This document discusses strategies for promoting products and services to rural audiences. It covers various elements of a promotional mix including advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion. When promoting to rural audiences specifically, the document recommends using media like music CDs, puppetry, folk theater, and interpersonal/group meetings. It also discusses constraints of communicating in rural areas like low literacy and infrastructure issues. The distribution of products to rural customers is addressed, including common challenges and strategies used.

1. MODULE 5
Promotion Strategy
Promotion is the process of marketing
communication to inform, persuade, remind
and influence consumers or users in favor of
your product or service.

2. ELEMENTS OF RETAIL PROMOTIONAL MIX
 Advertising
 Public Relations
 Personal selling
 Sales promotion

3. ADVERTISING
 Advertising is paid, non-personal
communication transmitted through out-of-store
mass media by an identified sponsor.4 aspects
of this definition merit clarification:
 Paid form
 Non-personal presentation
 Out-of-store mass media
 Identified sponsor

4. OBJECTIVES
 Lifting short-term sales
 Increasing customer traffic
 Developing and/or reinforcing a retail image
 Informing customers about goods and services
and/or company attributes
 Easing the job for sales personnel
 Developing demand for private brands

5. ADVANTAGES
 A large audience is attracted.
 The cost per viewer, reader,or listener are low.
 A number of alternative media are available.
 The retailer has control over message content,
graphics, timing, and size.
 In print media, a message can be studied and
restudied by the target market.

6. CONTD:
 Editorial content often surrounds an ad.
 Self-service or reduced-service operations are
possible since a customer becomes aware of a
retailer and its offerings before shopping.

7. DISADVANTAGES
 Standardized messages lack flexibility
 Some media require large investments
 Media may reach large geographic areas, and for
retailers, this may be wasteful.
 Some media require a long lead time for placing
ads.
 Some media have a high throwaway rate.

8. TYPES OF ADVERTISING
 Content method
 Payment method

9. CONTENT METHOD
 Pioneer messages
 Competitive message
 Reminder message
 Institutional message

10. MANNER OF PAYMENT
 Full payment by retailer
 Cooperative advertising
 Vertical
 horizontal

11. PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Public relations entails any communication
that fosters a favorable image for the
retailer among its publics. it may be
Non personal or personal, paid or non paid and
sponsor controlled or non controlled.

12. OBJECTIVES
 Increase awareness of the retailer and its strategy
mix.
 Maintain or improve the company image.
 Show the retailer as a contributor to the
community’s quality of life.
 Demonstrate innovativeness.
 Present a favorable message in a highly believable
manner.
 Minimize total promotion costs.

13. ADVANTAGES
 An image can be presented or enhanced.
 A more credible source presents the message.
 There are no costs for message time or space.
 A mass audience is addressed.
 Carryover effects are possible.
 People pay more attention to news stories than to
clearly identified ads.

14. DISADVANTAGES
 Some retailers do not believe in spending any
funds on image-related communication.
 There is little retailer control over a publicity
message and its timing, placement, and coverage
by a given medium.
 It may be more suitable for short-run, rather than
long-run, planning.
 Although there are no media costs for publicity,
there are costs for a public relations staff, planning
activities, and the activities themselves.

15. PERSONAL SELLING
 Personal selling is the art of convincing the
prospects to buy the given products or services. It
is the wit act of persuasion. It is the ability to handle
the people to dandle the products. It is the ability to
convert human needs into wants.

16. OBJECTIVES
 Persuade customers to buy.
 Stimulate sales of impulse items or product related
to customers’ basic purchases.
 Complete customer transactions.
 Feed back information to company decision
makers.
 Provide proper levels of customer service.
 Improve and maintain customer satisfaction.
 Create awareness of the items also marketed
through web.

17. ADVANTAGES
 A salesperson can adapt a message to the needs
of the individual customer.
 A salesperson can be flexible in offering ways to
address customer needs.
 The attention span of the customer is higher than
with advertising.
 There is less waste; most people who walk into a
store are potential customers.
 Customers respond more often to personal selling
than to ads.
 Immediate feedback is provided.

18. DISADVANTAGES
 Only a limited number of customers can be handled
at a given time.
 The costs of interacting with each customer can be
high.
 Customers are not initially lured into a store through
personal selling
 Self-service may be discouraged.
 Some customers may view salespeople as
unhelpful and as too aggressive.

19. SALES PROMOTION
 Sales promotion encompasses the paid
communication activities other than
advertising, public relations, and personal selling
that stimulate consumer purchases and dealer
effectiveness.

20. OBJECTIVES
 Increasing short-term sales volume.
 Maintaining customer loyalty.
 Emphasizing novelty.
 Complementing other promotion tools.

21. ADVANTAGES
 It often has eye-catching appeal.
 Themes and tools can be distinctive.
 The consumer may receive something of
value, such as coupons or free merchandise.
 It helps draw customer traffic and maintain loyalty
to the retailer.
 Impulse purchases are increased.
 Customers can have fun, particularly with
promotion tools such as contests and
demonstrations.

22. DISADVANTAGES
 It may be hard to terminate certain promotions
without adverse customer reactions.
 The retailer’s image may be hurt if trite promotions
are used.
 Frivolous selling points may be stressed rather than
the retailer’s product assortment, prices, customer
services, and other factors.
 Many sales promotions have only short-term
effects.
 It should be used mostly as a supplement to other
promotional forms.

23. PLANNING A RURAL PROMOTIONAL
STRATEGY
 Determining promotional objectives
 Establishing an overall promotional budget
 Selecting the promotional mix
 Implementing the promotional mix
 Reviewing and revising the promotional plan

24. APPROPRIATE MEDIA
 Media Selection
 1.The financial allocation for advertising.
 2.The nature of the product and the demand for
it.
 3. The type of prospects, their location and
other characteristics.
 4. The nature of competition and the extent of
coverage required.
 5. Cost of media, co-operation and promotional
aids offered by media, media circulation.

25. CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPORTANT MEDIA
 1. Mural Advertising
 2. Press Advertising
 3. Film Advertising
 4. Radio Advertisement
 5. Television Advertisement
 6. Transit Advertising
 7. Direct Mail

26. RURAL SPECIFIC MEDIA
 1. Music CD’s
 2. Puppetry
 3. Folk Theater
 4. Interpersonal Media
 5. Group Meeting
 6. House-to-House Campaign
 7. Field Demonstrations:
 8. AV Vans
 9 Wall Paintings

27. CONSTRAINTS IN RURAL COMMUNICATION
 1. Low Literacy Rate
 2. Low Spending Capacity
 3. Joint Families and Strong Kinship Ties
 4. Linguistic and Socio-cultural Differences
 5. Unique Media Habits
 6. Situation Based Leisure Time Activities
 7. Expensive Communication
 8. Poor Infrastructure
 9. Lack of Research Data
 10. Selective Attention

28. DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
 Distribution channel performs various tasks
necessary to promote sales of products and
services to the ultimate customers.

29.  Selling
 Assorting
 Financing
 Storage
 Sorting
 Grading
 Transportation
 Market Information
 Risk-taking

30. CHANNEL STRUCTURES

31. CHANNEL TYPES

33. METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION
 1. Stockist’s Van / Company Owned
Vehicles
 2. Hired Vehicles
 3. Working by Independent Stockist
 4. Selling Through Bullock Cart / Camel /
Boat
 5. Appointment of Primary Dealers
 6. Using Urban Wholesalers

34. PROBLEMS OF RURAL DITRIBUTION
 1. Transportation Problems:)
 2. Warehousing Problems:)
 3. Communication Problems:
 4. Non-Availability of Dealers:
 5. Greater Dependence on Dealers
 6. Higher Cost and Administrative
Problems
 7. Poor Viability of Retail Outlets

35. RURAL RETAILER BEHAVIOUR
 Seasonal Pattern:
 1. Transfer of Capital
 2. Credit Pattern
 3. Purchasing Cycle

36. THANK YOU………….