The fore-runner of the trend can safely be said to be Cadburys with its ‘Bournvita Quiz Contest’, which promoted the cerebral advantages of the ‘health drink’. Today, however, several companies have associated themselves with some competition or activity, to ride piggy-back to schools in order to explore the market therein. The products offered range widely in usage — from newspapers to cosmetics to junk food, breakfast cereals, colours, knitting yarn — the list is ever-growing. Thus, if a company making chips comes to conduct a ‘Just a Minute’ competition, giving away prizes on the spot, another company (manufacturing knitting yarn) follows suit with an ‘aao buniye’ competition and a third company (which makes biscuits) comes forward with films on conservation.

Some educationists, however, are concerned about this trend. Mrs Indu Maitre, Principal, Sri Aurobindo School of Integral Education, says: " A child cannot cope with so many activities... the teaching-learning process gets cluttered. A true educationist can’t compromise with the unreasonable demands of the marketing companies. Marketing and education cannot go together."

Very often these companies may associate themselves with an issue or concern to promote an image of social responsibility. The students, who are already being given similar messages by the teachers in their curriculum in the form of value education, then transfer these associations without being equipped to investigate or explore the relevance of the association of the product that is being promoted. For example, a company that manufactures milk products and biscuits goes to schools with a huge banner with the message --- save water-- and starts a signature campaign. What possible relevance could a campaign have to the consumption of a biscuit or to the syllabus of the school unless the aim is to superimpose the brand name on the child’s psyche?

Often it isn’t the companies themselves that are doing the marketing in schools. Most of the times, a local event management firm is identified and the project handed over to it for execution. The liaison work with the school authorities and the familiarisation and acceptance of the brand name, perhaps with a free sample thrown in as bait, becomes the local company’s responsibility. But in some cases where competition is stiff and the market limited, the companies may step in themselves and wield their clout to grab a bigger share of the selling fields.

The intense competition between two ‘product’ conglomerates in the city would be an apt example. Both of them, in order to gain a larger circulation have set up a complete section of their marketing departments devoted only to schools. On their rolls is staff that liaisons with the school authorities. What more, they’ve even had schools appoint teachers as coordinators for activities conducted by them. If kids subscribe to their ‘product’ (at exceedingly subsidised rates) through school, they hold workshops (naturally only for the subscribers), lectures for teachers by a panel of experts whom the companies have on their rolls, film shows, painting competitions, inter-school and intra-school events like antakshari, quiz and personality shows, either sponsored totally by them or in collaboration with other companies. In addition, the young subscribers may sometimes be given pens or time-tables for having been "smart" enough to get their parents to cough up the subscription money.

When Neha Singh, a student of VIIIth standard, was asked why did she fill in the subscription form when her parents did not want her to, she said: "All my friends were doing it, so I subscribed for it, too. Also, when we were taken for a film by them (the company), only a few girls were left behind — we all went. They felt really bad, so next year they’re going to subscribe too!" Neha’s mother, when asked the same question, replied: "I tried explaining to her but she threw a major tantrum… in the end, it was easier to give in."

Expressing her reservations about this marketing trend, a teacher-coordinator for one of the ‘product’ companies in one of the leading schools of Chandigarh, said: "I seem to be spending all my time organising activities for these companies. Often I neglect my class because these events are so time-consuming." Echoing this concern, Colonel Narang, administrator of Saint Soldier International School, remarked: "These companies have been encroaching upon the time of the students— the so-called future customers."

How do the companies justify the expense incurred on such activities? For the huge staff and infrastructure devoted to the city schools, the end result achieved is an added sale of just 4000-5000 pieces within the school premises.

By giving free samples to students within schools, as a packaging company did last year, the companies seek to overcome the initial barrier of usage. A lot of sales promoters seek to induce people to try their products. The aim here is to motivate rather than inform target markets. Getting action rather than awareness often requires different promotional appeals and by distributing free samples, a major step towards selling — getting people to try the product -- is achieved. The marketing effort is directed at moving the potential customer quickly to the final step of adoption of the product. Marketers hope that promotion in the introductory stages of a product will create awareness of a product and arouse interest in it so they may evaluate it. Introduction of free samples induces trial by reducing the perceived risk of a new product in the market or the re-launch of an old one.

In addition, another motive of selling, that of market segmentation, is achieved. This is the process of identifying smaller markets (segments) that exist within a larger market. Market segmentation helps marketers tailor-make marketing mixes to the needs of the people in the segments identified as target markets.

The reason that production houses have suddenly descended upon schools is because the marketers, adept in their craft, are only too well aware of the increased liberalisation, consumerism and competition. On studying the demographic profile of India, one finds that children comprise a big segment; the younger age group, in short, predominates. Also, ours being a child-centred society, children voice opinions about products that are not even child-related. Therefore, it is believed that they are likely to influence the purchasing habits of the household. In addition, marketers know that preferences formed early in life are likely to continue through life. Without stopping to consider the ethics of such marketing tactics, companies cash in on factors like peer pressure to play on the preferences of the child. Surely, a child isn’t equipped to think through issues or evaluate a product that is being thrust upon him in the same way as an adult is.

If this were not enough, the old advertising gimmick of celebrity testimonials and endorsement has also begun to be adopted by companies targeting schools. Last year, the city saw a series of quiz contests being anchored by Manpreet Brar and Derek ‘O Brian. The contests, which initially just involved the school teams, later encompassed the parents and offered dinner (among other things) with the celebrities to the winning teams. This, one suspects, is only a forerunner of the bigger and more attractive celebrity endorsements, which seem to be inevitable with schools having opened their doors and put out the welcome mat. Perhaps, the school authorities haven’t thought about the issue at stake here, gullibility being their only fault. Perhaps, they feel that the added task or responsibility of holding events and activities in their school is easily passed onto willing shoulders. Whatever the reason, they need to stand back and consider whether it is worth it to let their premises be used and let their students be made sitting ducks for marketing activities by big companies.

Maybe, it wouldn’t be savvy to close the doors to every company that comes peddling its wares to school. In that case, some well-thought-out decisions could be taken and selection made by the authorities regarding what should be permissible and what shouldn’t be. Parents, too, need to create a lobby based on what they expect for their children from the schools they attend. Most parents check out the kind of peer group their kids are likely to hobnob with at school. Perhaps, they should also check out the "company" the school is keeping!