4 great marketing strategies

April 26, 2006

Barring a few, notable exceptions, rural marketing in

India is still about a van campaign, a badly-made
commercial, a few painted walls and the occasional
participation in village haats and melas.
But then, "rural" means different things to different
people: from 500,000 people for consumer durables, to
less than 50,000 for fast-moving consumer goods.
Still, it is heartening to note the increasing awareness of
the importance of rural markets - or, at least, of
companies wanting to move beyond urban boundaries.
According to estimates by the Rural Marketing Agencies
Association of India, the total budget for rural marketing
is only about Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion), compared to the
over Rs 13,000 crore (Rs 130 billion) allotted to mass
media.
This is grossly inadequate to cover the huge potential for
different products in rural markets. Of course, clients'
reluctance to spend big money for bigger results in rural
markets is because there are no standard performance
yardsticks for judging the efficacy of the rural marketing
efforts.
The TRPs and NRS/IRS data help you determine the
efficacy of TV and press marketing.  But there is no study
to tell you what is the ideal cost per contact or what is the
ideal number of eyeballs or footfalls for different rural
activities.
But only consider the huge successes of some regional
brands, especially in the FMCG sector, which are giving
the multinationals a run for their money.
Companies like Cavin Kare (Chik Shampoo, Meera
Herbal Powder, Fairever Cream and so on), Anchor (100
per cent vegetarian toothpaste), Ghadi detergent powder
and Power soap are proof that regional brands can
become brands to reckon with. And don't forget Nirma,
the most enduring example of a brand that began as a
regional player and is now a giant.
What did these products do that was so different? Most of
them identified a segment that was vacant in terms of
product and area of operation. They all started in small,
concentrated markets, appealing to the local ethos and
aspirations of the targeted area.
Their communication, be it a simple radio spot or a wall
painting or a theatre film, touched a chord in the target
audience. And, most importantly, their policies were
flexible and they could adopt to fast changing marketing
situations. What should companies do to step up their
payback from rural marketing efforts? Here are some
steps that should help.
People power
Total commitment from top leadership, keeping in mind
that rural marketing is a long-term relationship, is
imperative - the successes of Hindustan Lever and ITC
are proof of this statement. But even more important is
the need for a dedicated task force.
Rural marketing efforts need special mindsets, which
many of the urban-oriented management graduates who
are at the helm of affairs at most organisations do not
possess.
A separate marketing and sales vertical headed by people
with passion and commitment to rural marketing and
supported by a field team that can face the rough and
tough of the vast country-side with courage and
conviction is a must.
The best bet is to recruit students from specialised
institutes such as the Indian Institute of Rural
Management, or at least, management graduates who
have studied the subject as an elective.
Many of these are students from small towns, people with
fire in their bellies who want to prove themselves in big
companies and have no issues about working in smaller
markets. Pay them well - remember, you pay peanuts, you
get only monkeys - and discuss the path their careers are
likely to take in the organisation. And send them out in
the field only after thorough training.
Ensure the consistency of the team involved in any
project, until the completion of a specific task. Recently,
we were involved with two big clients. In both cases, the
teams that briefed us in the initial stages and participated
enthusiastically in the campaign, were shifted out
midway, in keeping with their companies' policy of
shifting and promoting people.
The teams that succeeded felt no ownership of the
campaigns they had not initiated. What started as a great
rural marketing initiative has been relegated to the
dustbin... the fate of many rural marketing initiatives in
the country.
Goals are good
Early on in the campaign, define your objective: is it a
tactical effort to achieve increased sales in specific areas
during a specific time, or do you want to build a strong
equity for your brand in rural India?
Our experience with FMCG companies is that they are
more interested in the first choice. Most of them have
previously appointed vendors who implement the
company's ideas blindly, be they van campaigns or below-
the-line activities.
There is very little effort to tailor whatever
communication is made in such efforts, to suit the local
audience or fit it with the overall campaign efforts in the
mass media.
This invariably leads to less than satisfactory results in
terms of awareness of the brands and long-term impact of
the efforts in the targeted markets. If you are interested in
the second alternative, a comprehensive brand building
strategy in rural India, with both short term and long term
goals, is a must.
Know your customers
A good place to begin is studying the mindset of your
customers, so you can create a customised plan of action.
All too often, clients insist their knowledge of their
customers (based on studies of urban India) is enough on
which to base an action plan. Our experience shows that
the attitudes, aspirations and fears of rural customers, with
regard to products and brands, is very different from their
urban counterparts.
Research can give you invaluable ideas for new product
development as well as new methods of reaching your
target audience. The refrigerator with standby power for
12 hours, pressure cookers with two handles and a radio
with key-winding mechanism are all the result of
research.
More and more companies turn to the local haats to sell
their products. While haats offer opportunities to target
consumers from several villages at one place, and to that
extent make your effort cost-effective, ensure that the
people who patronise these haats are the kind who will
buy your brand.
For instance, we recently conducted a survey among some
haats in Tamil Nadu, with some interesting results. The
haats were popular with the poorest agricultural labourers
who consciously buy the duplicate, spurious products that
are sold in these bazaars, since they can't afford the real
thing. It is estimated that FMCG companies lost more
than Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) to spurious
products, mostly sold through such local haats and
bazaars.
Ensure availability
Most anecdotes about rural marketing centre on the
distribution aspect - the humongous task of physically
reaching your product to over 600,000 villages, most of
them without motorable roads. But it's not really as
nightmarish as it is made out to be, at least keeping in
mind the present goals of marketing companies in rural
India.
We've all heard about the shampoo sachets that are
available in even the smallest villages. How does that
happen? It's a direct result of rising aspirations, fuelled by
television commercials. The consumer demands the
product from the local shopkeeper, who then buys the
products from the nearest feeder markets.
Which means if you can ensure distribution to the feeder
markets in towns or villages with populations of 10-
15,000, you've already taken the first step towards
reaching your target customer.
Studies also indicate that rural consumers prefer to shop
for durables such as televisions, automobiles and
appliances in the nearest big town or city. So, if your
products are in towns with populations of 50,000, you're
closer to the rural consumer than you would have thought.
R V Rajan is chairman and managing director,
Anugrah Madison Advertising, and president, Rural
Marketing Agencies Association of India.
Powered by