About Solan- People, Culture, business

Observations and Learnings

Solan Profile• First impression of Solan is that of a city, happy in its comfort zone, in the laps of

the Himalayas

• Shimla, Delhi, Chandigarh are some getaways where youth love to go, either to study or for a picnic

• The city has kept up pace in terms of fashion with the metros. Big brands (fakes) are a big hit in the malls. Youth like to flaunt big brands, are extremely stylish, sometimes more than what a normal metro youth would style themselves.

• Literary rate = 86% which helps in communicating various issues to them

• Media is not viewed as a career option. Engineering/Doctor/Army are the three predominant professions of the city.

• Mall road, Thodo ground are the prime areas where the city unites. These are the BEST POSSIBLE areas for advertising/ visibility/awareness of brands.

Decoding the profile of a typical Solanite

• He goes to work at office at around 10.30 AM and returns by around 6 PM

• Evening 6-8 PM is a hang out time for everyone in the MALL ROAD market

• The youth especially loves to hang around mall road

• They watch television and pan-India famous serials on channels like Colors, Star etc.

• Theatre goers are not too many, and are purely college students. Rest like to watch movies that come on their TV

• Dinner time- Approximately 8 P.M , Sleeping time: average of 10 PM, a bit later for the youth

• A typical Solanite is happy with what he has in life. ‘Ek himachali kabhi himachal ke bahar nahi niklega’ – Was a quote given by a Journalist we met at Dainik Bhaskar

Shopkeepers/Businessmen at Solan

• There are some who are against the concept of advertising. They realize that Solan’s limits are good enough to bring them customers

• Advertising is not seen as a necessary concept amongst the community

• If convinced, can offer free advertising space in their stores for branding purposes

• Will not exhibit professionalism in dealing with advertising

• Needs to be shown results before convincing for advertising

Theatre- Branding strategies

A presentation by Team MICA

Step 1: Naming and Identity

• Select an identity for the group. What will it be focusing on in future? For example: Social and developmental causes

• Naming the theatre based on the identity: NAME: HALLA BOL

• Creating a logo/ basic look for advertising, display and recognition

• PROPOSED LOGO

Step 2: Creating content

• Decide WHERE will the theatre operate? Within college premises? Festivals? Streets?

• Recommendation: For purpose of monetization, it is better that theatre starts in the auditorium

• Decide HOW OFTEN will the theatre operate in a month? Once a month/ Once a week/ Twice a month.

• Recommended frequency of operation: Twice a month. Once in-house, once outside.

• Decide initially who is your target audience• Parents of students and their relatives• The public of Solan (working class and business class)• The farming community • Other cities and metros • Create content keeping in mind the profile of your target audience

Step 3: Attracting the audiences

• Initial invites to parents of students, their relatives, neighbours, friends etc.

• Initial plays- Light hearted, moral-of-the-story, humor based

• Serving of light tea and snacks to the audience as gratification

• Gradually shifting the focus to developmental and social issues

• Word of mouth will lead to loyal audience coming to the theatre

• TAKING AUDIENCE FEEDBACK – EXTREMELY ESSENTIAL

• Charging a nominal fee for the play once a loyal audience is built

• Attaching the fee with serving a social cause – For eg. Some percentage of the ticket fees would be used in MSPICM Charity Trust to help the community.

Step 4: Going places

• Participating in Himachal Utsav and other festivals for gaining visibility and recognition

• Conducting plays outside Solan in cities like Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai to gain better exposure and talent mentoring

•ACTIVE PARTICIPATION in media festivals like Malhar in Mumbai, MICANVAS at MICA and FOOTPRINTS at Symbiosis Pune

• Conducting workshops to induct interested talent in theatre from Solan in order to engage the community

• Creating special street plays to be performed in rural areas targeting the farming community

Step 5: Cross promotions

• Using radio for announcing new shows, plays etc.

• Putting up A4 sized posters in shops on Mall Road for free. Cards submitted to Neeraj Sir.

• Advertising initially with Anand Theatre to attract youth (Rs. 1500 per month)

• Putting up a hoarding stand outside MSPICM to be used for multiple purposes and announcements

Resources anticipated and required

• Seating arrangement and snacking arrangement

• Printing of A4 sized posters to be put up in shops in Mall road

• Printing of tickets for the shows

• Props for the plays

• Advertising with the theatre (Anand) in initial days (Rs. 1500)

Thank You

Community Video Branding Strategies

A team MICA presentation

Step 1: Naming and Identity

• Answering the question: How is community video functionally different as compared to the theatre?

• Community video can be used exclusively to educate farming community / rural class as well as sharing their plight with the city audiences

• Name: Pehel – Ek shuruat. Proposed logo:

• Identity: Forward development of the rural community (proposed)

• RESOURCES REQUIRED: A team of students ready to explore rural areas, well versed with editing, shooting, scripting etc.

Step 2: Frequency and target areas

• How often can the video content be scripted, shot, edited?

• Proposed frequency of making the video documentaries: Once in 2 months

• Target areas: Shoot documentaries by interviewing experts on problems and issues related to agriculture, screen the same in rural areas

• Films made on social and developmental issues can be screened in schools and colleges, outside temples etc. to a receptive target audience

• Undertake projects from NGOs to make documentaries on issues they would like to highlight in a particular region

• Undertake projects from the government to make documentaries for local issues

Step 3: Roles and responsibilities for students

• A team shooting, editing, scripting, screening documentaries

• A person fixing appointments with experts, charting out areas of visit in villages, arrangement for the same etc.

• A person calling up NGOs, Government to undertake self-financed projects for the institute students

Step 4: Branding the community video

• Cross advertising, awareness and promotion on Radio Hamara 90.4 FM.

• Playing sound bytes on radio shows for the benefit of the community

• Screening the films post conducting street plays in rural areas/ city areas etc

• Getting approval from credible authorities like Government of India etc. to get better recognition from the community.

Resources anticipated and required

• Handycam (1 or 2) for recording purposes. DVD/Hard-drives ones proposed for ease of data transfer. Average cost Rs. 20,000 for a lower end model

• Editing softwares proposed: Corel Video Studio (Faster, simpler, powerful editing)

• Sound Editing on SoundForge/Audacity (downloadable for free from the internet)

• Total Video Converter (To convert video files into different formats for distribution – Free to download)

Thank You

Radio branding strategies

A team MICA presentation

Expanding and spreading the brand

• Current awareness is at a good level. People in Solan listen to the radio. However, the name of the radio i.e. “Hamara 90.4 FM” should be repeated more often to create brand recall.

• Content needs to be updated/ different/ appealing to various sections of the society.

• More visibility will give the radio station more credibility and hence will pull in more advertisements.

• Advertise on Autorickshaws. Paste stickers. Let people see the brand anywhere and everywhere they go.

• Event- tie ups like that of Himachal Utsav have to be consistent and have to continue.

Corporates- A major way of reaching rural areas/branding/funding

• Corporates have to be included in this programme if funding has to be generated.

• A proposal to be submitted to corporates telling them how reach of the radio is strong in rural areas.

• Convincing them to fund co-branded radio sets of Hamara FM as well their their brand to be distributed amongst rural areas

• Corporates can sponsor radio shows on Humara FM at a low cost and getting a decent amount of reach across Solan, surrounding areas

• A team for corporate pitching should be designated this task. They should contact companies and ask them for advertising/branding requirements/ our proposal etc.

Regular advertising In-store/ Contest

• Advertise for radio shows, contests etc. by merely putting up A4 sized posters on shops across Mall road.

• To keep coming up with monthly contests that engage the audience to help cement loyal listenership. Current ‘Main bhi RJ’ contest is a good example of the same.

• Taking feedback from existing clients who are advertising

• Taking feedback from citizens, rural villagers on what kind of programmes should be playing on radio. This feedback should be a bi-monthly exercise.

Thank You

Newspaper - Agneepath

The following slide contains suggestions keeping in mind that the newspaper is currently not being printed and that it has a proper plan being thought of by the

institute.

Our observations on Agneepath

• Currently being sold at Rs. 2 per copy

• Contains 4 pages with atleast half a page dedicated to advertising for MSPICM

• Contains a collection of news over the two weeks

A few suggestions…

• Picture/photo quality can be improved drastically

• Should be a review of news of what has happened in Solan and not a collection

• Price cannot be more than Re. 1 for atleast 8 pages

• Encourage “Citizen reporters” and columns by policemen, shopkeepers, housewives, students etc. to increase awareness

• Can contain trivia and puzzles to make use of the paper

• Can be distributed freely initially for the first 6-7 issues to people of Solan to get them habituated to reading the paper till we increase the frequency of printing

• Make the logo more vibrant as it is an opinion related newspaper

Thank You