This document discusses strategies for effective communication with rural consumers in India. It notes the heterogeneity of rural markets and challenges in reaching rural audiences. Key aspects include profiling target rural audiences, determining communication objectives, designing effective messages, selecting appropriate communication channels, and integrating promotion strategies. Effective rural communication requires understanding local languages, cultures, and opinion leaders.

1. Communication Strategy
Prof. Raghavendran Venugopal 1

2. Introduction
• Advertising goes hand in hand with economic growth.
• Scenario has changed since economic liberalization.
• Influence of Electronic media is contributing to the growth of
rural aspirations.
• Communicating properly to the rural customers was the main
challenge for corporate marketers.
• Reaching out to the rural consumers also presented a great
challenge.
• Rural Communication is not a ‘peripheral activity’.
Prof. Raghavendran Venugopal 2

3. Challenges in Rural Communication
• Heterogeneity and National
Language
s
Spread
16 Scheduled
Languages
Languages with widespread Use: 47
languages used for primary education ,98 used in
print media,
71 used on radio, 13 used in films
Local Vernaculars:
Over 114 recognized varieties,
216 mother tongues with more than 10000 speakers were recorded in
1991
Prof. Raghavendran Venugopal 3

4. Key characteristics of heterogeneous rural
markets
• Widespread geographical dispersion (6,38,000 villages) many
of them are still beyond the reach of media.
• Vast variations in levels of literacy.
• Literacy (Kerala 90%, Bihar 44%).
• Variations in reach of electronic media (Kerala 63%, Bihar
17%) and print media (Kerala 65%, Bihar 9%)
Prof. Raghavendran Venugopal 4

5. Therefore, the requirement is threefold
• To identify the most suitable medium to ensure maximum
spatial research.
• To develop region-specific consumer profiles to understand
the characteristics of the target market and
• To design the most effective and persuasive communication
and promotional strategies to induce the target audience to
buy the product.
Prof. Raghavendran Venugopal 5

6. Understanding the Rural Audience
There are two distinct sets of audiences in rural India:
• A growing number of educated, upwardly mobile, middle class
people with aspirations and high exposure to mass media and
with considerable purchasing power, in many ways similar to
their urban counterparts.
• The illiterate masses, who are poor and cannot be easily
reached through the mass media.
In terms of economic progress, rural India is divided into:
• Developed states (Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra)
• Underdeveloped or developing states (all other states)
Prof. Raghavendran Venugopal 6

7. A View of the Communication Process
The Communication Process Model
MESSAGE
SENDER ENCODING ----------------------- DECODING RECEIVER
MEDIA
NOISE
FEEDBACK RESPONSE
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8. The receiver may not receive the intended message due to any
one of the following reasons:
• Selective attention: where the consumer may not notice the
stimulus provided.
• Selective distortion: where the message is deliberately
twisted so that the consumer hears what he/she wants to
hear and
• Selective recall: where the consumer retains only a small
fraction of the message that reaches him/her.
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9. Developing Effective Communication
Developing effective communication involves five steps:
1. Profiling the target audience
2. Determining the communication objectives
3. Designing the message and ensuring the effectiveness of
the message
4. Selecting the communication channels
5. Designing the promotion strategy and integrating the
communication process
Prof. Raghavendran Venugopal 9

10. 1. Profiling the target audience
The steps involved in designing an effective message for rural
consumers are probing and profiling the target audience. For
probing, the following questions should be asked:
• Who uses the brand?
• Who buys the brand, and why?
• Who decides which brand is to be bought?
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11. Probing and profiling of rural consumers is done by examining
the following:
• Social classes and intentions
• Consumer receptivity
• Growing Brand Consciousness
• Lifestyles
• Buying roles
• Children
• Purchase needs
• Community and the personal-value proposition
• Value-for-money proposition
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12. 2. Determining Communication Objectives
• Once the target market has been identified, the marketer and
the communicator must decide on the desired audience
response.
• The ultimate response is purchase and satisfaction.
• Communicators try to put ideas into the consumer’s mind, to
change his attitude, and to get the consumer to act.
• The response-hierarchy AICDA model best summarizes this
communication strategy.
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13. AICDA Model of Communication
.
Awareness Interest Conviction Desire
Action
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14. Thus a marketer may seek one or more of the following
objectives:
• To bring about awareness among a certain percentage of the
target audience.
• To improve knowledge to generate interest.
• To strengthen the liking or preference for the product.
• To persuade the consumer to buy the product.
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15. Message Design
Formulating the message require solving five
problems:
•Message content (what to say)
•Message structure (how to say it logically)
•Message format (how to say it symbolically)
•Context association (in what context)
•Message source( who should say it)
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16. Message content
Three types of appeal:
• Rational appeals: appeal to the audience’s self
interest.
Eg. Messages showing product quality (Ramco
Asbestos Sheets)
• Emotional appeals: stir up positive or negative
emotions to motivate purchase
• Moral appeals: appeal to the audience’s sense
of what is right and proper
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17. • E g: There should be a difference of at least
three years between two children
• With rural consumers, functional elements
have stronger influence than emotional
appeal.
• E g: In the case of Lux, they look for pure and
mild( functional elements) and not on
glamour (Aspirational element)
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18. • Language: should be simple, direct, designed
in the local language. It should consider
traditional and cultural aspects
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19. Message Structure
• Simple , short and self explanatory
• Pictorial presentation: Muscleman logo of
MRF Tyres, ‘Plus’ symbol of Clinic Plus
shampoo
• Disadvantage is that duplicate products will
cheat customers
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20. Message Format
• Pictures, attractive expressions, short
stories, strong colors have more influence on
rural consumers
• Eg: Minto fresh ad
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21. Context Association
• Marketers need to pay attention to the rural
environment dress styles, food habits and
cultural preferences
• It should draw a close identification with rural
audiences.
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22. Message Source
Messages can be categorized in to three groups
• Likeable source: Amir Khan in Thanda Matlab
Coca-cola ad.
• Trustworthy source: word of mouth, includes
friends relatives, neighbors.
Eg (Markfed pesticides and insecticides)
• Expert source: Opinion leaders are according
to the product category
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23. • E g: Mistri( mason) for construction related
products like cement
• Villagers from an upper class will not accept
the views of Sarpanch belongs to lower caste
• Women Pradhans lack mass appeal or support
• Opinion leaders are rural
youth, postman, school headmaster etc
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24. Communication Channels
Personal channels are divided into three
• Advocate channels: Consist of company sales
people. Eg: Dalmia Consumer Care has Rural
Sales Promoters to promote non tobacco bidi
Vardaan
• Expert channels: Masons
• Social channels : friends, family,neighbors
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25. • Non –personal channels carry messages
without personal contact. Includes mass
media, atmosphere, events, haats, jatras, mel
as, folk media and mandis.
• An atmosphere is a packaged environment
that creates the buyer’s leanings towards the
product purchase.
• ( Chokhi Dhani), Shakti day
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26. Promotional Tools
• Advertising
• Sales Promotion: Three characteristics.
Communication, Incentive, Invitation
E g. Discount coupon on Purchase of one Tata
Shaktee GC sheet.
Sampling: Lifebuoy Value proposition
• Direct Marketing : Direct mailers are the most
used tool in rural.
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27. E g: Videocon After Sales service-1800
mechanics and engineers visit villages twice a
week to assure after sales service.
• Personal Selling : Most cost effective tool.
E g: Project Bharat- covered 2.2crore homes.
In 2002 HLL launched a direct contact
programme Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna-
covered 15,000 villages in 10 states
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28. Factors in setting the Promotion Mix
• Pull strategy: Use sales force and trade
promotion to push the product through the
channels. Established players like
HLL, Britannia rely on Pull strategy
• Push strategy: Regional players like anchor
prefer Push strategy
• Product Life cycle stage : promotional tools
vary at different stages of product life cycle
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29. Creating Advertisements for
Rural Audiences

30. • Understand The Mindset of Potential
Customers.
• Tricky, Clever ,Gimmicky Advertising doesn’t
work with Rural Audience.
• Combining Education with Entertainment is a
good method of targeting Rural Audience.
• Quickies do not register well with Rural
Audience.
• Employing ‘Slice Of Life ‘ Approach.
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31. Scheme of Rural Advertising
Production
Global Positioning: English
Regional Adaptation: Four Regions of India
Area-Specific Adaptation( e.g. Punjabi for Punjab)
Last-Destination Adaptation: Rural dialect, Color, and Motif
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32. Rural Media
Non- Personalized
Conventional
Conventional Media
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33. Conventional Media
• Radio
• Television
• Cinema
• Print
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34. Non-Conventional Media
• Wall Painting
• Folk Media- Folk Theatre
Folk Songs
Folk Dances
• Magic Shows
• Puppet shows
• Video Van
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35. Melas
• Important feature of Indian rural life
• To commemorate important events and to
honour a deity.
• 25,000 melas held annually
• They have a strong commercial aspect
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36. Rural Marketers Rule
• Target top 100 commercial melas
• Focus should be on melas that last longer
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37. Mandis
• Seen in states like Punjab and Haryana
• Large network of over 7600 mandis
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38. Personalized Media
• POP Dispalys(point of purchase)
• Direct Mail
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39. Rural Media
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40. Communication Strategies
• Launch of new product
• Launch of new brand
• Communication for an existing brand
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41. Prof. Raghavendran Venugopal 41