RURAL MARKETING

Vinod Puri 9820694960

Rural India
 740 million people  24 languages 1642 Dialects  6,38,691 villages and 5,164 towns  70% population still rural & agrarian  41% are illiterate  56% HH - no access to electricity  70% HH have no bank account  96% have no telephones  7% have two wheelers & 1.3% have 4 wheelers

Rural Market Structure

 Demographic Environment  Physical Environment  Economic Environment  Social, Cultural & Political Environment

Demographic Environment
POPULATION
Total Population (milliion) Rural Population (milliion) Rural proportion to total
Source: Census 2001

1971 548 439 80%

1981 683 524 77%

1991 848 629 74%

2001 1027 742 72%

Distribution of Population by Age groups Age Group 04 5 14 1519 2034 3554 55+ Rural 13 26 9 23 19 10 Urban 11 23 10 28 20 8

1991
Rural Households (million) Urban Total Rural

2001
Urban Total

112

40

152

138

54

192

Physical Environment

Distribution of Towns & Villages

1991 Towns Villages 3697 580779 2001 5161 593154 Hardly any shops

Distribution of Villages
Population Less than 200 200-500 501-1000 1001-2000 2001-5000 5001-1000 Total no of villages No of Villages 92,541 1,27,054 1,44,817 1,29,662 80,313 18,758 5,93,154 % of total villages 15.6 21.4 24.4 21.9 13.5 3.2 100

Economic Environment
Distribution of Rural Household by Income Income Class
Very Rich Upper Middle Middle Low Middle Low

Annual Income
Rs. 215000 Rs. 45000 215000 Rs. 22001-45000 Rs.16001-22000 Rs.16000 & below

1995-96
0.3% 13.5% 31.6% 31.2% 23.4% 100%

2006-07
0.9% 25% 49% 14% 11.1% 100%

Total

Rural Economy
 Agriculture  Industry  Service 1995-96 43% 19% 38% 2004-05 32% 22% 47%

Consumption Pattern (%) (2001-02) Rural  Food 63.7%  Consumer Goods 13.1%  Fuel,clothing & footwear 14.8%  Medical 5.5%  Education 2.5%  Rent & Taxes 0.4%

Urban 51.5% 19.6% 13.9% 5.5% 5.1% 4.5%

Importance of Rural Markets

12.2% of world Population 120 million households 70 % of Indian households Use 52 % of durables in the country

Environment
 The difference between rural & urban markets based on various socio economic factors, most dominant being the source of income, the frequency of receipts of income, the seasonal nature of income & consumption

 Rural markets are small, continuous settlement units of village with lower infrastructure facilities; low density of population, different lifestyle.

Factors critical for Segmentation

 Differences and variations in climate  Development levels electricity, road connectivity  Differences in Food habits North v/s south  Cultural differences Traditional south v/s outgoing north

Factors critical for Segmentation

 Intra region differences caste based hamlets  Variation in population size and density  Variation on literacy levels Bihar v/s Kerala  Media exposure levels  Differences in income levels and patterns of income flow Farmers v/s daily wage earners

Occupation & Consumption Patterns

(Bijapurkar 99)

Category

% House holds

% TV ownership

% two wheeler ownership

33 16 31 3

% Refrigerato rs
31 20 39 2

Owner Farmer Trader Service Agricultural worker

34 8 13 20

33 14 13 6

Non agri workman Artisan Others

17 6 2

9 6 2

4 4 1

5 2 1

Comparison of the Lifestyles

Dimensions Demographics Activities Interests Urban
Private school educated, salary earner, nuclear family, dense population Office jobs, communication driven, shopping, partying

Rural
Govt. school, self employed, large family, scattered population, spacious abode Agriculture, physical sports, gossip, cinema, religious functions

Outside eating, fashion, Milk, bright coloured self, holidays, diamond clothes, gold jewellery, jewellery melas, visiting towns

Rural Consumer Classification

Affluent Well Off Climbers Aspirant Destitutes
Owning 4 wheelers 1995-6 1.6 % 2006-7 5.6%

A.C. & or Motor cycle/Fridge/ Colour TV Moped, VCR, Mixer, sewing m/c, B/ W TV, Audio equipment Bicycles, Fans, Irons

2.7% 5.8 % 8.3% 22.4 % 26 % 44.8 % 61.4 20.2 % %

Mechanical wrist watches, pressure cooker, audio recorder, radio

Major weakness & challenges

 Traditional, slow to react to new ideas.  Income mostly invested in gold ornaments & spent in weddings & festivals.  Low rural literacy  Slow response to new thinking & improved products.

 Need to understand the psyche of rural consumers.  Must associate with their activities.  Utilizing the various rural folk media to so that the brand can be associated with myriad rituals, celebrations, festivals, melas and other activities

The 4A Approach
 The rural market may be alluring but it is not without its problems .  Low per capita income that is large number of daily wage earners,  Acute dependence on the vagaries of the monsoon,  Seasonal consumption,  Poor roads,  Power problems, & inaccessibility to conventional advertising media.

 Availability  Affordability  Acceptability  Awareness

Place Price Product Promotion

Availability
 The first challenge is to ensure an availability of the products /services.  Given the poor state of roads even greater challenge to regularly reach the far flung villages.  Must reach
at least villages with a population more than 5000.

Affordability
 SECOND CHALLENGE IS TO ENSURE AFFORDABILITY OF THE PRODUCTS OR SERVICE.  With low disposable income, products need to be affordable to the rural consumer.

Acceptability
 Third challenge is to gain acceptability for the product/service.  Need to offer the products /services that suits the rural market
Eg. LG Electronics & Nokia

Awareness
 With large part of rural India inaccessible to conventional media only 41% rural households have access to TV BUILDING AWARENESS IS ANOTHER PROBLEM.

Rural Marketing
It is defined as process of delivering a better standard of living & quality of life to the rural areas  Rural marketing broadly involve Reaching rural customers Estimating the needs/ wants Supplying goods& services to meet those requirements

Rural Market
 Any market that exists in a sparsely populated area with less than 10,000 people & no significant infrastructure are known as rural market.  There is no specific definition of rural area. Census of India 2001 has defined urban & rural as that which is not urban.

An urban unit is
 All place with Municipal Corporation, Municipality Cantonment Board as Notified Area, Committee etc.  All other place satisfying the following areas:  A minimum population of 5000  At least 75% of the male working population should be engaged in non-agricultural pursuits &  Density of population of at least 400 per sq kilo meter(1000 per sq mile)

Problems in the Rural Marketing

 Widely scattered village  Low -level of literacy.  Heterogeneity  Language problems  Unstable & seasonal demands  Inadequate Bank & credit facilities  Lack of infrastructure

Widely Scattered Village

 In spite of accommodating 72.2% of countrys population it is very much very scattered geographically, which is spread in more than six lakh villages.  Even within a particular state one can find villages with a population as high as 10,000 & as low as 5 persons eg.Haryana

Low Level of Literacy

 Rural literacy rate has shown growth over the years but still 50% of population is literate.  59.37%--Male  16.94%--Female  Low rate of literacy indicate inaccessibility of various media of communications as well as requirement of more visual component in brand name & packaging..

Heterogeneity
 There is no uniformity in rural across the country. Each village is a complete social unit by itself with own religion, cultural & social pressures along with huge economic disparities.  Due to this, a marketer has to make modification in brand name, packaging, colour etc for the product for different rural areas increasing marketing expenses for the marketer.

Language Diversity
 The number of recognized languages is 16 & number of dialects is estimated to be around 8500.On and average every district has more or less its own dialect.  This pose a major problem on communication front, to ensure effective communication a marketer should prepare communication message in maximum possible dialects,

Unstable & Seasonal Demand

 Demand depends upon crop since it is a main occupation & agricultural yield depends upon weather, hence it is seasonal.  Usually demand occurs at the end of Kharif season (Oct-Nov), & at the end of the end of Rabbi Season (Mar-Apr).  Agriculture depends on monsoon, which is unpredictable & adds to risk.

Inadequate Bank & Credit Facility

 The rural retailer has a large proportion of the sales on credit. They face problems in financing their sales on credit.  Because of problems in financing are unable to carry enough stocks results in a low turnover.  Lack of credit facility pose problem on both front, rural retailer as well as consumers

Lack of Infrastructure
Infrastructure comprise of roads, electrification, housing, communication & storage facility.  No public warehousing exists in rural India.  Bad networks of all season roads, All these factors give an indication of extra effort required on the part of a marketer in terms of cost & time.

 Village shop- outlet in village stores

very essential manufactured goods, required on daily basis like beedis, cigarettes, tea dust, oil etc. may be offered on credit.

 Weekly Haats assemble on a fixed day

at a particular spot in a specific village. The commodities include agricultural products, toiletries, & other essentials agricultural tools .even livestock.

 Primary wholesaler.  Assembly markets/ Mandis market place to sell his agricultural products soon after the harvest Mandis are well-established markets for selling & buying agricultural products with number of market functionaries.

 Rural consumer might purchase consumable items at village shop or haats  But will purchase consumer durable items from district headquarters to the town where the primary/secondary markets are located.

Emerging Distribution Models

 Corporate S.H.G. Linkage Project Shakti  Hub & Spoke Coke & Pepsi as pioneers  Syndicated Distribution  ITCs e-choupal  Barefoot agents  Agri input dealers  Petrol Pumps, Post Offices

Difference between Rural & Urban Area:

 Agriculture is the main occupation.  People are engaged in Mfr, trade ,commerce, administrative& other non agricultural work  Large Community  High density of population.  People are more inclined towards fabricated environment.

 Small Community  Low density of population.  People are inclined towards natural environment.

Reasons for this behaviour

 Wide variety, quality & many options pertaining to price.  Perceptions relating to Service guarantee.  After selling his agricultural produce money available to purchase the goods.

Characteristics of Rural Consumer

 Patterns Of Purchase & Consumption  Influence Of Perception & Attitude  Degree Of Brand loyalty

Patterns of Purchase & Consumption

 The buying decisions by the eldest member of the family the social & religious customs, prevalence of joint family system.  Bargaining & comparative pricing are the techniques .  Brisk buying done after the harvesting period. Main buying is done during the festivals.  Many cases the buyer is different from user

Influence of Perception &Attitude

 In order to modify the behavior of rural consumer, marketer needs to influence perception & attitudes.  Marketer should be careful in designing different marketing strategy because of the difference in perception & attitudes along with the environment influence.

 The interpretations of rural consumer differ from those of urban consumer.  Rural consumer are equally quality conscious but value for money is of prime importance.  He looks for functionality of the product rather than frills, appeals to them.

Degree of Brand Loyalty

 Incase of a rural consumer mass media may act as a reinforcing agent but for conversions personal influence is most effective.  Once formed, loyalty difficult to dislodge  Rural consumer are influenced by information received & opinion formed from various sources in making their buying decisions. Source of information is critical.

Opinion Leader
. Opinion leaders are those individuals who happen to be influential icons in approving or disapproving new ideas &n their application in the community.  Their influence is broadly related to the social position  Opinion leaders can be influenced favourably attracted towards the products during the product demonstration at any social gathering.

OPINION LEADER CAN BE

 Sarpanch  Rural Student  Rural Teacher  Retailer

Rural Student
Their word carries lot of weight in familys buying decision. They are promotional activities that are carried out in the schools.

Rural Teacher
The teacher of [primary & secondary rural schools play a very important role in moulding buying decisions. They also play pivotal role in villagers life.

Nature of CompetitionIncase of rural market has a competition with all the products that satisfy the same customer needs. Competition in rural market can be grouped as Direct Competition  Indirect Competition

Direct Competition
 National Branded Products Due to increased media exposure  Need to create the brand performance through integrated marketing programmes & highlight the image of his brand in comparison with other brands in use.

Regional Branded Product Regional brands are quite popular in rural market. enjoy advantage due to their strength of distribution. Closeness to retailers & knowledge of consumer taste is due to the proximity to the market

Unbranded Urban Products

Unbranded Products of Village origin-

Indirect Competition
Substitutes
 This is a unique form of competition present in rural market. The brands have to compete with substitute when they enter a market or launch a product. Eg .Substitute for tooth paste/toothpowder is neemsticks, charcoal, and tobacco.  To compete against this form of competition consumer education is the most important task

Positioning
 After understanding the competition to its products the foremost decision is regarding the.  Products position is the complex set of perception, impression & the feelings that the consumer has for the product compared with the competing products.  This is necessary since all the components of marketing mix are involved in the tactical details of positioning strategy.

Product Development
Focus on identifying the need. Need to closely observe the habits of the rural households. Possible Strategies:  Extension of urban product (Extension Strategy)  Adaptation of urban product to rural conditions (Adaptation.)  Innovate the product (Innovation)

Extension Strategy
 It means introducing the same product, which is present in urban market into rural market without any change.  Many marketers do not use this strategy since they know that rural consumer is very different set of people.

Adaptation Strategy
 It involves altering the product to meet the local conditions or preference  Incase of rural India the product should be adapted to local superstitions & beliefs too.  Eg.-Colour of Cement Dark shade is preferred

Innovation Strategy
 It means creating something new .It is a costly strategy but in the end the pay off is much more than expected.  Eg. SpacioLower level version of Tata Sumo built on 407-truck engine. Developing specific product for rural market sometime leads to double benefit for the marketer.  Eg. Shampoo Sachets.

Branding
 The rural consumer might not remember the brand name but definitely remember the brand mark ie. Colour , logo, mascot etc.  The rural consumer see brand as a reliable friend.  He is willing to pay price for brands as for him/her buying an established brand is the surest way of reducing the risk

Building Brand Identity in Rural Areas

In order to conduct the brand building exercise one must consider following factors;  Name  Tagline  Logo  Symbol  Colour

Name & Tagline

 While serving the rural market should, we use same brand name, which is used in urban market, or we use different brand name.  It depends upon the conscious nature of firm along with situation &understanding of rural consumer psyche.  The important aspect of brand name is that it should strike the rural consumer

Desired qualities of Rural Specific brand

 It should suggest something about the product &its benefit.  It should easy to remember, recognize, & pronounce.  Keep it region specific, if possible keep brand in prevalent local language.  It should reflect aspirations for consumers..

Semiotics
Semiotics is the study of signs & symbols & their interpretation.  Incase of rural market, the identification of brand identification through visual patterns.  Logo, symbol & color can be used to create strong brand recognition.  Semiotics work best incase of FMCG category.

Packaging
 Packaging is very important for rural market., since consumers in rural area recognize brands by its packaging comprising of brand mark.  This is because of low literacy rate.  Even when the consumers are not sure about their choice attractive packaging makes lot of difference eg. sher chaap paints -Nerolac paints

Packaging Strategy
In case of rural marketing following factors should taken in to consideration,  Small Pack  Synchronization with the local culture  Strong Packing  Innovative Packing  Labelling

Small Pack
 Due to unsteady source of income, packing products in small packs can be used effectively in capturing the market.

Reasons for considering small pack are Affordability  Usage patterns  Trialability  Attractiveness  Storability  Unique needs

Affordability
 Large chunk of rural consumers are daily wage earner, they have little money to spend at one go, and due to this they cannot plan their purchases.  The presence of small packs can help them to choose the product at price affordable to them.

Usage Pattern
 Usually a family in large quantity purchases detergents & toothpastes but shampoos & toilet soaps are purchased in small packs because of personal preferences.

Trialability:
 In spite of huge promotional activities undertaken by the companies, the rural consumer prefers to go for small packs for trial use.  Many brands have used its small packs to penetrate the rural market.

Attractiveness
 Small packs are easy to display, thereby increasing the appeal they carry. Colors on small packs look more attractive as compared to large packs

Storability:
 It is one of the main reasons for the success of small packs in rural market is that they can be easily stored in rural houses & shops. In case of shop display can be made more attractive.

Unique needs:
 The rural consumer has distinct application of certain products for which it requires mall quantity of products

Synchronization with the local culture

 The packing of the product should be attractive & should resemble with local culture  . Product name should be written in the local language to create more awareness.  Their proper attention should give towards regional variation in terms of colors & symbols.  Dark colors indicate better quality.

Strong Packaging:
 It takes long time for goods to reach consumers in rural markets.  Retaining the benefits & freshness products is of prime importance.

Innovative Packing:
Innovative packing can give a company an advantage over their competitors. .Related products together makes more sense for rural consumer.  Eg. Combo pack.

Labelling:
 The labels for the products in rural markets should be affixed rather than inserted in the pack.  The direction to use should mention on the label with help of visuals.

Brand Loyalty
 The most challenging & difficult job is to educate rural consumers from commodity to brand & satisfy his needs.  However, once he is satisfied he becomes hard-core brand loyal.  He might convert entire village to that particular brand.

Fake Brands/Spurious Products:

 Rural markets suffer from the problems of low penetration & poor availabity of branded products.  There is a huge demand for the branded products & channels to make the products available.  This leads to the growth of Spurious

products brands.

Definition of spurious
Spurious products are look-alike products with similarity in packaging & minor changes in name. They are divided in to two categories-

Pass off or me too products: that

identical name, packaging, graphic, colour scheme, & even the manufacturers address.

use names which sound similar in spelling to the popular brand

Counterfeits: fakes which can bear the

The Fake Market

The entire range of products available in spurious market can be divided into three distinct categories  Look alike  Spell-alike  Duplicates

Look alike:
 In this category, the color scheme on the packaging materials closely resembles that of a popular brand but that pack carries a different name..

Spell alike:
 They are fakes of original brands packaged in colors & design similar to those of the originals but have names that are suitably & cleverly miss spelt.

Duplicates:  Duplicates are the exact replicas of original brands. The packaging is same as those of the original brand.

Strategies to Curb down Spurious Products

 Educate the rural consumers on brand quality as well as prime need for quality.  Improve the distribution system.. Make product available at as many places as possible including haats.  Create clear brand identification & strong pull from the rural consumers.  Promote rural retail schemes to ensure trade support.

Consumer Behavior in Rural India

Need to study Consumer Behavior

 Behaviour perplexing because of lack of groups that are homogenous i.e.age, occupation, education, &income.  Influence of caste & religion undercurrent of power & politics

Factors affecting the Consumer Behavior

 Incase of rural area the like tradition, social customs, caste determine consumer.  Needs & wants are quite different for rural & urban India.

Cultural Factors
 Culture-Rural India lives in the society, which is bound by the culture. As the child grows up in the rural environment, he acquires a set of values, perceptions, preferences & behavior through the family or other key institution involved in each stages of his life.

Collective Social Sanctions

Our society is bound by set of norms. These norms are strongly followed in rural India. Violations of these norms can lead to embargo. Behaviour in rural Indian society is governed by these norms.

Traditions
 These are long standing beliefs, which are believed to be true & often practiced without knowing the reasons. This could lead to acceptance or rejection of tradition & hence they do not violate them.

Caste
 Caste influences the behaviour of community. Difference between lower & upper caste still exists in rural India.  Caste system also influences the location of house. Houses of upper caste are located at one side of the village.

Social class
 Social class is defined based on occupation & education.  In case of the rural India, it is difficult to define the social class due to different & changing occupations undertaken in different seasons, which create difference in the estimation in their income accurately...

Socio Economic Class

 In urban India SEC (Socio Economic

Class) is defined by considering occupation & education, but in case of rural India House Types replaces occupation.

SEC R1Prefer to buy bulk quantity from nearby town. This class is variety & quality conscious. R2 &R3---Buys from haats. Prefers bargaining.

Changing Behavior People returning back to rural area who had shifted to urban area for jobs  Emergence of information technology.  Increased media reach.

Social Factors Social Factors

 Social factors can also influence consumer. They supplement reference groups like family, friends, & opinion leader. With emergence of professional social workers s in rural India such as,  Anganwadi Worker  Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM)  Member of self help group  Member of Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS)  Representatives of Nehru Yuva Kendra (NGO)

Role & Status

People in urban area acquire role & status based on their social ranking & wealth. Caste system plays an important role in defining status in rural India. People like Sarpaanch  Caste Leaders  Retired Government Employees  Priests  farmer is respected in village, as he is a man of knowledge

Products & Status Symbol

 THE STATUS OF A CONSUMER PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE CHOICE OF THE PRODUCTS.  Rural consumer looks for ease of operations rather than added feature in choosing the products,.

Status symbol is closely linked with position in the society. Eg.-Tractor is the status symbol in rural India. Utility of products is taken into consideration while making the buying decisions.

Examples of Status Symbols in Rural India Tractor  Pucca House  Telephone  Visit to pilgrimage

Sociability
 More time spent on an interaction within a community due to the availability of spare time.  Rural people spend more time with their family as compared to urban people.  In rural area a man may visit /drops at the house of another only to seek the advice or to discuss urgent matter or to ask opinion on an issue

Technological Factors
 The rapid entry of technology has great impact on the rural India, which leads to major change in terms of opportunities, products, services, knowledge, & information.  Telecommunications has given accessibility to rural people. Telecommunications has transferred village in many ways, which are of interest of marketers.  STD &PCO booths have emerged as a new communications center in village giving chance to exchange of news & views to villagers.

 Introduction of information technology (IT), which is equally supported by government, has brought the cyber world to rural doorstep.  This created networks in India & abroad. This gave rise to job opportunities, entertainment, reaching out to friends & relatives across country & abroad is becoming popular among the people.  Media along with IT has become an integral part of life in rural India. Media not only informs people but also educates &entertains people.

Economic Factors
In order to understand the ability of rural consumer in terms of ability & affordability it is important to understand the economic factors. Economic environment of rural India has shown growth due to New & improved techniques.  Awareness of education on agriculture.  Higher quality of inputs.  Farmers are supplementing their income with income from other sources.  Banks have opened their branches in the rural areas giving rise to increase in banking & finance.

Political Factors
 Cooperative sector in rural India heavily influenced by political factors.  It is a most important factor in developing economy, causing change in socio economic order, level of disposable income creating nouveau riche class which has emerged as new reference groups & opinion leaders.

EFFECTS OF OCCUPATION & INCOME ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

 The buying decision pertaining to the goods & services that are beyond the basic ones are influenced by occupation & income of an individual.  A farmer faces variation in income during pre harvest & post harvest season.

Lifestyle
 This deals with day-to-day behavior as well as values, feelings, attitudes, instinct &opinion of consumers.  Because of the difference in social & cultural environment, values, & mode of life, there is a difference in the life style of rural & urban consumers

Dimensions of life style

Dimensions of life style are Activities  Intent  Opinion  Demographics

Information Scales & Perspectives Evaluation

 Rural consumer gets information from opinion leaders.  He is also exposed to exhibitions & road shows organized by various agencies where he gets opportunity of personal interaction.  Exhibition & road shows are of prime importance to rural consumer since he is understands the information & its relevance to him.  Demonstrations of products are an important tool in rural marketing

Stages of buying Process

Consumer passes through five stages while making a purchase decisions. They are Product recognition  Information search  Evaluation of alternatives  Purchase decision  Post purchase behaviour

Communication Strategy In Rural Market

 Advertising go hand in hand with economic growth.  Prior to liberalization, the rural market was sellers market.  Due to economic liberalization & increase in rural prosperity, the marketers are interested in informing rural population about the benefits of buying & consuming their products & services.

 Since rural environment is different from urban, hence communicating to potential consumers in rural India is challenging risk.  In many cases, advertising communication, which is designed for urban area, is extended to rural area without considering the values & sensitivities of the audience.  This leads to negative perception in the minds of audience.

 A marketer needs to follow a communication mix consisting of specific blend of advertising, sales promotions, personal selling & public relations  .The communication in rural India goes beyond these promotional tools.  This is because urbanites who are more or less similar rural folks differ from region to region.

Promotion Mix
 The promotion mix is the companys primary communication activity, the entire marketing mix promotions & product, price, place mist be coordinated for greatest communications impact.

Challenges in Rural Communications

The major features in rural communications,  Low literacy levels  Poor media recall & exposure  Heterogeneous  Diversely spread rural audience  Various language, lifestyle, & culture.

Heterogeneity & Spread

 No communication medium exists in cultural vacuum.  Communicating to consumers who are scattered across the country has posed a major challenge to the market in rural area.  This problem is more complicated by the heterogeneous nature of consumers

Characteristics of Heterogeneous Rural Market

 Large number of villages spread over a large area. Many are beyond the reach of conventional media.  Difference in the level of literacy.  Variation in recall of media.

Understanding the Rural Audience

 In order to develop the effective rural communications it is important to understand the behavior & psychographics characteristics of rural audience. There are two sets of audience in rural India.  People with low level of literacy, low buying power & are difficult to reach through mass media  Educated people from middle class having high exposure to media & having considerable purchasing power.

Effective Communication Process

 The process includes,  Identifying the target audience  Decide the communications objectives  Designing the message & ensuring the effectiveness of message  Selecting the communications channels  Designing the promotional strategies & integrating the communications process

Identifying the Target Audience

Know your customers basic philosophy of marketing. This can be achieved by answering the following questions.  Who uses the brand?  Who is my buyer?  Why he buys the brand?  Who decides on which brands to be brought?

After this prep ear the buyer profile based on

 Social class & initiatives  Receptivity  Lifestyles  Buying roles  Purchase needs  Value proposition

Social classes & intention

 Buying varies across the income levels. Poor buys essentials  Rich buys premium products.  Rural buyers focus on the purchasing the value for the money products & assets that enhances their income levels.

Consumer Receptivity

 Lower level of literacy & less exposure to media require a message, which is simple & easy to understand.  Correlate brand by primary colors & numerals  The brand has right chord with masses e.g. NIRMA

Growing Brand Conscious

 Rural buyer is becoming more brands savvy due to the increase in penetration of mass media.  Consumers are buying quality branded products.  This also the influence of small towns surrounding the villages.

Determining Communications Objectives

 After identifying the consumers, the marketer must decide on the communications objectives.  The ultimate response of the communications is the purchase & satisfaction.  Communicator takes effort to put forward his message across the consumer so that he changes his attitude & to get consumer to act

AICDA Model of Communications

 Awareness-A  Interest-I  Conviction-C  Desire-D  Action-A

Designing the Message

Formulating the message will be answers to following questions What to buy? (Contents)  How to say it logically? (Message Structure)  How to say it symbolically? (Message Format  In what context? (Message Association)  Who should say it? (Message Source)

Message Format
 Marketer should develop the strategy format of the message.  Different media provide different opportunities to format the message.  Picture, special voice, & effects, bright colours have more influence on rural audience.

Message Source
Message delivered by the attractive source gets higher attention & recall. The credibility of source is of vital importance.  Sources are categorized as  Likable source -Film stars  Trustworthy source Friends, relative, neighbor  Expert source-mechanic mistry

Message effectiveness
Many factors determine the effectiveness of the message. Message factors are Language  Pictorial presentation  Form of the message  Source of the message  Context association

Deciding the promotional Mix

Marketers spread their promotional budget over the promotional tools, which are  Advertising  Sales promotions  Direct marketing  Public relations & publicity  Personal selling

Advertising
 Advertising can be used to build a brand & enhance the long-term image for the product.

Sales promotions
 It involves direct contact with retailer & consumer. This tool is gaining importance due to increase in competition. It is a one to one communication with consumer or retailer. It is commonly used tool in rural market.

Public relations & publicity

 News items, features appearing in the media carry more credibility to the readers than advertisement.

Personal Selling
 Most cost effective tool as it involves one to one contact with the consumers.

Rural Media
Rural media is broadly divided in to

 Conventional mass media  Non conventional mass media  Personalized Media

Media Choices
 Puppetry  Folk Theatre & Song  Wall Painting  Demonstration, Posters  Agricultural Games If you are trying to persuade people to do something or buy something it seems to me you should use their language in which they think David Ogilvy

Conventional Media
Conventional Media includes Television  Radio  Press  Cinema  Outdoor

Non Conventional Media

Non Conventional Media includes

 Haats & Melas  Folk Media  Video vans  Mandi

Maha Kumbh
 Clients  Unilever , Titan, Medimix, GM Pens, Cavin Care, Anchor, Khaitan,  Maruti, Tata Tea   Achievements  Largest sampling exercise ever done Fair & Lovely sachets distributed to 4.1 million  25000 packs worth  10560 family photographs taken as incentive  4 million people exposed through large screens 15.8 million people exposed through branding of Prayag railway station 17.4 million people exposed through branding of Naini railway station 18 watches sold per day as against an average sale of 38 watches per month by the local dealer

  

Personalized media
Personalized media includes  Direct Marketing  Point of sales  Animation  Word of Mouth  Interpersonal Communications