Objective:
The youth, especially those living in Mumbai are quite open to the idea of sex. They do not shy away from talking about sex and also acting on it. The objective of this activity is to promote Safe Sex and hence Normalisation of Condoms.
Thought process:Today’s youth is very attached to his/her friends. The relationship that they revere amongst everything is friendship. You can say that the key driving forces in their lives are their peers.
Many companies use this attitude of the youth to promote their products. Like for example, mobile service providers come up with promotions like extra talktime, free SMSs and Group Schemes to get the attention of youth.
Social Networking is another activity that goes well with youth. Hence, the popularity of facebook, twitter and more.
Rang De Basanti is a film made for friendship. The main characters in the film are college students who are ready to give their lives for their friends, literally.
Strategy:
So you get the youth to involve their friends in Condom Promotion – a simple and effective strategy. Based on above thought process, a concept was created called “making a friend for life”
And that’s how CONDOM MERA DOST came about.
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| HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH 'CONDOM'? |
• Mobile - youth in Mumbai spend 24/7 on their mobile phones.
• Facebook - The above are cost effective media used by youth day in and day out. Studies say that the average youth in Mumbai spends about 4 hours on facebook every day.
Agents:
100 Red Ribbon Clubs were roped in to conduct the activity at 100 college locations.
Every college conducted the activity on August 12, 2011 outside their college campus, thereby reaching out the youth at large – even those in the locality, other than the students.
Activity specific training:
The students were called in batches of fifty – 2 representatives from each college. A total of 200 students from 100 colleges were trained in four separate sessions.
They were trained with the help of a step-by-step powerpoint presentation on MDACS premises.
The High Five or the 5 steps to friendship:
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| Poster put up at Colleges |
• LIKE Condom Mera Dost fanpage on facebook
• Upload your pictures with him on the fanpage and tag yourself
• Send an SMS to your friend
• Write a message with him
Execution – How to make friends with Condom:
Step 1 - Click pictures with your new friend
• RRC student put up the condom board outside the college
• RRC student carried a placard, went to youth and spoke about friendship and ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful, use Condoms) approach
• RRC student encouraged every youth in the area to click a picture with the condom board and support the cause
• RRC member made a note of the name of the youth
Step 2 - Add your friend on facebook
• Name of the facebook community is Condom Mera Dost
• RRC member asked the youth to log on to facebook and search for ‘Condom Mera Dost’ fanpage and ‘LIKE’ the fanpage
• Chits of paper were made with the words Search for Condom Mera Dost on facebook and LIKE the page
• These were distributed to a number of youth all around the area of the colleges.
Step 3 - Upload picture, tag the picture
• RRC member ensured that there was a laptop available at the venue along with internet facility.
• RRC member created a picture folder under the college name on the Condom Mera Dost fanpage on facebook.
• RRC member uploaded the pictures taken on to this folder and tagged each youth’s name to his pictures with the Condom Board.
Step 4 - Send an SMS to your friend
• RRC member encouraged the students to send the SMS <myfriend> to 53636 and get messages / updates / jokes from his new friend (Condom)
• This brought about a deluge of SMSs, jokes, factoids about Condom for free over a period of one month
• RRC member ensured that the students sent such an SMS
• Students who were keen to know were told that the cost of the SMS was just Rs. 3
Step 5 - Write in your friend’s autograph book
• RRC members encouraged the students to create a Graffiti Wall with cardboard and chart papers.
• They asked the students to write messages / slogans about his new friend (Condom) on the Graffiti Wall.
• The wall was given the title “Make a Friend for Life”.
Impact:
1. 100 colleges participated in this programme. Both students and the professors were totally involved in the activity. Many of the colleges conducted the programme outside their premises encouraging many outsiders to join the fray. It was great to see that students were very open to this concept thus Normalising the Condom.
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| 100 colleges participated in this event on International Youth Day |
2. 637 members joined the fanpage CONDOM MERA DOST on facebook. Loads of pictures were added by college students that were sent to their friends, thus creating a bigger exposure.
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| Screenshot of Facebook page CONDOM MERA DOST |
3. Over 500 people registered in the SMS community for the messages. Over a period of one month, each day, messages were sent to these people on condom facts, jokes etc. the effect was viral as they in turn sent these jokes, factoids, etc. to their friends.
4. Every person who clicked a picture with the Condom Board wrote on the Graffiti wall that is on display at the various colleges. The message continues to reach youth even after the activity.
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| Graffiti Wall |
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