecoflo from Bhinge Brothers[PDF] is one such innovation in rural technology.

2. India needs scale. Incidentally while attending a class at CSIM, Chennai on Saturday, I had stated the same point. India cannot blatantly import models of growth or innovation from developed countries because of its sheer size. Being a democracy makes the task even more challenging. Taking cues from countries like Brazil seems more pertinent especially when it comes to designing solutions for the masses. Dr K L Srivastava at CSIM Chennai made a point in the class, that scale is not always the case – citing disability related issues as an example. In my opinion, looking at absolute numbers the “niche” in India dwarfs similar numbers in US. Scalable solutions are really important.

3. India is a unique country. When I say this, my point is not to allude towards our rich culture and the related. I am trying to draw attention to myriad languages, populations, cultural differences, attitudes, motivations. Even solutions customized for India may not necessarily work for the entire country. Regional innovation is also important. To give you an example, an Internet based micro lending organization like Rang De faces a lot of initial skepticism from lenders because of the non-profitable NGO thinking that social development is generally associated with.

4. India needs to leverage the technology to create more technology. The “low hanging fruits” of existing innovation may have either gone bad or may not even suit my palate. But I can use the seeds of these fruits to create hybrid varieties which I may be able to consume.

Coming to Sramana’s question of why are we not as innovative as we need to, a lot of answers have already been put on her blog. However, innovation is an exponential function. And the required start has been made. Readers can read this blog to find out innovations being undertaken in the social development sector. Not to mention, the Indian solutions like Tata Ace and Nano, Bajaj’s experiment with fuel efficiency. Aravind Eye Care may be cited as an exception that proves the rule – innovation is to be expected from the youth. But, nevertheless, it does prove that innovation can come from any field/age. We have organizations like RIN (Rural Innovations Network) and SRISTI which are fostering and encouraging innovation. One field that is seeing considerable traction is financial inclusion and for the right reasons, of course. I am hoping to see more progress in this one field which in turn will be one of the catalysts for more innovation.

I have been amazed at the optimism we share at TC-I, but it should not be mistaken for foolhardiness. It may be because we have the right balance in terms of experience and intellect.