PSI India – Will Balbir Pasha Help Fight AIDS?

India is the home to world’s third largest AIDS Population. Every day around 7000

people become infected by HIV. In November 2002 Population Services International (PSI)

launched an aggressive and innovative campaign in Mumbai as part of a integrated behavioral

change HIV prevention program known as Operation Lighthouse. It was being implemented in

12 major port communities across India with the support of United States Agency for

International Development. The campaign was based on extensive consumer research and

communicated the ill fates of HIV infection and also about the risk of unsafe sex among the

poorest sectors of the Indian metropolis of Mumbai.

The main concept behind the campaign was that people learn by seeing the behavioral

changes in another person. The campaign actually aimed at bringing some behavioral changes to

a person’s daily activity. On the basis of above concept PSI along with its advertising agency

Lowe created alter ego in the name of a fictional character “Balbir Pasha”. They produced a

mixture of strategically made outdoor campaigns, radio and television messaging where the

character Balbir Pasha was shown in different scenarios. These scenes were based on the

activities of the people living in the poorest community of Mumbai. People in Mumbai could

actually relate to the character and empathize with him. Or in the other sense we can say that

Balbir Pasha served as a behavioral model for the people of Mumbai. The other thing which was

good about the campaign was that the AIDS helpline, promotion of Voluntary campaign and on-

ground interpersonal communications, which actually added to the strategically planned

campaign.

Success of the Campaign:

If we talk of the success of the campaign then we can say it has done a fairly good job. In

general, earlier the communication about AIDS was spreading the message in a fearful way.

They always used scary ways to communicate about the killer disease but none offered some

positive remedies towards the same. On the other Operation light house hits the right chord by

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engaging people’s behavioral attitude towards the campaign. The main communication

objectives which were achieved were:

Bringing about an attitudinal change by increasing the perception of HIV risk from

unprotected sex with non-regular partners. These were very well communicated by

showing real life scenarios to connect with the general mass

By bringing a change in social norms wherein people can actually discuss about the risk

of having HIV and the ill fates associated with it.

By bringing a behavioral change where people were actually motivated to use the

helpline services

Reasons for Success:

One of the main reasons behind the success of the campaign was the way it was effectively

communicated, which actually enabled it to connect with the target audience very efficiently.

The placement and timing of each message was directly related to the place of campaign. The

teaser campaign of Balbir Pasha wherein each phase was revealed progressively really created

hype among the mass of Mumbai. The main ways of communication were:

In red light areas where mainly outdoor communication was used

Outdoor communication in Public Transport (Buses and Local railways) and cinema

halls

Radio and TV channels

Print Media in the form of Newspaper

Secondly the campaign was created by in depth analysis of the target customer i.e. his

behavior and lifestyle. And then by developing a character with which the target could connect

easily, the campaign very effectively communicated its message. Thirdly the campaign also

provided on ground interpersonal communication and helpline services which actually were in

synergy with the message communicated through outdoor campaigns and print and television

media. Last but not the least the campaign was so strong that it became the talk of the street. It

rightly and effectively infiltrated into the target audience.

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Extension of the Campaign:

After the success of Balbir Pasha Campaign in Mumbai it was time for developing a

similar campaign for other regions also. But will the same strategy work for PSI. The main

reason for success was because it was able to connect effectively with the target audience. But

extending the same would be encountered by cultural differences. Suppose the campaign is

launched in South India then, same Balbir Pasha would not appeal to the people in southern

regions as it has done in Mumbai. They should do it in way to connect more with the people of

southern people as their culture is totally different from Mumbai. Moreover they should think of

some other teaser campaign as this has become familiar with people. Also if in a place where

people are very conservative and do not have the provision to discuss the issues in public, the

campaign may generate criticism and anger. So it is very important to understand how to tackle

criticisms before going for such campaigns elsewhere. It is also equally important to consider the

sentiments of people to whom the messages will be exposed in future.

Issues with the Campaign:

One of the major issue with the campaign was the name “Manjula” associated with the

campaign. Manjula has been portrayed as a sex worker in the campaign. In India Manjula is a

very common name so it actually made some of the women with this name very uncomfortable.

Due to this there was widespread criticism about the campaign. Moreover people thought the

campaign was only focused on heterosexual transmission of HIV and left many other reasons for

spread of HIV. But then complains and criticism were carefully dealt with and the on an average

the campaign was a huge success.

Submitted By, Sandeep Behera

Reg. No: 038/1

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