Summary, Conclusions and Implications

Chapter -VII

Summary, Conclusions and Implications

7.1 Summary.
7.2 Conclusions.
7.3 Implications.

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 Summary, Conclusions and Implications

Chapter-VII

Summary, Conclusions and Implications

7.1 Summary:
The report is divided into eight chapters. The chapter one titled
‘Introduction’ has seven parts- Introduction and conceptual framework, rural
market and rural marketing strategies, potential and size of rural market,
impact of globalization in rural market and marketing strategies to capture
rural market. The chapter briefly describes the historical perspective of
marketing strategies in India and Madhya Pradesh and its impact on rural
market. The second chapter titled ‘Review of Literature’ covers research
work carried out by various researchers in the field of marketing mix element
in general and rural area in particular.

The chapter three titled ‘Company Profile’ has covers history and evaluation,
brands in action and rural initiatives of both the companies. The chapter four
has three sections i.e. rationale, objective and hypothesis of the study. The
fifth chapter titled ‘Research Methodology’ describes the nature of study,
statement of problem, significance of the study, research design, sample
design, size and selection, research Tools used for data collection and analysis,
limitations, scope and research structure of the study. The chapter six titled
‘Data Analysis and Interpretation’ is divided into four sections i.e. data
analysis and interpretation, testing of hypothesis, descriptive statistics of
satisfaction level regarding marketing mix factors and findings and
discussions presenting the result of five objectives of this study. The
discussion section attempted to establish a link between the results of the
present study and available literature.

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 Summary, Conclusions and Implications

The chapter seven is divided is divided into three parts- summary, conclusion
and implications. The summary of the complete report is presented in this
chapter. The conclusions have been drawn in the light of the objectives and
salient findings. Implication of the Study for the the practitioners and
researchers in the area of marketing in general. The chapter eight deals with
the suggestions made to take care of the observations based on the
experiences gathered during the work. The propositions have been made to
explore all those dimensions of the field of the study which could not be
covered under the scope of the present work. The references have been
presented in a standard format followed by an appendix having a sample
questionnaire used for the data collection and glossary of terms.

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 Summary, Conclusions and Implications

7.2 Conclusions:
Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organization’s energies and
resources on a course of action which can lead to increased sales and
dominance of a targeted market niche. A marketing strategy combines product
development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and
other elements; identifies the firm’s marketing goals, and explains how they
will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy
determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix,
and allocation of resources. It is most effective when it is an integral
component of overall firm strategy, defining how the organization will
successfully engage customers, prospects, and competitors in the market arena
of corporate strategies, corporate mission, and corporate goals. As the
customer constitutes the source of a company’s revenue, marketing strategy is
closely linked with sales. A key component of marketing strategy is often to
keep marketing in line with a company’s overarching mission statement.

Rural marketers should design innovative promotional strategies for rural

markets that can express messages in an easy way to the villagers and
compatible with their education and understanding levels. It is recommended
to offer FMCG that lasts long. Rural consumers associate long lasting feature
with bigger size and/or hardness of the product. Quality is important in the
context of rural purchase and consumption of FMCG as rural customers prefer
quality FMCG. Hence, it is recommended not to compromise on the quality
of FMCG. Low prices have to be charged while maintaining the quality.

In the end it is certain that FMCG companies will have to really gain inroads
in the rural markets in order to achieve double digit growth targets in future.
There is huge a potential and definitely there is lot of money in rural India but
the smart thing would be to weigh in the roadblocks as carefully as possible.

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 Summary, Conclusions and Implications

The companies entering rural market must do so for strategic reasons with
deep penetration and not for tactical gams as rural consumer is still a closed
book and it is only through unwavering commitment that the companies can
make a dent in the market. Ultimately the winner would be the one with the
required resources like time and money and also with the much needed
innovative ideas to tap the rural markets.

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 Summary, Conclusions and Implications

7.3 Implications:

The study used self report measures to gather data from managers,
distributors, retailers of both the companies and villagers of Indore district.
Following are few of the important strategies that can prove to be very useful:
• By communicating and changing quality perception.
• By proper communication in Indian language.
• By target changing perception.
• By understanding cultural and social values.
• By providing what customer wants?
• By promoting products with Indian models and actor.
• By associating themselves with India.
• By promoting Indian sports team.
• By talking about a normal Indian.
• By developing rural-specific products.
• By giving Indian words for brands.
• By effective media communication.
• By adopting localized way of distributing.
• By associating themselves with Indian celebrities, melas, paintings etc.
• The crux of marketing: ‘think globally but act locally’.

The sample for the study was selected from villagers of Indore district. A
comparative study of marketing strategies of both the companies on the
villagers of different district, division and states can be undertaken. A
comprehensive study of both antecedents and consequences of marketing
strategies can be undertaken. These suggestions have been explained in detail
in this chapter.

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 Summary, Conclusions and Implications

The study has contributed to the mass of knowledge significantly as the

findings can be used by the managers, retailers and policy formulators for
better understanding of the trails and tribulations faced by them. The findings
can be utilised as guidepost for the effective solutions in the context. The
information on marketing mix can also be useful to the general public helping
them to comprehend the importance of such marketing mix factors. They may
also use information on the causes and effects of lack of access to better
position themselves for better access to these opportunities. The possible
applications and extensions in terms of implications of the study could be
enumerated as under:

> From this study, managers can refer the important attributes and their
levels which are important and preferred according to the consumer
while responding to the marketing mix elements to achieve the
efficiency and effectiveness of the marketing strategies.

> Strategy formulators (Management) and implementers (sales managers

and sales force) can utilise the findings of this study to formulate the
future policy of their company.

> The findings can be utilised by the FMCG companies as the researchers
applied a more informatory method of data collection while looking
into aspects such as the customers’ awareness and their preference side
of the topic. In tackling the problem, it is important to note that the
issue comes from the rural respondents’ point of view. This will enable
strategy formulator to make effective and innovative solutions. This
can be in terms of customer perception and satisfaction regarding
marketing mix element. Acknowledging comments and data from all
sources will drive for higher levels of development.

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 Summary, Conclusions and Implications

> Indian FMCG companies’ needs to adopt appropriate viable marketing

strategy framework for competitive marketing strategies for rural
market which focus on accessible and affordable FMCG products,
synergistic partnerships with rural entities for efficient handling of rural
business, particularly in remote areas have to be covered as derived
from this study.

> The findings can be utilized by the FMCG companies to think quite
effectively through possible strategies for different product life cycle
stages.

> In making adaption decisions, policies formulators and implementers

must realize that various aspects of marketing mix elements may
require varying degrees of modifications. The key is to promote policy
on to improve demand in rural areas.

> In making adaption decisions, strategy formulators and implementers

must realize that the various aspects of marketing may require varying
degrees of modifications. The key is to find the combination that yields
optimal success in rural market.

> Marketing mix is important for rural customers of FMCG industry. As

such, it has implications for value added services, market segmentation,
and customer retention strategies. Theoretically, conceptualizing and
modeling in FMCG sector help to expand scholars' knowledge of
interactive consumer organize in this emerging market.

> This study also reveals that increase in purchasing power is a

significant factor of FMCG customers. Therefore, FMCG companies

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 Summary, Conclusions and Implications

need to ensure that it provides the best quality of products with

reasonable price.

> Developing the brand and the FMCG companies’ reputation will also
act as assurance to the customers. It implies enhancing, developing and
maintaining customer relationships remain a priority for organization.
This research reinforces the importance of quality and brand image as a
key driver for develop relationship among FMCG customers.

^ Based on the research study, managers can refer the important

attributes and their levels which are important and preferred according
to the consumer, while responding to the promotion scheme to achieve
the efficiency and effectiveness of the marketing strategies. In today’s
market scenario, consumers are bombarded with similar monotonous
promotional messages, so managers need to design schemes, which will
break through the chaos and create the necessary impact. This study
may provide the useful information in the direction of designing the
clutter breaking marketing strategies to managers.

> Researchers can apply a more informatory method of data

accumulation while looking into aspects such as the demand and the
supply sides of the topic. In tackling the problem, it is important to note
that the issue comes from the customers, retailers/distributors and
company point of view. Acknowledging comments and data from all
three sources will drive for higher levels of development.

> Researchers can look into the issue and compare other districts into
various single benchmarks. It provides the formulator of marketing

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 Summary, Conclusions and Implications

strategies with the answers to the questions and the factors that they
need to tackle in order to administer full growth in both profit
maximization and wealth maximization aspects of the company.

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