Rural Digital Marketing - Masterclass by Ajay Chhabra

Rural Digital Marketing Master Class
November 28th, 2018
Gurugram, India
Ajay Chhabra

Master Class Outline & Legends
Topics Statistics Video Information Solution

Rural Digital Marketing Masterclass - Module 1
Module 1: Activating Rural India’s Digital Revolution
· Post-mortems for successful digitalisation examples by Indian companies in the rural space
· Rural complexities in digital take up
· Staying up on competition in the digital arena
· Visualising technological needs as a necessity and daily part of life in the villages
· Bringing global digital best practices to bear in India

Changing dynamics is adding new ingredients

https://www.scribd.com/doc/36866581/ITC-rural-marketing-in-india-Case-Study
Advertising Marketing in India - Size & Scope
https://e4mevents.com/pitch-madison-advertising-report-2018/public/img/Pitch_Madison_Adveritisng_Report_2018.pdf

Ad spend may get a boost as consumption picks up in Rural - BestMediaInfo.com
“There has been an increase
in demand from rural. Rural
is doing very well now. We
saw an improvement in 2017
and in 2018, we are really
gung-ho about rural. Rural is
the economy that is going to
grow pretty fast, said Parle
Products Category head BK
Rao”
“Earlier, margins were under
pressure because of several
reasons such as demonetisation
or GST. Now that the growth is
back on track, ad spend is bound
to increase. If I talk about our
products, I have never seen such
kind of volume growth across
our entire range of products,
said RS Sodhi, Managing
Director of Gujarat Cooperative
Milk Marketing Federation
(GCMMF)
"As far as Hamdard is
concerned, we are increasing
our spend in rural every year
by 15-20%. We believe that
there is a lot of growth
potential in rural areas. So,
we are investing more in
direct distribution,
activation in rural areas, and
other marketing activities,"
Mansoor Ali, Chief Sales and
Marketing Officer, Hamdard
said
Patanjali's spokesperson, SK
Tijarawala said, "The rural
market has picked up. Today,
someone from the rural area
is also looking to consume
the same things as the urban
consumer. The difference
between urban living and
rural living has been
reduced. GST has also played
a role in this as it has made
the entire nation a single
market."
http://bestmediainfo.com/2018/05/ad-spend-may-get-a-boost-as-consumption-picks-up-in-rural/

Understanding Rural Consumers in India
https://www.slideshare.net/rythamatics/rural-marketing-in-india-19811970

Advantage Rural India
https://www.ibef.org/industry/agriculture-india.aspx

Impact Study of Online in Rural Marketing
https://www.facebook.com/UNNAgency/videos/1077486209093317/
3:02
Minutes

https://blogs.cisco.com/news/digital-india-driving-the-next-wave-of-innovation-in-mass-scale-networking
Hyper Digital Growth In India

Let’s understand Rural Economy & Activities

Rural Infrastructure - Avenues for Marketers
● The large available infrastructure
○ Post offices
○ Haats (periodic markets)
○ Melas (exhibitions)
○ Mandis (agri markets)
○ Public distribution shops
○ Bank branches
○ Schools
○ Common Service Centres
● Proliferation of large format rural
retail stores
○ DSCL Haryali stores
○ M & M Shubh Labh stores
○ TATA/Rallis Kisan Kendras
○ Escorts rural stores
○ Warnabazaar, Maharashtra

Video streaming market in India to reach $5 billion
by 2023
By 2023, 650 million or 48% of India’s
Internet users are expected to be from
rural areas, the report said. With
development of regional content by
various players, the rural market is
poised to become a significantly large
opportunity for players.
There are an estimated 197 million
households in rural India with a TV, of
which 160 million are cable and
satellite (C&S) households, while
smartphone penetration is multiples
of that and growing.
https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/P9ZSN91tXV9eWM3mXRndrJ/Video-streaming-market-in-India-to-reach-5-billion-by-2023.html

Rural Consumer Segments
Source: Accenture Study

Successful Digitalisation Examples - Initiatives / Companies

The Global Rural Digital Challenge
According to a May 2017 McKinsey report, more than four billion people, or over
half of the world’s population, are still offline. About 75 percent of this population is
concentrated in 20 countries, including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan and
Tanzania, and is disproportionately rural, low-income, elderly, illiterate and female.
The value of connecting these people is significant to help them enter the global
digital economy. Besides, an online business requires less capital and enables
women to work in the gig economy, while digital banking levels the playing field in
terms of access to financial services.

ITC e-Choupal ecosystem - the 1st movers
The ITC e-Choupal initiative has emerged as an efficient
two-way channel for a variety of goods and services, raising
farm incomes and making farming more profitable. The
Company leverages the e-Choupal platform to support
holistic development of rural communities in and around
e-Choupal catchments through a number of initiatives -
dairy management, agarbatti manufacturing and skills
development - aimed at stimulating non-farm incomes and
creating sustainable livelihood opportunities. This
endeavour also includes the Swasthya Choupal initiative
that focuses on enhancing awareness on maternal and
child care through a network of Village Health Champions.
Launched in 2000, ITC e-Choupal is today the largest
initiative among Internet-based interventions in rural India.
Its services reach out to more than 4 million farmers in over
35000 villages through 6100 kiosks spread across 10
states. ITC e-Choupal's achievements have been well
documented as case studies in premier institutions like the
Harvard Business School, references in World Bank reports
and in eminent publications like The Economist.

ITC’s e-Choupal 4.0 Now
https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/itc-turns-aggregator-with-e-choupal-4-0-to-boost-farm-incomes-1170
60801198_1.html

http://digitalindia.gov.in/content/vision-and-vision-areas
Vision of Digital India - Started in 2015

Impact of Digital India - over 3 Lakhs CSCs
2.92 lakh CSCs are providing various
digital services like payment of utility
bills, railway ticket booking, banking
services, pension services,
Tele-Medicine, digital literacy etc.
across 2.15 Lakh Gram Panchayats for
benefit of common people.”
https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/narendra-modi-on-digital-india-impact-3-lakh-common-service-centres-have-created-jobs-village-level-e
ntrepreneurs/1207167/

Internet Saathi: Improving digital literacy among
women
Google India and Tata Trusts'
initiative has benefited 17 million
women in rural India, bringing
with it economic freedom. The
workforce of the future will be
more gender-balanced
http://www.forbesindia.com/article/future-of-work/internet-saathi-improving-digital-literacy-among-women/50951/1

The progress - Internet Saathi
While Google takes care of the technology aspects, Tata Trusts has the
expertise and knowledge in implementing the initiative at scale. The
objective is to cover 3,00,000 villages by end of 2019 and today,
according to data from Google, they have covered over 1,70,000 villages
in 17 states, benefiting 17 million women. In 2017, the ratio of women
who accessed the internet also went up to three in 10.

Mahindra Finance Company’s #IAmIndia attempted to
transform rural India
https://www.socialsamosa.com/2018/10/case-study-mahindra-finance-companys-iamindia-attempted-to-transform-rural-india/

Jio Effect - Rural Digital Marketing
The Jio effect - India is
speaking to Bharat, and in
local languages
“They will buy packages in bundles like
(Reliance) Jio - with content, entertainment and
shopping - and are different from the urban
consumer, they are next 500 million.”
TRAI report published recently, the total number
of internet subscribers touched 512.26 million as
of June 30, as compared with 426 million in
2016 before the launch of Jio. Of these, close to
95.78 percent were accessing the internet
through their mobile phones.
Reliance Jio held 42.02 percent share of the
internet subscriber base with 215.25 million
consumers as of June this year. As of now they
are above 252.3 million at the end of
September quarter.
https://yourstory.com/2018/10/jio-effect-india-speaking-bharat-local-languages/

Reliance Jio Impact on Rural India
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/35-4g-subscribers-from-rural-areas-jio-and-incumbents-neck-and-neck-in-rural-india-cmr/635970
29
India had 83 million, or 35%, of
the 238 million 4G subscribers
coming from rural areas, which
means everyone out of three
4G subscribers in the
country come from a rural
territory as of December 2017

Non English language Innovations
Vokal is a user-generated content platform that allows one
to learn from others. Most non-English speaking Indians
today need to either rely on family and friends, or a few
content platforms.
“The non-English speaking Indians behave differently
on the internet than English speaking Indians. We use
WhatsApp to communicate. For the non-English
speaking Indian, communication is calling and
WhatsApp is for sharing, not communicating. They
aren’t conversing. While many might even have
accounts on Facebook, they don't express there,” says
Aprameya Radhakrishna, Co-founder Vokal.
https://yourstory.com/2018/10/jio-effect-india-speaking-bharat-local-languages/

What’s driving regional language video news
apps in Rural India?
https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Rizrimv6DNnBff36cp7e0M/Whats-driving-regional-language-video-news-apps-in-Rural-In.html
The number of digital local language
news consumers varies anywhere
from 106 million (KPMG & Google,
’16) to 180 million (Reverie Inc. , an
Indian language translation
start-up).
The ad market that caters this
audience is pitifully small—₹750
crore for FY18 in my estimate. This
comprises ₹300 crore for digital
audiences of TV channels like Aaj
Tak, ₹250 crore for those of print
news sites like Bhaskar and another
₹200 crore online news sites such
as DailyHunt.

Parle - Digital Marketing Strategy
50% of Parle’s sales are from
rural India: Mayank Shah
The ‘Naam Toh Yaad Rahega’ integrated brand
campaign, rolled out in July 2017, brought back
focus to Parle’s roots in confectionery. From
battling cheap imitations to providing salience to
brands in the confectionery category and educating
the consumers about its rebranding exercise for a
few brands in the biscuit category, the campaign
had a strong message that helped build equity for
Parle’s individual brands while strengthening its
corporate brand.
The campaign was released in 11 languages,
including Hindi, English, Marathi, and Tamil, besides
being sustained through a digital campaign.
“10-15 percent of our total
budget is allotted for digital,
depending on various brands and
also the TG. Of that, at least 50
per cent spends go to regional.”

Parle Digital Strategy is based on Population,
Language & Brand profile
Parle Platina which is typically targeted towards affluent,
premium consumers and mega metros who are looking for
exotic experiences. Here, the digital strategy is very
different, where you are talking about native advertising. A
lot of the content being created for them is in terms of
giving them a completely different experience of the brand.
The content is also primarily in English.
Parle G, which cuts across all strata – right from mega
metros to 500-plus kind of population – it goes across. That
also has a significant digital footprint. You will also find a lot
of regional content on the digital front as well for this. There,
60-65 percent of our spends would be going into vernacular
advertising as against 30-35 per cent spends on English or
Hindi.
https://www.adgully.com/50-of-parle-s-sales-are-from-rural-india-mayank-shah-77788.html

Technology brings transparency, prosperity and opportunities for
rural youth: Vice President, Government of India
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=183827
The Vice President of India, Shri
M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that
Technology brings transparency,
prosperity and opportunities for
rural youth. He was addressing
the gathering after launching 100
Digital Classrooms in 75 Rural
Government Schools in Gwalior
district under ‘Mera School Digital
School’ programme, in Gwalior,
Madhya Pradesh.

NKAgriculture.com - Product Demo via Website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8QrPCL-bAw&t=9s
Building a website and having a
video demo (mobile based shoot)
has enabled N K Agriculture,
Dhor, Jhajjar based rural
manufacturing company
producing clay mixture machine,
has been able to scale from
producing 3-4 machines a month
now to 1 machine in a day and
they have been able to
successfully export the machines
as well.
3:17
Minutes

HUL’s Case Study
KKT (Kan Khajura Tesan), for
example, is an entire mobile-based
radio channel that users access via
missed calls. The ‘earworm radio
channel,’ is the first fully
advertiser-funded mobile-based
entertainment-on-demand initiative
in India. Offering listeners a variety
of Bollywood music and celebrity
news, the channel has amassed 42
million registered subscribers, each
of who our brands can now directly
and natively advertise to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=79&v=ESWH9if00q0 2:13
Minutes

Lifebuoy Case Study
Lifebuoy (HUL) took up the
opportunity at the Maha Kumbh
Mela, Allahabad in association
with OgilvyAction to spread the
importance of washing hands
as a preventive measure to
avoid diarrhea. The Lifebuoy
Handwashing campaign was
executed with a creative
communication medium by
imprinting a message on about
2.5Mn Rotis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YImzLDw7SdM 2:07
Minutes

Active Wheel - Humor and Missed Call
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbSkKm9R5co
HUL’s Active wheel
promoted a toll free number
and on its misscall a humor
content of husbands and
wife conversation was
shared as recorded audio to
engage its audiences.
2:46
Minutes

Key Challenges - Rural India
Distribution and logistics: Infrastructure continues to
be a challenge in rural India. Moreover, the lack of an
efficient distribution network prevents penetration of
products/ services into rural India.
Payment collection: The majority of the rural
population is still unbanked. Clearly, noncash collection
becomes rather unlikely. Cash collections, on the other
hand, are messy and difficult to monitor, especially
since cash cards or technology-enabled centralized
POS (like Suvidha or ItzWorld) are now reaching rural
areas.
Pricing: Small size pricing may have worked very well
for few but the overheads involved in payment
collection do not always allow easy execution of Small
size pricing
Scaling Up: Setting up operations on a pan-India level
presents different types of hurdles in different states
ranging from political juggling to downright local factors.
Social and cultural challenges: The cyber café (or
kiosk) model has not worked in many parts of rural
India due to socio-cultural issues.
Credit Risk: Credit facility does not work as compared
to urban India as bulk of rural India is agricultural and
income cycles in agricultural are very erratic.
Understanding the Rural Audiences, Buying Cycles
& poor infrastructure has always been a challenge

Challenges in India’s Digitalization Journey
The scale, speed of
transformation, and the cost
structures needed pose a unique
challenge in India. While improving
customer experiences, simplifying
operations, reducing costs,
increasing network flexibility, and
heightening network security are
table stakes, a new paradigm of
operations is required to succeed.
Unconventional, nonlinear
innovation— such as the
innovation that we can deliver
through mass scale networking
and automation—is what India
needs.
https://blogs.cisco.com/news/digital-india-driving-the-next-wave-of-innovation-in-mass-scale-networking

Challenges in India’s Digitalization Journey
● The missing access to digital technology – especially
in rural areas – along with a corresponding absence of
knowledge about its use, represents one of the major
challenges to be mastered.
● The persisting lack of basic education in large
portions of the Indian population cuts back on the
digitization possibilities.
● The use of mobile phones and internet access is
still weakly spread and even nonexistent in rather
remote rural areas. India thus needs more attention and
more investments to be dedicated to its digital
infrastructure.
● A further obstacle on the way to a successful digitization
is the lack of training for government officials who
are responsible for e-governance. We have seen
e-governance projects achieve great success in some
parts of India, while they completely failed in other
regions.
https://www.roedl.com/insights/digitalisation-asia/digitalisation-india-economy-technology

Technology Revolutions are happening very fast

The Key Technology Revolutions in Rural India
Every month, 4.5 lakh DTHs
are being installed in rural
India.
https://ruralmarketing.in/industry/advertising-marketing/here-is-how-digital-media-is-impacting-rural-markets
Rural DTH Mobile Phones Mobile Internet Mobile Payments
It was predicted that by 2018,
every Indian will have an Android
phone.
India has 80% mobile internet
traffic as compared to world
average of 50%
BHIM UPI transactions of
approximately 913 million in
volume and close to Rs 1
trillion in value in FY18.

Mobile Internet Stats - India
India with mobile internet access of around 80%, is far above global
mobile Internet index which is just 50%.

Village Life Cycle & Daily Needs beyond Agriculture
Schooling & Literacy Piped Water supply Waste management Sanitation, sewerage & street lights Healthcare Facilities
Banking Rural industries Internet enabled commerce Community center & library Skill development

Why India needs more smart villages?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2791612/visual-edit-india-needs-smart-villages-smart-cities.html

Advantages of Smart Villages
What Are The Benefits Of Developing Smart
Villages?
● Towns and villages experience cultural and economic growth
and regeneration.
● Villages become ‘smart,’ with improved internet speed and
connectivity.
● Villages become more attractive to foreign and domestic
investors.
● It provides greater opportunities for the jobseekers.
● It solves many of the big societal challenges such as diversity,
climate change and the sustainable provision of food, biomass
and energy.
● Villages become more attractive to future homeowners.
● Tourism and culture can stimulate employment and investment
in rural areas.
● Encourage diaspora to return to their home villages and prevent
further brain drain from local villages.
http://blog.abodoo.com/smart-working/smart-villages-future/
https://technologyevaneglist.wordpress.com/2017/05/01/development-of-future-smart-villages-in-india/

World has moved on the path of Smart Villages
https://enrd.ec.europa.eu/sites/enrd/files/enrd.../publi-enrd-rr-26-2018-en.pdf
Digital Ecosystem of Smart Village

Global Case Study - AI & Technology for Rural India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdBemHBN7xQ
In this enlightening talk,
Prashant Shukla (National
Technology Officer,
Microsoft India) elucidates
how dramatically the
advent of artificial
intelligence and digital
technology can help
transform agriculture,
healthcare, and education
in rural India.
14:44
Minutes

Getting close to the connectivity challenge

Global Case Study - Balloon Powered Internet
Have you ever heard of a Moonshot? It’s
the pursuit of not just the 10% better than
everyone else, but the 10x better that what
exists to date, a reach for glory through
science and practicality. It’s not science
fiction stuff, but it’s close.
And this is the next Google Moonshot. And
it’s called Project Loon. An attempt to have
a controlled network of Balloons sitting on
the edge of space, delivering solar powered
internet to everyone on earth, particularly
those people in rural and remote areas, or
to help fill in coverage gaps and bring
people back online after disasters… Yes.
Everyone on EARTH… Eventually. It’s just
beginning, with a test in New Zealand, so
jump in, follow it, and see where it goes. Is
this Moonshot possible?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m96tYpEk1Ao
https://loon.co/
1:58
Minutes

Global Case Study - Calling Sweden
So in a World First campaign, you can
now call Sweden and be connected to a
random Swede who will tell you
anything you want to know about their
fine country, where to holiday and
generally how great Sweden is.
Just in case you didn’t know, about 250
years ago, in 1766, Sweden became the
first country in the world to to abolish
censorship. To honour this anniversary,
Sweden is now the first country in the
world to introduce its own phone
number. Call +46 771 793 336 and get
connected to a random Swede,
anywhere in Sweden and talk about
anything you want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=42&v=mtb3f_NAmK0
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/sweden-tourism-call-the-swedish-phone-number/ 1:30
Minutes

Global Case Study - Coca Cola Happiness Truck
The Coca-Cola Christmas
Truck Tour set off on its
first tour of regional
Australia last year
delivering a little extra
festive cheer to some
communities along the
way including Mt Isa,
Tamworth and Townsville.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvAwnE6-JTg
1:00
Minutes

Module 2: Technologies and Analytics in the Competitive Rural Space
· Key differences and challenges for leads generation in the villages
· Availability of real time data and information as a competitive advantage
· Making CRM, algorithmic, PPC and SEO toolboxes for your rural marketing differentiator
· Improving decisions, analytics, and solutions for rural customers
· How can dissemination technology help in gathering useful resources in agricultural markets

Rural Marketing Strategy meets Technology

Shopping Conceptualization by Rural Consumers
https://www.accenture.com/t20160203T072131__w__/in-en/_acnmedia/Accenture/Conversion-Assets/DotCom/Documents/Global/PDF/Dualpub_24/Accenture-Rural-Indi
a-Markets-Research-2015.pdf

Technologies and Analytics in the Competitive Rural Space
Mckinsey Global institute - The age of analytics - Competing in a data driven world
There has been always been
abundance of data but lack
of analysis for Rural
Consumers. Since the digital
divide between the them is
shortening now its the high
time for technology
companies and tech startups
to come up with newer
technologies and analytical
tools focusing on Rural
Markets by clubbing existing
and newer data sources like
Aadhar, Mobile payments
etc.

Key differences and challenges for leads generation in the
villages
● The top 8 Key Challenges
○ Finding right strategy / offer for the potential lead in rural
areas
○ Selection of right channel for generation of leads in rural
areas
○ Measuring / documenting Lead generation in villages
○ Inefficient infrastructure to respond back to leads in specified
turn around time
○ Marketing funding for lead generation in rural areas
○ Providing relevant / meaningful / vernacular content to leads
○ Finding skillsets / resources to execute lead generation
plans
○ Deciding on the right media mix - radio, event, whatsapp,
facebook, mobile, newspaper, misscall, sampling etc.

Availability of real time data and information as a competitive
advantage
https://www.slideshare.net/socialcops/socialcops-capabilities

Making CRM, algorithmic, PPC and SEO toolboxes for your
rural marketing differentiator
Geo Targeting
Excellence for
PPC
Multilingual SEO
Targeting
Affordable /
Vernacular CRM

Improving decisions, analytics, and solutions for rural
customers
● The Key Solutions
○ Rural marketing strategies should be
developed keeping current initiatives of
centre, state, local bodies and NGOs in
Mind
○ Adequate infrastructural facilities like
roads, bridges, warehouses, marketing
yards, information centers etc., must be
jointly developed by in association with
public and private partnership.
○ Communication networks like postal,
telegraph, telecommunication, television,
cinema, etc., need to be strengthened in
the rural India.
○ Banking and financial system need to be
redesigned and reinforced as per the
requirements of the rural societies.
○ Adequate infrastructural facilities like
roads, bridges, warehouses, marketing
yards, information centers etc., must be
jointly developed by in association with
public and private partnership.
○ A broad understanding must be
developed on cultural patterns, climatic
and geographical conditions pattern of
living traditions, customs, values, and
beliefs of the peoples with the help of
research centers

Improving decisions, analytics, and solutions for rural
customers
○ Continual Training Programs must be
designed to impart the knowledge in
vocational and non agricultural sectors
○ Central, State governments & large
corporations should provide a platform
through which rural entrepreneurs can
get support to reduce dependency of
talent migration and improving local
production
○ More and more continual syndicated
researches should be funded in rural
areas to gather information and
marketing palming must be done on
scientific and statistical basis
○ Rural entrepreneurs should be trained in
the areas and usage of computer and
information technology, mobile, internet
and marketing technology so that they
can become trainers in their own territory
○ Local business clients, markets,
customers and consumers must be
identified. This will reduce the cost of
logistics, transportation and price of the
products.
http://www.aims-international.org/myconference/cd/PDF/MSD3-3315-Done.pdf

How can dissemination technology help in gathering useful
resources in agricultural markets
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290797379_Agricultural_Information_Dissemination_using_ICTs_A_Review_and_Analysis_of_I
nformation_Dissemination_Models_in_China

SOSTAC
S
O
ST
A
C
https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/sostac-model/

Module 3: Closing the Deal in the Digital Village with Tailored Marketing
· Perfect tools for socially-committed outreach to stimulate customer engagement
· Leveraging seasonal complexity with the ease of customisation for products, services and outreach
· Nurturing influencers for extended brand and product exposure: who is the right face for your product?

Closing the Deal in the Digital Village with Tailored Marketing

Leveraging seasonal complexity with the ease of
customisation for products, services and outreach
http://www.fao.org/news/podcast/phone-apps-senegal.html
The UN’s Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) is rolling out
digital innovation technologies in
the form of SMS text messages and
local language audio based
smartphone applications across
the African continent, starting in
Senegal and Rwanda.
In this pilot episode of FAO's new
podcast Stories From The Field, we
head to Tambacounda, 450
kilometers south-east of Dakar,
Senegal, to find out how digital
tools are helping to transform the
country’s agriculture sector and
boost farmers' livelihoods.

The Digital Village Concept
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/harisal-vi
llage-adopted-by-microsoft-to-be-developed-as-indias-first-ideal-digital-v
illage/articleshow/58187649.cms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9n6aAIspTM
1:35
Minutes

Rural Marketing Strategy - Key Elements
Rural Call
Centres
On Ground
Promotions
2G/4G Mobile
Phones
Traditional
Media
Vernacular
Web Portals
Social Media /
Messaging Apps
Rural Digital
Kiosks
Mobile Vans /
Digital Vans

Block level Rural BPOs can
generate employment and act as
a catalyst for market growth and
data collection and provide
facilities like data collection,
validation, market research and
products sales
Rural Call Centres

Door to door promotion help in
reaching out to the masses,
sampling, Market Research and
doing activation on the ground...
Promotors

To reach out to masses on 2G /
4G Phones Operators linked
caller tunes, Live chat Games,
SMSs, MMSs, in App updates
and OBD calls for all rural
markets can help in rural digital
strategy
Mobile

Optical fibre based rural kiosks
are currently being deployed and
used for a variety of common
services at one place and their
use is going to expand in the
future to come. They provide a
one stop shop for information
dissemination, e transactions and
2 way communication for various
services and even brands display
Kiosks

Mobile vans / digital display vans
have a good amount of impact on
the rural consumers and their lot
of customer engagements,
activations, research, sales and
lead generations can happen.
They also play a major role in
creating public awareness and
educating the rural audiences on
topics of public interest.
Mobile Vans

To reach SMEs. business owners
and educated youth and women
marketers use cable tv, dth, print
and radio advertising in Rural
markets
Traditional Media

As Educated Rural Youth
consumes vernacular news,
politics, discussions boards,
portals, ecommerce website,
youth portals, auto, business and
entertainment website including
google search veyonds simple
utility booking and payments so
this segment can be targeted via
display and social media.
Educated Rural Youth

Whatsapp, Facebook, YouTube &
JioChat is playing a very crucial
role in rural marketing as the
number of social users are
increasing...using facebook we
can target village level audiences
within a particular 50 Miles radius
of any area (drop pin) / city
Social Media

Closing the Deal - Village Level Mobile Database
Village Sarpanches to setup project team within
village to do door to door knocking and
collection of mobile no database of 3000-5000
people in their village
To develop and use 2 way communication
mobile app for
❖ Collection of Data
❖ Dissemination of information
❖ Market Research
❖ Promotion of brands
❖ Calling of meetings
❖ Updating job alerts
❖ Providing agricultural inputs
❖ Sending audio messages
❖ Linking with a portal to update
demographics and other information
❖ Use as advertising medium for village
revenue

Marketing Strategies to succeed in Rural India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgJgzdsvR8Q Source: Rural Magazine
3:06
Minutes

Rural Marketing Strategy - Key Influencers
Sarpanch Celebrities Local Traders
Social Activists / NGOs Rural Youth Teachers

Sarpanch, if individually
contacted and convinced, can
play a better role in brands
success as he is the biggest
influencer in any village.
Sarpanchs

Celebrities have always been
fascinating rural audiences and
their work always have a long
lasting impact on brand and
audiences
Celebrities

Local Store owners and retailers
are at the centre of the villages
economy. Rural Marketing nerve
centre is this shop which is the
source of revenue and display for
brands. This if linked with
technology can play bigger role.
Traders

Local activists and NGOs play ac
active role in education and
awareness in rural masses and
are always respected a lot.
Brands can very well utilize their
CSR budgets to support NGOs
can always achieve their Rural
Marketing Objectives
Activists

Youth is always the untapped
power in villages, if linked to their
hobby, career and employment,
brands can literally win the game
if youth is involved
Youth

Teachers create the foundation of
the rural India and we need to
support, Listen and act upon their
causes. Schools in term become
a playground of innovation and
launches of new concepts in
villages
Teachers

Module 4: Interactive Campaign Challenge
· What makes a great digital campaign in rural India? Using what they have learned
attendees will contribute their key features
· Who are you bringing on board? An open discussion where attendees can make a case
for partners, influencers and celebrity appearances and why

Steps & process for Interactive Case Study
Step 3
Presentation of Case finding
● Each team can use
Laptop presentation /
A4 to present their
thoughts & ideas in 4
Slides
● Each Team to get 5.0
minutes to present and
2.5 minutes for Q/A
● Trainers Feedback &
scoring will be based
upon the Creativity,
Content Delivery,
Strategy & Q/A
handling
Step 1
Formation of Teams
A team to consist of two people
and to take on the role play of an
organization’s key team
deciding upon the Rural Digital
Marketing Strategy
● VP Sales & Marketing
● Head Digital Marketing
● Head Brand
● CEO
● CFO
● Influencer
● Celebrity
Step 2
Election of Case to work upon
● Leading Global 4G phone
manufacturer entering Indian rural
market for the first time
● Leading Mobile Payment company
eyeing to enter and grab 1 million
rural audiences across India
● A startup entrepreneur willing to
launch rural guest houses
enrollment on rent for a weekend to
attract visitors to live in organic
setting in Indian rural areas
● To discuss business challenge / to
take feedback of your own brand &
present the strategy

Interactive Case Studies 1 & 2
Leading Global 4G phone manufacturer
entering Indian rural market for the first
time in India
● This is one of the leading mobile
handsets manufacturer based in
Europe who is eying to sell 4G
smartphone phones in India. They
want to pilot for first 10000 and
eventually sell 1 million handsets in
India. They aren’t sure about the
pricing strategy although the cost to
manufacturer, brand & distribute is
roughly INR 10000 per piece. They
have a great global image but no
brand awareness in India.
● How to price the phone and what
should be the promotion strategy &
marketing strategy & budget to sell
first 10000 phones in the rural
villages of India?
Leading Mobile Wallet Payment company
eyeing to enter and grab first 1 million rural
audiences across India
● This is one of the Telco / leading mobile
payment wallet company which has
recently launched its mobile app for
feature phones / smartphones. They
want to reach out to masses in the rural
India to be able to establish their first
10000 transacting users and eventually
reach 1 million user base. Their app is
safe & secure and easy to use and
available in vernacular languages as
well. This is the first time they are
looking at Rural First Strategy
● How to generate more and more users
for trying their payment wallet and what
should be the promotion strategy to
reach first 1 million users in the rural
villages of India.
Business
Challenge
Desired
Results

Interactive Case Studies 3 & 4
A startup entrepreneur willing to launch rural
guest houses enrollment on rent for a
weekend to attract visitors to live in organic
setting in India rural areas
● Looking at the success of AirBnB and
Oyo rooms, you are a startup
entrepreneur who has seen potential of
renting out village guest houses / for
organic living / weekend recreation of
urban population. Their immediate
business challenge is how to enroll first
10000 rural properties in their web
portal and how to connect users to start
renting out the same
● What should be the brand name, How to
enroll enroll first 10000 properties and
what should be the promotion strategy
to start getting urban audience to rent
these properties?
To discuss business challenge of your own
brand / to take feedback of your own brand
& present its promotion strategy and
probable solutions
● You have an established product or
brand which is doing good in urban
areas and how to take that product
to rural audience or you already have
a product/brand for Rural Markets
and how to take this product to
deliver 10 times better sales by
increasing rural digital marketing
budgets.
● What will be the promotion strategy
for Increasing sales by 10 times of
an established rural brand or What
should be your media mix for Market
entry strategy for an existing urban
product?
Business
Challenge
Desired
Results

• Have been a keynote speaker in Economic Times Edge Event, Cyber Media Group Events, DT Conclaves, Paul Writers CMO
roundtable, MDI Gurgaon, Amity Business School & OP Jindal Global University etc.
Senior Digital Transformation Expert, Service
provider and Trainer
Conducted 100+ training sessions on Digital Marketing / CRM for close to 5000+
participants from 50+ Corporates, premium B Schools and Digital marketing Training
organizations
Ajay Chhabra
• HubSpot Inbound Marketing
Certified Trainer
• GE’s Crotonville Certified Foundation
of leadership Program
Certifications
•
•
• 18+ years of total Industry experience &
worked for General Electric Co.in Global
Marketing Headquarters for Digital Media,
Was instrumental in the growth of
OgilvyOne and MRM Worldwide Initial
digital team setup and client success in
Delhi-NCR
Experience
Have strategized, planned and
executed 200+ global digital programs
and campaigns for GE, GM, Microsoft,
Motorola, Coca-Cola, The Hindustan
Times, Hero Honda, Tetrapak, Reebok,
Cycle Brand, Seagate, BenQ, IMT
Ghaziabad, Sharp etc Now accepting
Digital Strategy Consulting
assignments for brands and startups
on monthly retainer fee basis
Role
Expert in CRM, Google Search Algorithm,
Search Engine Optimization, PPC
campaigns optimization, Online Media
Planning and buying, Digital Marketing
strategy consulting, Mobile apps,
Website Architecture and facebook
messenger chat bots development & AI
Training
About Me

Ajay Chhabra
Core Strengths
▪ Developing Digital Marketing Strategy
▪ Extensive experience in online leads generation
▪ Hands-on experience on multiple global digital
marketing tools and technologies
▪ Advising the boards and working with CXOs for digital
transformation of the business
▪ Digital Marketing & Branding
Competencies
Domain
▪Diversified business groups, consumer electronics,
Automobiles, FMCG, Technology, Mobile Handsets, Travel
and Media
▪Sitecore / Adobe Exp Manager - CMS
▪Hyperion/Brio BI Tools
▪Exacttarget – Email Marketing
▪SFDC – SFA tool
▪Marketo / HubSpot – Marketing Automation
▪ Over 20 years of experience in digital marketing, branding & strategy formulation with extensive
experience across industries. Ajay has worked with multiple digital marketing agencies including
OgilvyOne Worldwide & McCann / MRM Worldwide and worked upon global digital marketing
projects including General Motors India
▪ In the client side role worked with The General Electric company (GE) in their Global Healthcare
marketing Headquarters role, reporting into Milwaukee, USA, and was responsible for Global
Digital Media planning and Content Marketing. Also helped GE other businesses as well. He has
worked upon a large number of global demand generation campaigns for X-Ray, MRI and CT
machines etc. Also launched global GE Healthcare website and did SEO for the same. He has got
number of awards in GE for his campaigns including India CEO award, MICT Above and beyond
awards.
▪ He has been an eminent speaker in the digital marketing space and have been a speaker & panel
leader at Cyber Media DQ Live 2015 on the topic of The Role of Chief Digital Officer. Recently ET
Now Business news TV channel has covered him in the program highlights and have also been
invited as a speaker at The Economic Times - Real Estate & Digital Marketing Summit in 2014 for a
special address and participated in panel discussions as well.
▪ Wide-ranging exposure in the digital marketing and branding in the industries like Diversified
business groups, consumer electronics, Automobiles, FMCG, Technology, Mobile Handsets, Travel
and Media. He has contributed to a number of article and won a number of awards in the digital
marketing space. He has also delivered guest lectures at MDI Gurgaon. BGV Digital is a recent and
his second venture which is a 360 degree digital marketing agency after A3R Digital.
▪ In entrepreneur role he has supported IMT Ghaziabad, Sharp Electronics, BenQ, Franchise India,
JBM Auto Limited, FranGlobal, BPL Healthcare, Ambica Steels Limited, Frontline strategy,
Appearition pty. Ltd. etc.
Certification/Training
▪ Got training for Microsoft Certified Solution developer
▪ D. Pharma, B.A., Masters in International Business
▪ Lean Workshops
▪ GE Crotonville – Foundations of leadership
▪ Inbound Marketing – HubSpot

Clients and Projects – Digital Marketing
▪ Digital Marketing Projects & Clients in Agency Role:
▪ General Motors, Hero Honda, Reebok, Coca Cola India, Tetra Pak India, Cycle Brand, Microsoft, Business Octane, iGate Patni, VeriSign, Seagate,
Tech Mahindra, Videocon Mobiles, Motorola India, Micromax, BenQ India, Amadeus, Skyconnect, Sahara Group, Vodafone, HT Media &
Zapak.com.
▪ BI/ Analytics Projects and Clients:
▪ Airtel, Indiatimes.com & Ranbaxy Laboratories and Developed SI Partners for Hyperion/Brio: HCL Technologies, Wipro Limited, Infosys Limited,
Softcell Technologies & Tata Consulting Services in India etc.
▪ CRM Program Trainer & Implementation:
▪ Tata Motors (Pan India)
▪ Client Side Role
▪ GE Healthcare – Global Marketing Hq. Team
▪ A3R Digital - Clients
▪ IMT Ghaziabad, Sharp Electronics, BenQ, Franchise India & BPL Healthcare etc.
▪ BotWorx.ai Clients
▪ Telangana Today, News Mobile., Biryani By kilo, The GIP Mall, Metro Plus Lifestyle, Pink Shastra, Neemrana Hotels etc.
▪ BGV Digital Private Limited - Clients
▪ Franchise India, JBM Auto Limited, FranGlobal, Ambica Steels Limited, Frontline strategy, Appearition pty. Ltd., Aptech – MAAC, RAM Led
Solutions, KRV Physiotherapy & healthcare, Transit Advertising, Seeds of Innocence IVF & Fertility centre, Metroplus Lifestyle, iSpace systems,
EasyPolicy.com, Yashoda hospital & research centre, Forus Health, Airel India, PepsiCo (Training), Smart Skill Tech & Learning Catalyst, Apollo
Specialty Hospitals Private Limited, Jay Bharat Maruti Limited, Happy Stems, World of Education, Yo Creativ, Forexoncall.com & BentChair.com

Ajay Chhabra
Founder, Director and Chief Digital Officer
BGV Digital Private Limited
ajay.chhabra@bgvdigital.com /
BrandGrowthVentures@gmail.com
0091-8368440615 / 8130940808

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