Amy Lockwood: Selling condoms in the Congo

Translator: Natalia Pérez Bermejo Reviewer: Noemi Casadesus Viola

I am a reformed marketer,

He renegat del màrqueting,

and I now work in international development.

ara treballo pel desenvolupament internacional.

In October, I spent some time in the Democratic Republic of Congo,

A l'octubre vaig estar a la República Democràtica del Congo,

which is the [second] largest country in Africa.

el (segon) país més gran de l'Àfrica.

In fact, it's as large as Western Europe,

És tan gran com l'Europa Occidental

but it only has 300 miles of paved roads.

i només 300 milles estan pavimentades.

The DRC is a dangerous place.

La RDC és un lloc perillós.

In the past 10 years, five million people have died

Els últims 10 anys, han mort 5 milions de persones

due to a war in the east.

en una guerra de l'est.

But war isn't the only reason

Però la guerra no és l'única

that life is difficult in the DRC.

cosa que hi fa difícil viure.

There are many health issues as well.

Hi ha molts problemes sanitaris.

In fact, the HIV prevalence rate

De fet, el predomini de la sida

is 1.3 percent among adults.

és de 1,3 % entre els adults.

This might not sound like a large number,

Potser no sembla una xifra gaire alta,

but in a country with 76 million people,

però en un país de 76 milions de persones,

it means there are 930,000 that are infected.

vol dir que 930.000 estan infectades.

And due to the poor infrastructure,

La infraestructura és tan deficient

only 25 percent of those

que només el 25 %

are receiving the life-saving drugs that they need.

rep els medicaments que necessita per salvar la vida.

Which is why, in part,

En part per això

donor agencies provide condoms

les organitzacions donen condons

at low or no cost.

per molt poc o de franc.

And so while I was in the DRC,

Quan jo estava a la RDC

I spent a lot of time talking to people about condoms,

vaig estar parlant molt sobre els condons amb gent

including Damien.

com el Damien.

Damien runs a hotel outside of Kinshasa.

El Damien té un hotel prop de Kinshasa

It's a hotel that's only open until midnight,

que només obre fins la mitjanit,

so it's not a place that you stay.

no t'hi pots quedar a dormir.

But it is a place where sex workers and their clients come.

És on van els treballadors del sexe amb els seus clients.

Now Damien knows all about condoms,

El Damien ho sap tot sobre els condons,

but he doesn't sell them.

però no en ven.

He said there's just not in demand.

Diu que no n'hi ha demanda.

It's not surprising,

Normal,

because only three percent of people in the DRC

perquè només el 3 % de la població

use condoms.

en fa servir.

Joseph and Christine,

En Joseph i la Christine,

who run a pharmacy where they sell a number of these condoms,

que tenen una farmàcia on venen alguns d'aquests condons,

said despite the fact that donor agencies provide them at low or no cost,

diuen que encara que les organitzacions els regalin

and they have marketing campaigns that go along with them,

i els acompanyin amb publicitat,

their customers don't buy the branded versions.

els seus clients no en volen de marca.

They like the generics.

Volen genèrics.

And as a marketer, I found that curious.

Com a publicista, ho vaig trobar curiós.

And so I started to look at what the marketing looked like.

I em vaig començar a fixar en la publicitat.

And it turns out that there are three main messages

Resulta que les organitzacions fan servir tres

used by the donor agencies for these condoms:

missatges principals per vendre els condons:

fear, financing and fidelity.

la por, el finançament i la fidelitat.

They name the condoms things like Vive, "to live"

Posen noms als condons com Vive, "viure",

or Trust.

o "Confia".

They package it with the red ribbon

Els emboliquen amb el llacet vermell

that reminds us of HIV,

que ens recorda a la sida,

put it in boxes that remind you who paid for them,

en capses que ens recorden qui els finança,

show pictures of your wife or husband

amb fotos de la teva dona o el teu marit

and tell you to protect them

dient que els protegeixis

or to act prudently.

o siguis prudent.

Now these are not the kinds of things that someone is thinking about

Aquest no és el tipus de coses en què un està pensant

just before they go get a condom.

quan necessita un condó.

(Laughter)

(Rialles)

What is it that you think about

I en què esteu pensant

just before you get a condom?

quan necessiteu un condó?

Sex!

En sexe!

And the private companies that sell condoms in these places,

I les empreses privades que venen condons en llocs així

they understand this.

ho saben.

Their marketing is slightly different.

La seva publicitat és diferent.

The name might not be much different,

Els noms potser no tant,

but the imagery sure is.

però l'imaginari sí.

Some brands are aspirational,

Algunes són ambicioses

and certainly the packaging is incredibly provocative.

i no cal dir que fan envasos molt provocatius.

And this made me think

Això em va fer pensar

that perhaps the donor agencies had just missed out

que les organitzacions havien passat per alt

on a key aspect of marketing:

una clau del màrqueting:

understanding who's the audience.

conèixer el públic objectiu.

And for donor agencies, unfortunately,

I per desgràcia, el seu públic

the audience tends to be

acostuma a ser

people that aren't even in the country they're working [in].

gent que ni tan sols es troba al país on treballa.

It's people back home,

Gent que torna a casa,

people that support their work,

gent a favor de la seva feina,

people like these.

gent així.

But if what we're really trying to do

Però si el que estem intentant és

is stop the spread of HIV,

aturar el contagi de la sida,

we need to think about the customer,

hem de pensar en els clients,

the people whose behavior needs to change --

la gent amb actituds que cal canviar:

the couples,

les parelles,

the young women, the young men --

les noies, els nois...

whose lives depend on it.

les vides dels quals en depenen.

And so the lesson is this:

Aixì doncs, la lliçó és:

it doesn't really matter what you're selling;

l'important no és el que vens,

you just have to think about who is your customer,

sinó que has de pensar a qui li vens

and what are the messages

i quins missatges

that are going to get them to change their behavior.

el faran canviar d'actitud.

It might just save their lives.

Podries salvar les seves vides.

Thank you.

Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiment)