India against Obesity

In 2017, 1 in every 20 people in India is obese. In a country of 1.3 billion people, that makes about
65 million obese men, women and children in the country. That is about 5 million more than the
population of Australia and Canada, combined! More alarming is the fact that over 14 million
children in the country are obese. That number is only behind China, where 15 million children
are obese.

It is high time that along with education, water crisis and sanitation, this phenomenon which is,
in no measure less harmful and urgent, should be addressed. We plan to bring out advertisements
in print, radio and television on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the
Government of India. The aim is to make people aware of the health consequences of junk food
and the long term effects of obesity.

Situation Analysis

We perform a situation analysis for gauging the factors that have led to the changing behavior
among the Indian consumers, which in turn has resulted in them getting obese.

1. Economic Factors: With the liberalization of the economy and the boom in the software
industry, the middle class population of India grew. Now, people had more dispensable
income, which attracted various organized fast food chains and retailers to the country.
People now began eating outside frequently. The consumption of carbonated drinks, junk
foods including burgers, hot dogs, pizza which were hitherto unknown, now increased to
record levels.
2. Social Factors: Eating and drinking became a social norm over the past few decades.
Especially for the young adults and the children in urban households, eating at KFCs,
McDonalds, Pizza Hut has become a norm. The advertisements these companies run also
appeals to the psyche of the target population and theres a fear of being left out unless
one involves in these practices.
3. Environmental Factors: With promotional campaigns on bill boards, newspapers,
magazines, television and online sources, its hard to get away from not being attracted to
these foods. Also, the demographics has been changing, people are increasingly staying
alone in the urban areas. In such cases, a pizza with a bottle of coke is any day preferable
than having to cook food.
4. Technological Factors: With new mobile apps, the business of ordering food has seen a
revolutionary change. Food is now available at ones doorstep. Indian food delivery sector
 grew by 150% over the last fiscal year, thus capturing the changing demographic and
technological patterns that enabled this huge growth.

Marketing Objective

The motive of this promotional and awareness campaign is to make people think twice before
indulging in foods that cause obesity. For centuries we have been a poor country, even today
about 40 per cent of the population is under nourished. Then we have this phenomenon of
obesity and its related diseases. Our objective is to deal with this paradoxical situation and make
people adopt healthy dietary habits.

Marketing Mix

Product: An awareness ad campaign with elements of humour. We aim to get a celebrity (from
the sports world) for endorsing the cause. The advertisement itself will feature no celebrity and
will be shot in an urban setting targeting the urban viewers.

Place: The whole of Urban India. If we rank them, Punjab is the most overweight state in the
nation. However, Delhi is the region that has the highest concentration of obese people. We aim
to put our hoardings and the radio ads in all major cities across India. The TV ads can be put in
the channels that attract the children, young adults and adults.

Price: The campaign will be launched nation-wide; as such the budget requirement for the project
will run into several crores. Rs. 9000 crores has been allotted to make the country clean, we
expect the government would be able to splurge one-fourth of that to make it healthy.

Promotion: The campaign must be launched on a significant day, say the world food day. Get Fit
would be the motto of the campaign and celebrity endorsers could be signed in for that purpose.
Besides seeking to limit and alter the consumption pattern, the campaign would also have waste
reduction under its ambit.