By Rv Rajan is an Advertising professional with over 45 Years experience, out of which he have been associated with Rural Marketing and Communication for over 35 years.Hes now the Chairman, Anugrah-Madison Advertising, Chennai

1. Rural Marketing
Some Insights
By
R V Rajan
Anugrah Madison Advertising P Ltd.
3.3.2010

2. Why go Rural?
• Proliferation of brands in urban
• High saturation levels in urban
• Greater awareness of brands in rural
• Ever-growing aspirations in rural
• No effects of slow down on rural
markets !

3. Government Spending in Rural

4. • ALL RESULTING IN FARMERS
INCOME RISING
• Tremendous opportunities for existing
and new brands to enter rural markets

5. FMCG
Size of Rural Marketscrore
Rs.65000
Agri-inputs Rs.45000 crore
Durables Rs.5000 crore
Automobiles (2 & 4 Wheelers) Rs.8000 crore
Clothes, footwear etc. Rs.35000 crore
Construction material Rs.15000 crore
Total Rs.173000 crore
Source: CII Report (2008)

6. Building Brands in Rural India
• Contrary to popular belief people in
Rural India are fiercely brand loyal
o Single Brand Villages
• Once converted, difficult to dislodge
them
• First mover advantages

7. Pitfalls of Building a Brand
in Rural India
• 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

8. Route to Brand Building in
Rural
• Build customisation
o Chotukool from Godrej Boyce, a nano
refrigerator (43 litres cool box loaded from
top)
o Co-created using suggestions from rural
women and sold by rural women

9. Route to Brand Building in Rural
• Build Empathy / Relevance
o Nokia ‘Life Tools’ for farming and rural community
o Agri information to farmers in association with
Reuters
o Imparting of knowledge of English language to
students by teaching one new word every day

10. • Build Recognition
o Ruralfolks understands symbols and
colours better.
 ‘Pahelwan’ Chap – MRF
 ‘Haathi’ – Beedi
 ‘Laal Sabun’ – Lifebuoy
 Peela Powder - Nirma

11. • This also leads to duplicates and
spurious products
• Largely sold in the Haats (weekly
markets) in Rural India
o Rs.12000 crore p.a. is the estimated loss to
FMCG sector

13. • Build Access
o Distribution in rural India is not a nightmare
o For FMCG reach villages (feeder markets)
in towns with population 10000 to 15000
o For consumer durables reach towns with
population of 50000+ and also
o Look at opportunities in haats, melas, post
offices, public distribution system etc.

14. • Build word of mouth
o Through effective communication using
specific communication package aimed at
specific rural audience

15. • Build word-of-mouth
o Importance of opinion leaders
o Educated village youth as opinion leaders
o Women and children as demand generators
o Customised events targeting specific
groups with focused communication

17. Rural
Rich
Aspiring
Middle
Class
Bottom of
the
Pyramid

18. Ideal Media Strategy for
Reaching Rural Audiences
RU Rural
RA Cinema
Mass Media
L Radio
Plus
Opinion M TV
Direct Marketing
Leaders AS Un-
Efforts
SE conventional
S Media
Focused
Events

19. Other Points to Remember

20. Understanding the Characteristics of
the Rural Masses
• Very intelligent and clever – cannot be
easily hoodwinked.
• Daily activity is routinised
o Plenty of time / No Sundays
• Very conscious of value for money

21. Understanding the Characteristics of
the Rural Masses
• Does not like to pay extra for frills he cannot use.
o Eg. Colour TV
• High involvement in any product purchased
o Eg. Durables

23. Characteristics…
• Perceptions, traditions, values vary
from state to state and in some cases
from region to region within a state.
(MRF Bullock Cart Tyres)
• Divisions based on caste, community
and other hierarchical factors continue
to exist.

24. So how do we communicate with
the Rural Folks?

25. Rural Communication
• Keep the communication simple…
o No scope for gimmicks
• Take time in communicating the message
o Quickies have no impact.
• Think in the local language to capture the
local spirit in the communication aimed at
specific region.

26. Rural Communication
• Demonstration – a key element for
success

27. Shampoo Demonstration

28. Dalda
Vanaspathi
Demonstration

29. Demonstration

30. Analogies help in better
comprehension.
• Examples
o MRF Bullock Cart tyre
o Tafe Tyres

31. 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.

32. Reliance Mobile

33. Rural Communication…
• But when it comes to Durables, where rational
decisions are involved, it is advisable to target
the opinion leaders first.
• While urban oriented TVC may register with
opinion leaders and help create awareness,
for real impact down the line, a region specific
and need specific communication programme
has to be devised which provides for
demonstration and touch & feel of the
products.

34. Important
• Rural Urban Divide in terms of
communication continues to exist
• Hence need for different
communication packages focused on
rural audience

35. Examples of different treatment for
urban and rural
• Philips – Consumer Electronics Division
• Leprosy Eradication Programme

36. Lessons from the Success of
regional brands in recent times
• They understand the regional ‘ethos’
better
• They satisfy a perceived local need
• Their communication touches a ‘chord’
which helps in brand acceptance
• They are flexible
o Adapt to changing market situations
• Eg. Anchor, Gadi, Ajanta, Cavinkare
(Chik), Power, Goldwinner, Arasan

37. • If you are small with limited budgets
start by concentrating on smaller areas
o Outdoor / local Cable TV / Radio /
participate in local festivals etc.

38. • Even Nirma started very small
• Today it is a Rs.2000 plus crore
company!

39. Thank you
Email: anugrah@madisonindia.com
Visit us at: www.anugrahmadison.com