Dear All

Many thanks for your replies and suggestions.

We are in the early stages of developing this community awareness and service promotion campaign, which has now been designed to incorporate a public bonanza (launch event) with a popular local musician, as well as a community football game (with football uniforms branded with the campaign slogan/logo). We'll also undertake door-to-door awareness campaigns, distributing flyers & stickers, as well as regular "sanitation exhibitions" conducted for 2 days in each sub-ward. Additionally we'll place posters in every sub-ward office, and advertise on the preferred radio and TV stations within these specific communities.

In a few months I'll be able to provide more information on how the campaign has gone, which aspects worked best, etc.

Cheers,

Laura

Hi Laura,

Interesting question that you raised. I think it is more related to "sanitation as a business" than to "public awareness" so I've had a look at that sub-category for previous threads for you that might be relevant (and I also moved your thread to there).

Perhaps you can glean something from these ones:

- Marketing training for some sales representatives who will market services in Peri Urban Areas (Lusaka, Zambia)
forum.susana.org/161-sanitation-as-a-bus...-areas-lusaka-zambia

- Sanitation marketing business models- One stop shop vs the Agent model
forum.susana.org/161-sanitation-as-a-bus...p-vs-the-agent-model

- Using market-based social enterprises to push forward improved sanitation - Uganda Experience
forum.susana.org/161-sanitation-as-a-bus...on-uganda-experience

- Advertising sanitation products/services (sharing from Malawi - seeking input)
forum.susana.org/167-market-development-...malawi-seeking-input

- Advertising Pit Emptying in Urban Setting (question from Malawi)
forum.susana.org/161-sanitation-as-a-bus...on-from-malawi#13382

Please don't forget to come back to this thread and share what has worked for you in Dar es Salaam and what didn't. Thanks in advance!

Elisabeth

Hi

This is a great thread Id be interested to hear how you progress.

I dont know if its possible, but in South Africa we worked with the local government to tender for providing pit emptying to local institutions (schools and health centres) which allowed us some free advertising at the same time. We also did as Nicola suggested and offered commission to our teams who won their own work on top of what we secured.

Radio and TV dont work if its too direct. If you have the budget you can look at commissioning some series with good messaging supporting what you are doing, but that takes a lot of investment not just in money but time. You need to sugar coat the concept in a story of some kind, but this can be quite country specific. For example we had a really successful radio show int he Philippines but I didnt see the value of it in South Africa.

Let us know how you get on

Esther

Dear Nicola,

Thanks for your response and suggestions. I like the idea of hosting a public demonstration pit-emptying event, I can imagine that would be a good place to start, so that people can "see to believe" particularly as they've never experienced such a service in these areas.

I've heard of stickers working well in Dakar, so we'll also try to do this as well.

Thankfully we learnt during the baseline survey that the majority of residents are home owners, so the willingness to pay should be higher than in areas with mostly renters.

Cheers,

Laura

Hi Laura

I have tried a mix of what you mentioned but have found nothing more effective than providing genuinely better value than the alternative - word travels quickly if that is the case. Unfortunately I've not managed that too often - the need to transport waste with a registered business almost always make the improved service the more expensive one.

If you are competing on safety, reliability, rather than price I have found that the best advertising is to do a pit latrine emptying in a public location at a prime time (obviously with appropriate cordons). Many customers are found when you are already doing an emptying - maybe do a church or a leaders home to gain some momentum, or run a competition. Have a sign up sheet with you when emptying - get people's contacts. If not, bring the equipment out and do some form of demo.

Stickers on the gates of the home's you've emptied reinforce the message as people walk around are discrete but very visible.

If what you are proposing is a totally new concept, it is difficult to advertise via billboard, tv, radio- I've never had great success there - people just don't get it. In almost all cases its been the hard grind of door to door marketing with about a 1 in a hundred success rate (by my rough guess) I've tried commission structures too but even generous commission did not make it worthwhile. However, if the emptiers themselves are on commission for finding customers and commission for every job completed, they sometimes manage, seeing as some of the employees are ex manual emptiers in many cases..so customers still come to them. You could also try a generous commission with those existing busy manual emptiers.

Pitching at church and community meetings also good.

Your strategy will depend on if you have lots of live in landlords (door to door is worthwhile) or whether the person paying doesn't live in the house/settlement itself.

Nicola

Dear global FSM (and sanitation marketing) experts,

I am asking for examples of innovative and successful education and marketing campaigns for promoting FSM pit-emptying services to low- and middle- income communities, in densely populated urban environments.

Along the lines of Radio, TV, Social Media, Slogans, Posters, Stickers, Videos, Flyers, T-shirts, Sanitation Bazaars/Exhibitions, etc:

What worked? What didn't?

BORDA Tanzania is currently finalising construction of two decentralised faecal sludge treatment plants, located in informal settlements of Dar es Salaam (financed by UKAID "HDIF"), and will soon deliver marketing campaigns to the respective communities, to advertise the upcoming pit-latrine/septic-tank emptying services, offered by local entrepreneurs.

Any suggestions/inspirations are warmly welcome.

Many thanks,

Laura