2. Fact File: Hits N Misses
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3. • Henko failed in Maharashtra. Why?
It sound like "Hey Nako" which means No, giving
the brand a negative connotation in Marathi.
• Dabur's health tooth powder containing Tulsi
failed. Why?
Tooth powder meant spitting the Tulsi out which
was considered sacrilege in the rural areas.
4. • Although black is not a lively color and has a lot of
negative connotation to it, it worked for "Chik"
shampoo. How?
Perception that if the shampoo is black then the hair
would be pitch black too.
• Dabur traditionally paints the walls of the roads
leading to the temples and mosques in the villages.
Why?
The crowd aggregates during all the major festivals, and
the huge traffic to enter the temple and mosque
provides the marketer the ideal opportunity to tap into
his mind space making use of the wall space available.
Dabur did just that
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• 72% of India’s population
• Marketers have, so far, concentrated on the top-end
consumer
• Currently, segment is largely dominated by proxy products
and local/regional/duplicate/fake brands
• High saturation in urban
• Greater awareness of brands in rural India
• Ever-growing aspirations in rural
•No effects of slow down on rural
markets !
Huge business opportunities…
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Shopping behaviour
• Buys small quantities - more frequently, Unit price is critical
• Look for ‘acceptable performance’/ functional benefits / paisa
vasool paradigm
• “Make high-volume purchases at weekly village markets, Very
intelligent and clever – cannot be easily hoodwinked.
• Build personal acquaintance with neighbourhood retailer
– Often trust the retailer who does influence brand choice
– Frequently get ‘credit’ from the retailer
9. Shopping behaviour
• Word-of-mouth, very important and credible
• Mass driven
– Buy products that are perceived to be popular: the ‘bandwagon’
effect
• Still influenced by popular idols/role models such as movie stars,
famous sportsmen, etc
• High awareness of range of consumer
brands - but propensity to actually
purchase premium performance
brands is low
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“The challenge [for brands] is to understand the [psyche]
of the rural consumer, create better distribution, and
[appreciate] the heterogeneity.” Adi Godrej
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• 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
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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
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15. • Build customisation
– 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
16. • 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
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19. • This also leads to duplicates and spurious
products
• Largely sold in the Haats (weekly markets) in
Rural India
– Rs.12000 crore p.a. is the estimated loss to
FMCG sector
20.
21. • Build word-of-mouth
– Importance of opinion leaders
– Educated village youth as opinion leaders
– Women and children as demand generators
– Customised events targeting specific groups
with focused communication
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22.
23. So how do we communicate with the Rural Folks?
24. 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.
28. Analogies help in better comprehension.
• Examples
– MRF Bullock Cart tyre
– Tafe Tyres
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29. Rural Communication…
• Television does not distinguish between
urban and rural
• You may be able to get away with 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.
30. Important
• Rural Urban Divide in terms of communication
continues to exist
• Hence need for different communication
packages focused on rural audience
32. • Highlight multiple uses from the same product
– Dettol liquid for cuts, gargle for bad throat, washing
clothes as a disinfectant, dandruff etc
• Advertise small packs with a low unit price
– Tiger biscuits tikki pack
– Cavin Kare - Chik shampoo
– Chota Pepsi 5 rupiya mein
• Why pay more?
– Nirma Super “Jab vohi manghe damo vali quality kam
dam mein mile to koi vo kuye le”
• A little (of the product) goes a long way
– Rin detergent bar claims that with just a little
Rin, you can get a whole lot of wash
33. • The rural consumer is sensitive about being portrayed as
poor
– Don’t do it!
– Play on their aspirations instead
• Fantasy, Song & Dance, Idiom of the cinema
– Navrattan hair oil - Govinda in a dance sequence with
“Chandramukhi”
• Use catch-phrases
– Surf Ultra detergent powder used the hugely evocative
phrase - “Dhoondte reh jaoge”
– Rin detergent bar used the phrase “Zara sa Rin”
34. • Use opinion leaders
– If they are credible, they work : Colgate dental cream
endorsed by a doctor
• Leverage the rural consumer’s belief in folklore and
natural ingredients
– Dabur Amla hair oil with “Anvla”, Lal Dant Manjan with
“clove”
• Depict characters and families that are aspirational yet
real
– i.e. not beyond the perceived reach of the rural
consumer (avoid being too freaky or too Westernised
i.e. jeans are OK but torn ones may not be)
35. • Exploit the warmth of emotion among family
members
– VIP Alpha luggage - man wants to take back the
wife when he goes to town to work again
• Consider leveraging the appeal of mass sports
– Lifebuoy soap has consistently used mass
sports like football, cricket
• Make promotions relevant and ‘aspirational’
36. • Packaging
– Packaging is sometimes the only communication
medium
– Due to low literacy levels, recognition of the brand is
mainly through its distinct logo and visual pack
properties
• Brand recognition signals
– Distinctive colours: use lively, bright colours
– Strong and bright colours usually imply a health
proposition, whereas pastels and shades have a
cosmetic or beauty connotation
– For toothpaste, avoid using pack colours that have
negative connotations - like yellow which connotes
dirty teeth
37. Problem
People used to wash their hair with soap
Cavin Kare discovered that soap usage
was the biggest barrier and people did not
see the need for using Shampoo
38. When CK launched the ‘Chik’ brand of shampoo they educated the people on
how to use it through live ‘touch and feel’ demonstrations and also distributed
free sachets at fairs.
First Shampoo to launch variants such as Rose, Jasmine etc.
First Brand to introduce Cream Conditioning Shampoo in a sachet, at 50 paisa
per sachet.
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What CK did?
40. They went to the rural areas of South India where people hardly used shampoo.
Did live demonstration on a young boy.
They asked those assembled to feel and smell his hair.
Planned Chik Shampoo-sponsored shows of Rajniknath's films,showed their
advertisements in between, followed by live demonstrations.
Distributed free sachets among the audience after these shows.
Sold shampoo in 50 paisa sachets at a time when other shampoo sachets were
selling at Rs. 2.
Soon, consumers started asking for Chik sachets only.
The sales went up from Rs 35,000 to Rs 12 lakh a month.
Result
Second largest selling brand of Shampoo in the Rural market.
41. Go Rural!
Rural is not a geography; it is a mindset.
Etinder.singh@gmail.com
