We have shot in October 2009 a TV commercial of 40 seconds featuring the Nobel Peace Price and founder of the Grameen Bank Pr Yunus (Some articles here and there). Pr Yunus kindly accepted to be in this commercial and deliver a very personal message on nutrition and the social business model that is Grameen Danone in Bangladesh. His contribution to this film, as well as the beautiful images shot in Bangladesh, proved to be a great success for the TV campaign organized between mid October and end of November 2009 on 4 major TV channels.

 

Grameen Danone has reached in November an astonishing 107.7 tons, which is the best results ever achieved since the creation of Grameen Danone! In December, we achieved more than 102 tons, even if the TV was not there as a support anymore. The entire team is responsible for this success, and particularly the production team, who ensured a smooth production of more than 1.7 million cups in November, and the sales team, who achieved record sales in November and December.

 

Probir, the factory director, was very satisfied about these results: “The factory is almost full, and the production team works full time, which is very good. The team is very motivated by the good sales, and we have now 8 people working full time at the factory plus 6 extra labor for the cleaning procedures”. Probir thinks that we can do even better in 2010, and collect more milk with our own source to secure the production.

 

The 71 members of the Gramen Danone sales team are at the heart of this success in November and December: Sohel, sales manager for the rural areas and the ladies network, was thrilled to announce that we have now 629 ladies! Thanks to the TV, the good weather conditions and the Eid festival (during which many people travel back to their native villages), the ladies sales reached an all-time high, allowing each lady to earn a better income. In rural areas, the impact of Yunus on TV was tremendous: he is a very prominent figure in Bangladesh, and particularly well-known for his actions of micro-credit in rural villages. Now, winter has started: this is a more difficult time for rural ladies because of the cold weather and shorter days. Also, specific agricultural work has started for potatoes harvesting, and many ladies will have to temporary work in the fields.

 

Qaiyum, sales manager for Bogra and Dhaka retail, congratulated the sales force for their hard work. According to him TV helped, but not only, and the sales force put a lot of effort into over-achieving the sales targets. “The future is very bright for us” he added. Qaiyum showed the TV commercial to his team and the shopkeepers on his laptop prior to the beginning of the campaign: for him, Pr Yunus is the main driver behind the November success, “Pr Yunus speaks to the country” he added.