Promoters

 

This is an article I wrote for my journalism class. Please leave comments and tell me if it is any good.

Thank you.

 

It's quiet common to find young people in malls and other commercial places trying hard to promote a particular product. These people are dressed mostly in company clothes, i.e. a t-shirt maybe with the company's logo and a smile. Some of us find them annoying. We very easily dismiss them when they come up to us and yet, with their relentless smile they pursue another person. It's a tough job according to me. Standing on for hours at a stretch and getting negative feedback from most of the people you encounter.

When I asked the interviewees why they took up such a job their reply was same – easily available part-time job with very little skills required and a source of pocket money, "it is great having to not beg your parents for money!" exclaimed Sushmita.B, one of the interviewees. Most of the promotion jobs have one main criterion – language and communications skills. If u have to be effective in promoting the product u need to be good in expressing oneself. There are other reasons for our youngsters' involvement in this line of work such as new experiences and the joy of working. Mahalakshmi.iyer, one of the interviewee said with some pride, "I like these jobs as the help develop your personality". I shot her a puzzled expression and she added, "I mean, they give u exposure to various situations and people and one can learn quiet a lot . . . " she chuckled and said, "like the art of patients!". Some of them want to break away from the dependent tag and want to be full fledged adults, "I don't want to be treated like a kid!" said Elsy with some defiance, "if I am financially independent to some extent I will be able to take more decisions on my own". Pocket money seems to be the main motivation but some people go by need to like paying off some money they owe for example.

How young are the youngsters? I interviewed four people in the age group of 16-18. Mahalakshmi.iyer was the youngest at 16 and she told me that people above the age of 15 are accepted though most of the people that work are 18 plus and she is therefore the youngest in the group most of the time.

Most people that take up the job are college students and therefore they work manly on the weekends or on holidays. They work whenever they find time and sometimes they will have to bunk college for a day or two. "If the offer is good I wouldn't mind bunking college", said Sushmita. I asked her what exactly was a good offer and she told me it was to do with the pay, timings, location and the company. She, like most people, prefer working along with friends as "It is easier and more enjoyable".

The pay ranges from Rs400 – 1000 depending on the location, company, hours of work and the amount of commission that the agent takes. The agents can take upto 50% of the pay sometimes. More reputed companies will obviously pay more than less reputed ones and more demanding jobs that call for longer work hours will pay more than less demanding jobs and vice-versa.

Like all jobs it has its share of problems and funny incidents. I asked them to share a few incidents that happened on their duty -

Movies and fun! by Elsy

"It was the last event and we were working for a long time. Near by was a large TV displayed and a movie was playing. There was nobody to keep an eye on us so we decided to watch the movie. We nearly saw half the movie and then we has realized that the manager had arrived but we were lucky that he turned out to be a sweet guy. He didn't say anything and we quietly returned to our post."

Please, IT'S FREE!!! By Sushmita

"I was working in lifestyle, giving out complimentary membership cards. I remember one particular man who refused this card even after me telling him it's free and his reply was amazing, '"no sorry I don't accept complimentary things!"'. I still laugh thinking of him!"

Kannada fanatic vs Sushmita

"Once when I was working to promote refrigerators an elderly gentleman approached me and began speaking to me in Kannada. I told him I am a Bengali and hence didn't know the language well and he gave me a dirty look. If that wasn't enough he also gave me a lecture on how I ought to know the language in this state! Its funny now but at that time my blood boiled!"

The convenient Kannada fanatic! By Mahalakshmi

"I was working in Garuda mall and opposite me was this stall by a car manufacturer. They had an interesting contest where in the winner got a new car. It was a simple he or she who touches the car for the longest contest. Among the contestants was an auto driver who stood their diligently touching the car for quiet a long time but finally he gave up. In our stall was a DJ who spoke in English the whole tine trying to attract attention and draw crowds. After a few hours the angry auto driver returned with some back up! He and his friends created a racket accusing the DJ of speaking English in a Kannada state. Finally the cops were called to settle the matter!"

"The nice thing about the job is that, most of the time, we get to keep the clothes they give us and sometimes we get the goodies we are promoting" – Mahalakshmi.

Like all jobs its is plagued with its share of problems like –

The problem with this kind of job is that there is no fixed contract. Everything is by word of mouth. For example if an agency wants people to work they will contact their middleman and tell them the number of people they want and it is his/her job to find the people. After the work is done the money will be paid to the middleman and it is his/her responsibility to give the amount to the respective workers. This is where the problem lies. The middleman can take a very large commission and give less money to the workers or the person can even abscond with the money. Since there is no fixed contract it all depends on the benevolence of the middleman. Sometimes the money is paid late, sometimes the amount given is lesser than the promised amount and in some worse cases the money is not given at all! This has happened to Sushmita and Elsy and they have lost more than four thousand rupees each. Fortunately the other two have not faced this problem. Mahalakshmi told me however that once she received her pay almost two months late! She told me how her mother had to 'get tough' with the responsible guy and after all the threats and complaints she fired against him and running around from her house to his office and back she received her pay.

Boredom and exhaustion is the most common problem faced by them. It all depends on the job, there has to be a combination of work, friends, idle time and good managers for the job to be great. Too much work with no breaks make it tiring, very less work makes it boring and lack of friends or support groups make it dull. The attitude of the managers or leaders also matter. A good leader can motivate and make the group feel good. The working hours should not be very long as the workers will have to get back home. Most of them with parents to answer!

Girls will have their own set of unique problems and guys will have their unique problems. I think that's the universal law when it comes to anything. Late working hours is a problem for girls as it is unsafe to travel alone late in the night. There are a few 'not to gentlemanly men', for lack of better term, in this world that could prove to be a real pain in the well u know where! The problems caused by these characters include asking for phone numbers, making a nescience of them selves and even clicking their pictures! There was a one incident Mahalakshmi told me about a guy who kept asking her for her phone number and name. She told him politely that she didn't have a number and gave him a fake name. He tried his best to get her number and finally clicked her snap; she lost her temper and threatened to call the cops. The person finally deleted the picture and apologized! "There some difficulties but that's life and u got to learn how to survive!" – Elsy

"Equal pay for equal work" it is there engraved in our countries constitution but that does not seem to be the case here. Men are asked to work longer hours are paid less when compared to their female counter parts. Danny.J one of the interviewee had this to say, "I remember working alone with two other friends, both of whom were women. They got to leave two hours early and where given hundred rupees more than me. I was outraged but later I learned to accept it."

Getting a promotion job is in vogue. It is not only about getting money but also about the feeling emancipation.