The Hindu Business Line : India Inc cashes in on Women's Day

IT is a concept that three-fourths of the Indian population may not be even aware of, but trust India Inc not to leave any opportunity to market itself untapped.

The International Women's Day, which falls on Friday, is once again witnessing marketers across diverse categories attempting to catch the attention of the consumer, women in this case.

While the English movie channel HBO has planned to air a series of well-known women-oriented films non-stop, Sony Entertainment Television is celebrating the occasion in association with Hindustan Lever's Ponds through a `sampurn naari contest'.

Among the brands that have been very active on Women's Day in the past couple of years are HLL's Ponds and Sunsilk, and P&G's Head & Shoulders and Whisper.

"We generate a lot of advertising through such events, and women do form a large part of our target audience. This year, for example, the World Gold Council is the official sponsor for Women's Day on our channel," said Ms Shruti Bajpai, Director, Marketing, Indian liaison office, HBO.

Star TV's bouquet of channels — Star Plus and Star Gold specifically — too are not wasting the chance to grab a share of voice linked to Woman's Day. While Kamzor Kadi Kaun on Star Plus has already aired a `women's special' episode, Star Gold will broadcast movies featuring Bollywood's woman of substance through this month.

Tricon Restaurant's Pizza Hut is giving away two pizzas for the price of one, garments major Raymond has scheduled the opening of the second store of its womenswear brand — Be: — for International Women's Day, vacation ownership exchange holidays company RCI is `celebrating' a `Lady's Week Out' at the end of which winners will be awarded with a bonus week of holidays, and Lotus Herbals is giving away free gift hampers through a tie-up with a publishing house.

And, of course, marketers of jewellery brands are predictably pushing their stuff as `one good reason to buy on this day'.

The bottomline, of course, is to get the consumer to loosen her purse strings and spend. "The Lady's Week Out offer reflects our dedication to women members," said Mr Raju Shahani, Managing Director, RCI India Pvt Ltd. According to him, on an average, 45 per cent of the incoming calls at RCI's three Indian call centres are from women, which explains the company's decision to `indulge' its consumers.

"It obviously makes sense for marketers of cosmetics and jewellery brands to cash in on events like these. And even if the idea is alien to most of the woman population, it does work in the metros and bigger cities," said a media analyst.

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