Amy Lockwood: Selling condoms in the Congo

Translator: Klavdija Cernilogar Reviewer: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

I am a reformed marketer,

Sem reformirana trgovka

and I now work in international development.

in sedaj delam v mednarodnem razvoju.

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

Oktobra sem nekaj časa preživela v Demokratični republiki Kongo,

which is the [second] largest country in Africa.

ki je druga največja afriška država.

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

Pravzaprav je tako velika kot Zahodna Evropa,

but it only has 300 miles of paved roads.

ima pa le 300 milj asfaltiranih cest.

The DRC is a dangerous place.

DR Kongo je nevaren kraj.

In the past 10 years, five million people have died

V zadnjih desetih letih je pet milijonov ljudi umrlo

due to a war in the east.

zaradi vojne na vzhodu.

But war isn't the only reason

Vendar vojna ni edini razlog za to,

that life is difficult in the DRC.

da je življenje v Kongu težko.

There are many health issues as well.

Obstaja tudi veliko težav, povezanih z zdravjem.

In fact, the HIV prevalence rate

Delež okuženih z virusom HIV denimo,

is 1.3 percent among adults.

je med odraslimi 1,3 odstotka.

This might not sound like a large number,

To se morda ne sliši veliko,

but in a country with 76 million people,

vendar za državo s 76 milijoni prebivalcev

it means there are 930,000 that are infected.

pomeni, da je okuženih 930.000 ljudi.

And due to the poor infrastructure,

In zaradi slabe infrastrukture

only 25 percent of those

samo 25 odstotkov okuženih

are receiving the life-saving drugs that they need.

dobiva zdravila, ki jih potrebujejo za življenje.

Which is why, in part,

Deloma zaradi tega

donor agencies provide condoms

donatorske agencije dajejo na razpolago kondome

at low or no cost.

po nizki ceni ali zastonj.

And so while I was in the DRC,

In ko sem bila v Kongu,

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

sem se o kondomih veliko pogovarjala z ljudmi,

including Damien.

tudi z Damienom.

Damien runs a hotel outside of Kinshasa.

Damien vodi hotel izven Kinšase.

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

Hotel je odprt samo do polnoči,

so it's not a place that you stay.

torej ni kraj, kjer bi človek prespal.

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

Je pa kraj, kamor prihajajo spolne delavke in njihove stranke.

Now Damien knows all about condoms,

Damien ve vse o kondomih,

but he doesn't sell them.

a jih ne prodaja.

He said there's just not in demand.

Pravi, da preprosto ni povpraševanja po njih.

It's not surprising,

To ni presenetljivo,

because only three percent of people in the DRC

saj samo trije odstotki ljudi v Kongu

use condoms.

uporabljajo kondome.

Joseph and Christine,

Joseph in Christine,

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

ki vodita lekarno, ki prodaja številne take kondome,

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

pravita, da kljub agencijam, ki jih dajejo poceni ali zastonj,

and they have marketing campaigns that go along with them,

in kljub tržnim kampanjam, ki jih spremljajo,

their customers don't buy the branded versions.

njihove stranke ne kupujejo tistih z zaščiteno znamko.

They like the generics.

Bolj všeč so jim generični.

And as a marketer, I found that curious.

In kot trgovki se mi je to zdelo zanimivo.

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

Tako sem začela preučevati, kakšen marketing uporabljajo.

And it turns out that there are three main messages

Izkazalo se je, da donatorji za te kondome

used by the donor agencies for these condoms:

uporabljajo tri temeljna sporočila:

fear, financing and fidelity.

strah, financiranje in zvestobo.

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

Kondome poimenujejo z imeni, kot so Vive (živeti)

or Trust.

ali Trust (zaupanje).

They package it with the red ribbon

Na ovitku je rdeča pentlja,

that reminds us of HIV,

ki spominja na virus HIV,

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

dajo jih v škatlice, ki kažejo, kdo je zanje plačal,

show pictures of your wife or husband

dodajo fotografije vaše žene ali moža

and tell you to protect them

in vam naročijo, naj jih zaščitite

or to act prudently.

ali naj boste previdni.

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

No, to niso stvari, o katerih človek razmišlja

just before they go get a condom.

tik preden si priskrbijo kondom.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

What is it that you think about

O čem razmišljate

just before you get a condom?

preden greste po kondom?

Sex!

O seksu!

And the private companies that sell condoms in these places,

In zasebna podjetja, ki v teh krajih prodajajo kondome,

they understand this.

to razumejo.

Their marketing is slightly different.

Njihovo trženje je malo drugačno.

The name might not be much different,

Imena se morda ne razlikujejo veliko,

but the imagery sure is.

podobe pa vsekakor se.

Some brands are aspirational,

Nekatere znamke imajo določen pridih

and certainly the packaging is incredibly provocative.

in pakiranje je vsekakor izjemno provokativno.

And this made me think

Zaradi tega mislim,

that perhaps the donor agencies had just missed out

da so morda donatorji pozabili

on a key aspect of marketing:

na temeljni vidik marketinga:

understanding who's the audience.

razumeti svojega naslovnika.

And for donor agencies, unfortunately,

Na žalost se zdi, da za donatorske agencije

the audience tends to be

občinstvo predstavljajo ljudje,

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

ki sploh niso v državi, v kateri se delo odvija.

It's people back home,

Gre za ljudi doma,

people that support their work,

tiste, ki podpirajo delo agencij,

people like these.

ljudi, kot so tile.

But if what we're really trying to do

Toda če v resnici hočemo

is stop the spread of HIV,

ustaviti širitev virusa HIV,

we need to think about the customer,

moramo misliti na uporabnika,

the people whose behavior needs to change --

na ljudi, katerih vedenje je treba spremeniti --

the couples,

na pare,

the young women, the young men --

mlade ženske, mlade moške --

whose lives depend on it.

katerih življenje je odvisno od tega.

And so the lesson is this:

In nauk je:

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

v resnici ni važno, kaj prodajate,

you just have to think about who is your customer,

samo misliti morate na svojega uporabnika

and what are the messages

in na sporočila,

that are going to get them to change their behavior.

ki bodo spremenila njegovo vedenje.

It might just save their lives.

Morda bi to rešilo njegovo življenje.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)