Population Services International: The Social Marketing Project in Bangladesh (Abridged)

Population Services International (PSI) was a not-for-profit agency founded to disseminate family planning information and to market birth control products, primarily in less developed countries seeking to curb their population explosions. In 1976, PSI concluded an agreement with the government of Bangladesh to conduct a social marketing program, with the objective of using modern marketing techniques to sell subsidized contraceptives through commercial outlets. Seven years later, three PSI managers were meeting at PSI's Washington, D.C. headquarters to discuss 1984-86 marketing strategy for two products: Raja condoms and Maya birth control pills. Of particular concern was the fact that the marketing approach that had proven extremely successful for Raja was yielding poor sales results for Maya. The PSI managers needed to devise an action plan for improving Maya sales.