Reflection – Storytelling

Challenge & Selection

I was working on the flagship project of the socio-entrepreneurship organisation of my university.  The problem we were dealing with was that of ill management of solid waste in India. What sparked  us to do something tangible about it was a landfill collapse that caused death of a dozen  ‘underprivileged’ people who picked up recyclable waste and lived close to the location of landfill.  We realized the impact of it is, deep and multi-dimensional.  We conducted a research, the major takeaway of which was that maximum amount (up to 50%) of  waste was organic kitchen waste which can easily be treated at home via a simple age-old  technique, composting. We thought, that is it. We just have to make composters and the major part  of the problem will be solved. What we realized after one-to-one human conversations with the  consumers and manufacturers is that more than the problem of waste management itself, we have  to deal with a behavioural change that is difficult to embrace for the entire human race.   And during one of these one to one conversation with a 63-year old lady, we realised that to drive  this change we need to weave a story around why it is so important to do compost our own greens.    Application

We had these two lines of products, the community composter for the horticulture waste and home  composter for the kitchen greens. The community composter was being manufactured by small  scale ironsmith industries and the home composter was a 3-tier terracotta pot structure  manufactured by potter’s community in Delhi whose business was fast declining due to more  durable plastic alternatives.  For the home composter, the consumers were sceptical about this extra load of work in their already  busy life schedules and for the community composting, the community gardener couldn’t see any  incentive doing this extra work at the same wage.  What we finally did was start this, ‘Reconnecting with Roots’ campaign wherein we wove this story  through fun interactive activities on how composting has been a part of our culture since times  immemorial, additionally, taking care of the environment we live in is our own personal  responsibility.  Adding to this the traditional terracotta pots with beautiful traditional art sparked interest in art  collectors and revived another form of art which was fast declining.    Insight and Approach

What I learned by weaving a story around the product line and the company was:

1) People started to look at the task of composting as a duty and not an ‘extra load of work’.  2) The community gardeners started to have a better sense of respect both from within and by

the society for the noble work they did. This was in addition to the extra income they  received by selling the organic manure from composting the horticultural waste.

3) Reviving the art of pottery and local painting instilled the sense of importance and

confidence in local artists.

4) Composting soon became a status symbol in many neighbourhoods and those who did not

do it was looked down upon.

5) Selling a product cannot be a success unless you prove its worth in the consumer’s life and

make space for its utility in the story of their day-to-day life. And thus, what we decided to  sell on is an wholesome and enriching composting experience.

To conclude, what a customer looks at when he/she wants to but the product is not only how far  and efficiently is it solving the problem but also how much the providers of the product and the  product itself care about the problem and those affected by it. All in all, the vision of the company is  itself a story that speaks loud of how much you care about its stakeholders.  This can also be clearly seen in the Good Kitchen Story.

