Disclaimer: The intention isn’t to hurt any ideologies. The views of the author may stem from pure ignorance. So kindly forgive. I have deliberately not done a Google search to learn more about the topic before writing as the purpose of the post was to capture the extreme customer evangelism and Word-of-mouth as I observed it.(As part of a course on consumer behaviour)
It was 2005. I had a friend. Pretty normal girl who used to talk of normal things. College and fights with boyfriend and art and literature. Then she attended an Art of Living session. I heard the name and thought.”Queer Art to teach”. Well, clever naming, intended at the target segment perhaps. Anyways, after the session, my conversations with her went in only one direction.”Why don’t you do an AOL course? Its so enlightening, the best thing ever to have happened. I practice the various techniques they teach and my life has taken a U-Turn.” Fair enough the product might be really great. But is it only the product? Couple of months down the line she told me how she braved huge crowds and was blessed to have met Sri Sri himself.
I would skip a couple of more instances of this kind.
Fast forward to 2009 August, Term Break after a wretched fourth term. An old friend from college pings.”Jai Gurudev!”. Had not been in touch for three years. So much so that I took a split second to recognise and place him. A hardsell followed which would put the best trained salesperson to shame.”There’s a DSN workshop taking place in Chennai, just happens once an year..a joy ride you CAN’T afford to miss. People are putting off going to the U.S and Dubai to attend this. I’m sure your profs aren’t that interesting, you can miss 3 days of classes from 3-5 Sept to transform your life.” My feeble attempts at convincing him that I cant find the motivation failed to impress him. “That motivation should be like the need to eat food or drink water when one is hungry or thirsty” Then knowing me, he tried a different approach to persuasion. “It’s a tough course, a challenge, it’s not for the feeble hearted”. Whew! Reminded me of AOL. Did a Google search on “DSN” and found just “Digital Signal Networks” at first. Later came to know DSN = “Divya Samaj ka Nirman”, a course open to people who have done Art of Living Course-I. Perfect excuse to get him off my back. I haven’t done AOL! “Oh really? You haven’t done ANY AOL course? I don’t know how I even know you!” “Jai Gurudev!”
The point is, the product might be really great but what causes people like you and me to be such strong referrers to the product? Anybody who has done an AOL course would vouch for it and be a fierce fan. Something resembling a religion conversion. Yes it has nothing to do with religion though. A movement run by professionals. And the most unreligious people become fans. The effect of this coercive word of mouth can be immense. Analogous to the typical medical model of culture change.(Which basically talks of the network effect whereby a new trend spreads fast like a contagious disease would spread, and the rate of spreading increases geometrically as the number infected increases). Another interesting point is about the international spread of the “movement” so to say. “Back to the roots” fad eh?
I might join the ranks once I undertake the course. And from a neutral standpoint, the courses seem to be really good and bring out the best in you and help you discover yourself. But the cynic that I am, such hardselling puts me off. I refuse to believe it’s just the quality of the product. Comments from those in the know are welcome to decode the mystery. But a very interesting and queer thing to study. Can be a powerful tool for marketers.
I know, any AOL fan would brush this off saying “Agyaani who hasn’t tasted the fruit”. Fair enough.
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