Click below to watch the "Soka" pump commercial in English. Broadband - Dial-up Click below to watch the "Soka" pump commercial in Akan. Broadband - Dial-up Windows Media Player

Click below to watch "Gyapa" stove commercial #1 Broadband - Dial-up Click below to watch "Gyapa" stove commercial #2 Broadband - Dial-up Windows Media Player

The influence of television is truly global. After EnterpriseWorks helped small manufacturers in Ghana produce treadle pumps and high-efficiency charcoal stoves, the next question was how to help them promote their products.

The creative and high-impact answer turned out to be television advertising. With the support of project funds from USAID, EWW developed a series of TV commercials to promote the pumps and stoves. What resulted were informative and entertaining segments that emphasized the benefits of the products, and how they could be purchased.

“The response to the commercials has been excellent,” reported EWW Ghana Country Director Alan Brewis. “Soka pump sales for June were more than double our estimates, and numerous phone calls came in and were forwarded to the nearest manufacturers.”

Since EWW launched the irrigation program in April 2002, Ghanaian farmers have purchased 232 treadle pumps. With the increased irrigation enabled by the pumps, farmers increased their plot size by an average of 77 percent. Even greater expansions are expected during the next growing season.

Also since April 2002, over 9,000 Gyapa stoves have been sold. Because of their greater fuel efficiency, 900 hectares (about 2,200 acres) of local forests will be saved over the estimated 2.5-year lifetime of these stoves. And consumers will realize savings in fuel costs of around $88 each from a stove that costs less than $6.

Marketing is always a key element of a successful small enterprise development program. EnterpriseWorks assists with every step, from pricing, branding and packaging, to the development of retail distribution networks, and building demand through the appropriate mix of word-of-mouth, print, billboard, radio, and television advertising.

The emphasis is on sustainability. Because more expensive forms of advertising typically do not continue at the same level of intensity after an EWW project ends, the goal is to create a critical mass of buyers and sellers that will sustain economic activity well into the future.