Rural Marketing Rural Marketing involves delivering manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural producers or consumers Attractiveness of the

Rural market Untapped rural potential : 6,27,000 villages across the country , account for 70% of population 60% of National demand for various product categories Expansion of middle income household According to NCAER study, there are as many 'middle income and above' households in the rural areas as there are in the urban areas. There are almost twice as many 'lower middle income' households in rural areas as in the urban areas Improvement in Infrastructure In 50 years, 40% villages have been connected by road, in next 10 years another 30% would be connected More than 90% villages are electrified, though only 44% rural homes have electric connections Rural telephone density has gone up by 300% in the last 10 years Low penetration rate Low penetration rates in rural areas, so many marketing opportunities Defining Rural India Defining Rural Marketing Transitions In Rural India Myths Rural Market Is a Homogeneous Mass Disposable Income Is Low Individuals Decide About Purchases Why go Rural? Proliferation of brands in urban High saturation levels in urban Greater awareness of brands in rural Ever-growing aspirations in rural No effects of slow down on rural markets Challenges and Strategies Availability India's 627,000 villages are spread over 3.2 million sq km; 700 million Indians may live in rural areas . HUL: to serve remote villages, use autos , bullock-carts and even boats in the backwaters of Kerala Coca Cola distribution network

Affordability Challenge: to provide at cheaper price

Strategies: Introduce small unit packs. Godrej introduced three brands of Cinthol, Fair Glow and Godrej in 50-gm packs, priced at Rs 45 meant specifically for Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh Coca-Cola has addressed the affordability issue by introducing the returnable 200-ml glass bottle priced at Rs 5. HUL launched a variant of its largest selling soap brand, Lifebuoy at Rs 2 for 50 gm Acceptability Challenge: to gain acceptability for the product or service Strategies: Offer products or services that suit the rural market Easy to understand Because of the lack of electricity & refrigerators, Coca- Cola provides low-cost ice boxes a tin box for new outlets and thermocol box for seasonal outlets. HDFC tied up with NGOs and offered reasonably-priced policies in the nature of group insurance covers Awareness Challenge: less exposure to the world, low literacy rate Strategies: Opinion leaders play a key role in popularizing products and influencing buying Can use the following promotional methods Personal Interface Events-Using Culture to touch a chord, magic show, melas Building Brands in Rural India Contrary to popular belief people in Rural India are fiercely brand loyal Single Brand Villages Once converted, difficult to dislodge them First mover advantages ITC-IBD ITC e-Choupal ITC is one of India's foremost private sector companies diversified presence in Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Packaging, Agri-Business, Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Branded Apparel,Greeting Cards and other FMCG products. Its International Business Division (ITC IBD) was created in 1990 as an agricultural trading company In 1998, after competition forced , ITC-IBD taken the challenges to use information technology to change the rules of the game and create a competitive business. Strategy Information Technology : Places computers with Internet access in rural farming villages Each e-Choupal costs between US $3,000 and US $6,000 to set up and about US $100 per year to maintain The farmers use the computer to access daily closing prices on local mandis The farmers can also know about weather forecast (local) and best practices in the world from e-Choupal

Website Order seeds, fertilizers, and other product. sAt harvest time, ITC offers to buy the crop directly from any farmer

Pitfalls of Building a Brand in Rural India Merely stripping down all the so-called frills from the product currently being sold in urban Just extending the brand name to low cost packs, thus making it cheaper for rural. Merely modifying the packaging marginally. Eg: add the brand name in Vernacular languages, use cheaper packing material Adapt the urban advertising by dubbing the film in the local language, translate the print material Offer meaningless sales promotion giveaways eg. Combs, spoons, tumblers, etc. FREE Route to Brand Building in Rural Build customization Chotukool from Godrej Boyce, a nano refrigerator (43 litres cool box loaded from top) Co-created using suggestions from rural women and sold by rural women Build Empathy / Relevance Nokia Life Tools for farming and rural community Agri information to farmers in association with Reuters Imparting of knowledge of English language to students by teaching one new word every day Build Recognition Rural folks understands symbols and colours better.s Pahelwan Chap MRF, Haathi Beedi Laal Sabun Lifebuoy, Peela Powder - Nirma Opportunities Build Access Distribution in rural India is not a nightmare For FMCG reach villages (feeder markets) in towns with population 10000 to 15000 For consumer durables reach towns with population of 50000+ and also Look at opportunities in haats, melas, post offices, public distribution system etc. Build word of mouth Through effective communication using specific communication package aimed at specific rural audience Importance of opinion leaders Educated village youth as opinion leaders Women and children as demand generators Customized events targeting specific groups with focused communication Ideal Media Strategy for Reaching Rural Audiences Characteristics of the Rural Masses Very intelligent and clever cannot be easily fooled Daily activity is routinised Plenty of time / No Sundays Very conscious of value for money Does not like to pay extra for frills they cannot use.

High involvement in any product purchased Eg. Durables Characteristics Perceptions, traditions, values vary from state to state and in some cases from region to region within a state.(MRF Bullock Cart Tyres) Divisions based on caste, community and other hierarchical factors continue to exist. Rural Communication Keep the communication simple No scope for gimmicks Take time in communicating the message Quickies have no impact. Think in the local language to capture the local spirit in the communication aimed at specific region. Demonstration Rural Communication Television does not distinguish between urban and rural A common TVC for both urban and rural audience particularly for FMCG products provided your communication is not gimmicky, suggestive and is easy to comprehend. But when it comes to Durables, where rational decisions are involved, it is advisable to target the opinion leaders first. While urban oriented TVC may register with opinion leaders and help create awareness, for real impact down the line, a region specific and need specific communication programme has to be devised which provides for demonstration and touch & feel of the products. Reliance Mobile Media Vehicles Television Radio Print media Cinema Hoarding/Wall Painting Examples of rural marketing ICICI BANK customized their rural ATMs, so they can operate biometric authentication. ICICI rural ATMS are battery operated so that power failure is not issue. Bank of India introduced Bhumiheen credit cards for providing credit card facilities to landless farmers. Examples of rural marketing Noika develop affordable Mobile phones for rural markets with unique features such as local language capabilities, present time/ call limits etc. Philip develop a TV Vardaan for rural markets. This TV work on the voltage 90-270 volts. Philips developed Free Power radio this radio do not require power and battery also. it run on simple winding of level provided in the set. The price of this attractive set is Rs. 995. Reference: http://www.seminarprojects.com/Thread-emerging-trends-in-ruralmarketing#ixzz1asFUe0rq