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WHAT IS A RURAL MARKET ?

Before gamboling into issues like where the Indian rural market stands and the opportunities for corporates to explore there... let's look at the definition of urban and rural India. The Census defined urban India as "All the places that fall within the administrative limits of a municipal corporation, municipality, cantonment board etc or have a population of at least 5,000 and have at least 75 per cent male working population in outside the primary sector and have a population density of at least 400 per square kilometer. Rural India, on the other hand, comprises all places that are not urban!" Rural Markets constitute an important segment of overall economy, for example, in the USA, out of about 3000 counties, around 2000 counties are rural, that is, non-urbanized, with population of 55 million. Typically, a rural market will represent a community in a rural area with a population of 2500 to 30000.

Significance of Indian Rural Market

In recent years, rural markets have acquired significance in countries like China and India, as the overall growth of the economy has resulted into substantial increase in the purchasing power of the rural communities. On account of the green revolution in India, the rural areas are consuming a large quantity of industrial and urban manufactured products. In this context, a special marketing strategy, namely, rural marketing has taken shape. Sometimes, rural marketing is confused with agricultural marketing the later denotes marketing of produce of the rural areas to the urban consumers or industrial consumers, whereas rural marketing involves delivering manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural producers or consumers. Also, when we consider the scenario of India and China, there is a picture that comes out,huge market for the developed products as well as the labor support. This has led to the change in the mindset of the marketers to move to these parts of the world. Also rural market is getting an importance because of the saturation of the urban market. As due to the competition in the urban market, the market is more or so saturated as most of the capacity of the purchasers have been targeted by the marketers.So the marketers are looking for extending their product categories to an unexplored market i.e. the rural market. This has also led to the CSR activities being done by the corporate to help the poor people attain some wealth to spend on their product categories. Here we can think of HLL (now, HUL) initiatives in the rural India. One of such project is the Project Shakti, which is not only helping their company attain some revenue but also helping the poor women of the village to attain some money which is surely going to increase their purchasing power. Also this will increase their brand loyalty as well as
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recognition in that area. Similarly we can think of the ITC E-Chaupal, which is helping the poor farmers get all the information about the weather as well as the market price of the food grains they are producing.In other view these activities are also helping the companies increase their brand value. So as it is given above the significance of the rural market has increased due to the saturation of the urban market as well as in such conditions the company which will lead the way will be benefited as shown by the success of HUL and ITC initiatives.

Present Situation of Indian Rural Market

Rural markets, as part of any economy, have untapped potential. There are several difficulties confronting the effort to fully explore rural markets. The concept of rural markets in India, as also in several other countries, like China, is still in evolving shape, and the sector poses a variety of challenges, including understanding the dynamics of the rural markets and strategies to supply and satisfy the rural consumers. Rural Tourism in India India is a country of rich culture and heritage. With above 70% population residing in around 6 million plus villages, real India has its roots right inside this simplistic structure. Rural Tourism in India takes you to a journey of not so known the land and people which is the back bone of this country. It is a journey to explore diversity and hospitality from nook and corners of India. Rural tourism attempts to take you away to a dream land full of peace, simplicity and innocence. Connect with nature, unlearn luxury, and spend time with people who support your life by providing the raw inputs for complex city life needs. From agriculture to sericulture, they do it all. What you explore during these tours is a unique experience and an eye opener to the basics of a developing economy in the country. You not only get to see rural life closely, but also get a chance to connect and open avenues for rural India by interacting with people closely.

Rural Zing - An Initiative to connect urban and rural economy With Rural Zing, we try to take you to a journey of not so known the land and people which is the back bone of this country. It is a journey to explore diversity and hospitality from nook and corners of India.Walk the pathCome meet the real India and experience the Zing. Read to visualize...! Register to experience...!

How Crack the Rural Market in India

To a marketer, India's rural market presents a challenge like no other. While marketers salivate at the prospect of making their marketing millions in rural India, none has yet been able to understand what makes rural India tick. Harish Bijoor says that so far marketers have sought to thrust cornflakes and dog biscuits alike at rural Indians. He makes a plea to preserve the sanctity of Rural India and discover commerce and sense in it all - by creating brands that keep in mind rural imperatives. The rural market for brands is a powder keg of an opportunity waiting to be explored - not exploited! Look keenly at the statistics that tell us the growth of urbanisation. In 1951 we had 2,843 Urban Agglomerations(UA) and towns. Today, the number is close to 4000! The Urban population in 1951 stood at 17.3 per cent of total. Today, the number is a proud and unidimensional 27.8 per cent! In the last fifty years, we have had what I would call creeping urbanisation. In the next fifty, it is time to expect a galloping rate! Thanks to televisionand thanks fundamentally to the Brand movement, which is poised to make a big movement in the heart and hearth of the rural dweller! The two Indias mean two sets of peoples. The rural man, woman, child, dog and cat for a start! Remember, dog-food and cat-food companies will definitely want to invade the vast rural hinterland sometime in the future for sure! How then does one go about creating brands for the rural person in the rural dwelling? There are two ways really. The first is the insensitive way most marketers have adopted to date. The second is a more sensitive rendering of what
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marketers and brand-evangelists in the future could adopt. The first is really the easy way. Pioneer marketers in rural areas used it to good advantage. Take the urban brand, 1) 2) 3) Tweak the product a wee bit (read: make it rustic, rugged and even Lower the price (read: offer inferior grade teas to the rural market and Extend the brand to Low Unit Packs (read: lower unit packs will be lower-quality if necessary), superior grades to the urban one in the same brand), cheaper in price and inferior in quality as well. Higher unit packs will take in superior quality. Urban markets use High unit packs and rural markets use LUPs) 4) 5) Modify the packaging marginally (read: add the brand name in Hindi Advertise (read: Take the English rendering of the standard urban and four other prominent vernaculars) storyboard and make a film in Hindi. Take this film and dub it in the vernacular. Never mind the lip sync even.in the early days!) 6) Promote (Read: Use Cinema widely. Use wall-site paintings. Sponsor the local boat race and the temple festival alike! Use rural publicity vans to percolate the brand message through television sets that would carry a VCR and a large-format screen as well) 7) Market Research (Read as: find out more about the rural dweller. Use the intrusive and alien questionnaire format to find out more. Use probes of every kind. Use the focus group at times if you are feeling particularly qualitative in your yearnings for data.) The easy way is the insensitive way to create and build brands in the rural markets that still remain on the landscape. My clarion call: Forget the easy way you have used all these years. Take the tough route of branding in the
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rural market. Preserve rural India and what it represents. Bring back pride to rural India in terms of what it has to offer in its multi-variable format. But why? Is this a return to socialism? A form of retro-appeal? Of retrofashion? No, the logic is strong enough for us to pursue the new rules of branding for rural India. For one, take the case of the fertilizer and pesticide situation. In the very beginning, all of India was organic. We grew everything we did to cater to a population size that was manageable without the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Natural organic manure and very innovative natural practices that used plant and animal waste distinguished the agricultural practices of India. And then came the revolution everyone wanted. The men in the Gandhi caps (except Gandhiji of course) wanted a bigger yield from the land and the cow and the factory alike. Practices morphed and India became yet another dumping ground for the pesticide and fertiliser that came from far and near. The countryside morphed. Yields doubled. The year is 2003! The world is discovering health and the joy of consuming the organic produce. Its back to naturethe pure way! And India has lost it! Imagine a situation where India could emerge as a 100 per cent producer of the organic product! And remember still that the organic produce today commands a premium in the key consumption markets of the world! We lost it! The rural terrain we still boast of can be preserved. I seek a sensitivity among the marketing man. A sensitivity that promises not to harm commercial intent, which is the salient driving force of all business intent. Sensitivity that could well carve out for the marketing man a commercial space one can be truly proud of.

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The case I present in this piece therefore, is a case that seeks to preserve the sanctity of Rural India and discover commerce and sense in it all! A plea to really stop this one-sided movement that seeks to make the rural man a consumptive animal of cornflake and dog biscuit alike! Create brands keeping in mind rural imperatives then. Here goes the ideal rural brand map. My ultimate want as a Marketing man.

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Rural Marketing in India Economy

The concept of Rural Marketing in India Economy has always played an influential role in the lives of people. In India, leaving out a few metropolitan cities, all the districts and industrial townships are connected with rural markets. The rural market in India is not a separate entity in itself and it is highly influenced by the sociological and behavioral factors operating in the country. The rural population in India accounts for around 627 million, which is exactly 74.3 percent of the total population. The rural market in India brings in bigger revenues in the country, as the rural regions comprise of the maximum consumers in this country. The rural market in Indian economy generates almost more than half of the country's income. Rural marketing in Indian economy can be classified under two broad categories. These are:The market for consumer goods that comprise of both durable and non-durable goods The market for agricultural inputs that include fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, and so on The concept of rural marketing in India is often been found to form ambiguity in the minds of people who think rural marketing is all about agricultural marketing. However, rural marketing determines the carrying out of business activities bringing in the flow of goods from urban sectors to the rural regions of the country as well as the marketing of various products manufactured by the non-agricultural workers from rural to urban areas. To be precise, Rural Marketing in India Economy covers two broad sections, namely: Selling of agricultural items in the urban areas
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Selling of manufactured products in the rural regions Some of the important features or characteristics of Rural Marketing in India Economy are being listed below: With the initiation of various rural development programmes there have been an upsurge of employment opportunities for the rural poor. One of the biggest cause behind the steady growth of rural market is that it is not exploited and also yet to be explored. The rural market in India is vast and scattered and offers a plethora of opportunities in comparison to the urban sector. It covers the maximum population and regions and thereby, the maximum number of consumers. The social status of the rural regions is precarious as the income level and literacy is extremely low along with the range of traditional values and superstitious beliefs that have always been a major impediment in the progression of this sector. The steps taken by the Government of India to initiate proper irrigation, infrastructural developments, prevention of flood, grants for fertilizers, and various schemes to cut down the poverty line have improved the condition of the rural masses.

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ADVERTISING & MARKETING IN RURAL

Rural Indias recently discovered predilection to enthusiastically consume everything from shampoo to motorcycles has been the subject of much discussion. However the dominant view of the market is as seen through the product window (i.e. from the perspective of how much of what is being bought). To gain a better insight into the structure and drivers of consumer demand in Rural India, we need to also develop a view of the market by looking at it through the consumer or people window (i.e. from the perspective of how many of what kind of people are buying). We need to enlarge the discussion from the market to also include the consumers; from not just what is being bought, but also who is buying; and from thinking product segments to also thinking consumer segments. This article presents one vignette of the rural market based on data from the IRS 1998 study, conducted by the MRUC (Media Research Users Council), and ORG MARG. But first, a quick context setting run through of whats happening to rural demand for durables, as seen through the familiar product window. Data presented at seminars and conferences on this is all drawn from the NCAER study by far the best data source in the country on macro market facts. It appears that NCAER, in its Indian Market Demographics report, 1998, has estimated that Rural Indias market for consumer durables as being worth around Rs. 4500 crores, with an average annual growth rate of around 8%. They have introduced a very useful product segmentation of durables, where they have grouped durables into three price baskets a sort of equivalent of the premium, popular and low priced construct which we all instinctively use when thinking about packaged consumer goods
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brands. Group I comprises a basket of basic low cost durables like watches, radios, irons, fans etc. Group II comprises higher order durables like black and white televisions, sewing machines, mixers and two-in-one music systems. Group III comprises the high priced, high aspiration durables like colour TVs, refrigerators, motorised two wheelers and music systems the litmus tests of whether Rural India is awakening to join the mainstream of New Indian Consumerism! The first group is well penetrated, accounts for the lions share of rural durables demand, and is slow growing. The second is modestly penetrated, accounts for one fifth of the total value of rural durables demand and is growing at a healthy clip, while the last group is nascent but explosively growing. And that is the view from the product window. The shopkeepers and the service occupation on the other hand, are both not directly engaged in agricultural pursuits. The shopkeeper / trader is typically the hotelier, wine / kirana shop owner, petty trader. The service segment comprises those who work in the village as nurse, postman, teacher, village accountant etc, and those who work outside the village as office workers, private factory workers etc. Shopkeepers / traders and service together account for just 21% of the rural households (their estimated number is 26.8 million households) but between them own a disproportionately higher number (between 45 and 60%) of rural televisions, two wheelers and refrigerators. To put this group in perspective, they are 27 million households in number, which is more than half of all urban households! Between these two groups the service class seems to be far more fertile as a target group for higher order durables than the shopkeeper / trader. And even within the service class, those who work outside the village are far more fertile as a consumption group than those who work
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inside the village. The shopkeepers / traders comprise 8% of rural households but own 14 to 20% of these durables their ownership weight is, on aggregate, 1.8 times their population weight. The service class comprises 13% of the rural households but owns 30 to 40% of these durables. Their ownership weight is, on aggregate, 2.6 times their population weight, making them a very fertile target group indeed. Even better news - there is a communication channel open to around 10 million of these high consuming households, since TV ownership in the service class is 43% , and 31% amongst shopkeepers and traders. The rest of the occupation categories are less fertile consumer groups they are smaller in number and are lower consuming. However if we agree that television viewership is a good driver of creating consumer aspiration, then the picture through the consumer window is that television ownership even amongst unskilled labour is not insignificant 10% of a rather large number of 21 million households! There definitely does appear to be an interesting consumer opportunity offered by this non agricultural sector of rural India!

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Rural Market For Telecome Sector

With a total telephone subscriber base of over 200 million (fixed plus mobile), India is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. While Indian telecom players have consolidated their position in the last ten years or so of operations by carving out a nationwide footprint, foreign telecom majors have also set their sights on this growing market. The world's largest telecom company by revenues, Vodafone, is the latest to enter the country by acquiring a controlling stake in the fourth largest mobile operator Hutch Essar from Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (HTIL). Though the average revenue per user (Arpu) is falling with declining tariffs, telecom companies are still profitable and are expanding their networks largely because tele-density levels are still low (just 18.26 mobiles per 100), with penetration levels of just 13% (rural penetration is an abysmal 4%). Naturally, while the country boasts over 160 mobile subscribers, there's plenty of scope to grow and this explains why India is seen as the most promising place in the global telecom space. While urban markets are lucrative and would continue to be the focus of all operators, interestingly there is a sudden interest to tap the rural market, largely untouched by the telecom revolution. Last year, the government amended the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, to give private players access to the Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund as well. The USO fund aims to expand rural telephone services, and each operator contributes 5% of its adjusted gross revenue to it. The fund has a total corpus of around Rs 3,488 crore. The recent tender floated by the department of telecommunications (DoT) for assistance under the USO fund in two parts-creation of infrastructure and providing services-even saw some negative bids by

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operators; instead of taking funds out of the USO fund, they were willing to pay the government to let them provide rural services. Clearly, with 70% of population in rural areas, private operators have finally realised the potential of the rural market. The government now plans to come out with a similar tender under the USO fund for broadband expansion in the rural areas. According to the vision plan drawn up by DoT, 200 million rural telephone connections are envisaged by the end of 2012, translating into a rural tele-density of 25%. An exercise carried out by DoT and the Planning Commission aptly reflects why private operators are bullish about rural India and why today's digital divide would be greatly bridged in coming years. The total number of rural households would be around 160 million, assuming five members per household, of which 130 million households would be above the poverty line. Considering one telephone for every three households and one telephone for every two households by the year 2012, the number of rural telephones would be around 80 millions by conservative estimates. Taking into account lower tariffs and thereby affordability, there will be on average 1.5 telephones for every rural household above the poverty line by the end of the 11th Plan. Therefore, around 195 million rural telephone connections would be required by the year 2012. It is further expected that one out of every three households below the poverty line would also have a telephone, adding a further requirement of 10 million rural telephone connections. Thus, there will be a total requirement of 205 million rural telephone connections. Rural tele-density will increase as telecommunications is seen as a fundamental requirement for economic and social activities in rural areas. It is an accepted fact that 1% increase in tele-density results in a 3% increase
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in the growth of GDP. Private operators have already entered into infrastructure sharing agreements amongst themselves to achieve faster rollout. For its part, the government is clear that this time, rural telecom growth targets will not be missed.

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Insurance and rural market

THE insurance industry market in India was liberalised in 2000 and the first private insurance companies opened shop that November. The industry has now witnessed more than two years of private sector participation. However, the overall market has not really expanded, in real terms, beyond the urban domains. The penetration of insurance in India is pitiably low at just about 1.6 per cent of GDP. If the overall market has to grow and expand, insurance companies will need to look at newer segments rather than fight for a share in the same pie. Saving habit

The strong saving habit is underscored by the finding that even the relatively low-income families tend to save about a third of their annual earnings. Annual household money flows

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The average annual incomes are Rs 54,000 in segment A, Rs 40,000 in segment B and Rs 32,000 in segment C. In segment A, the annual income range is Rs 20,000-2,00,000; in Segment B it is Rs 15,000-1,50,000 and in Segment C Rs 5,000-80,000. While the prospects in the rural sector are promising, the real challenge lies in distributing and delivering systems cost-effectively and efficiently. It is common knowledge that the cost of building exclusive delivery systems for selling insurance would be prohibitive. However, valuable data are available on the existence of extensive network built by the rural development agencies, banks, cooperative institutions, NGOs, microfinancing institutions, women's SHGs, youth clubs, panchayats and some industrial houses in the rural sector. Insurance companies would, therefore, be well-advised to harness this infrastructure and work out collaborative arrangements with these institutions to their mutual advantage. Since delivery channels would really hold the key to a successful strategy, a look at some:

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Companys Strategy For Rural India

Time and again marketing practitioners have waxed eloquent about the potential of the rural market. But when one zeroes in on the companies that focus on the rural market, a mere handful names come to mind. Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) is top of the mind with their successful rural marketing projects like 'Project Shakti' and 'Operation Bharat'. The lynchpin of HLL's strategy has been to focus on penetrating the market down the line and focusing on price point. Furthermore, activating the brand in the rural market through activities, which are in line with the brand itself, is what sums up HLL's agenda as far as the rural market is concerned informs MindShare Fulcrum general manager R Gowthaman. Amul is another case in point of aggressive rural marketing. Some of the other corporates that are slowly making headway in this area are Coca Cola India, Colgate, Eveready Batteries, LG Electronics, Philips, BSNL, Life Insurance Corporation, Cavin Kare, Britannia and Hero Honda to name a few.

We can safely say that until some years ago, the rural market was being given a step-motherly treatment by many companies and advertising to rural consumers was usually a hit and miss affair. More often than not, the agenda being to take a short-cut route by pushing urban communication
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to the rural market by merely transliterating the ad copy. Hence advertising that is rooted in urban sensitivities didn't touch the hearts and minds of the rural consumer. While, this is definitely changing, the process is slow. The greatest challenge for advertisers and marketers continues to be in finding the right mix that will have a pan-Indian rural appeal. Coca Cola, with their Aamir Khan ad campaign succeeded in providing just that. Corporates are still apprehensive to "Go Rural." A few agencies that are trying to create awareness about the rural market and its importance are Anugrah Madison, Sampark Marketing and Advertising Solutions Pvt Ltd, MART, Rural Relations, O&M Outreach, Linterland and RC&M, to name a few. Also, the first four agencies mentioned above have come together to form The Rural Network. The paramount objective of the Network is to get clients who are looking for a national strategy in rural marketing and help them in executing it across different regions. Interestingly, the rural market is growing at a far greater speed than its urban counterpart. "All the data provided by various agencies like NCAER, Francis Kanoi etc shows that rural markets are growing faster than urban markets in certain product categories at least. The share of FMCG products in rural markets is 53 per cent, durables boasts of 59 per cent market share. Therefore one can claim that rural markets are growing faster than urban markets," says Sampark Marketing and Advertising Solutions Pvt Ltd managing director R A Patankar.

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Coca-Cola India tapped the rural market in a big way when it introduced bottles priced at Rs 5 and backed it with the Aamir Khan ads. The company, on its behalf, has also been investing steadily to build their infrastructure to meet the growing needs of the rural market, which reiterates the fact that this multinational has realised the potential of the rural market is going strength to strength to tap the same. Clearly the main challenge that one faces while dealing with rural marketing is the basic understanding of the rural consumer who is very different from his urban counterpart. Also distribution remains to be the single largest problem marketers face today when it comes to going rural. "Reaching your product to remote locations spread over 600,000 villages and poor infrastructure - roads, telecommunication etc and lower levels of literacy are a few hinges that come in the way of marketers to reach the rural market," says MART managing director Pradeep Kashyap. Citing other challenges in rural marketing, Patankar says, "Campaigns have to be tailor made for each product category and each of the regions where the campaign is to be executed. Therefore a thorough knowledge of the nuances of language, dialects and familiarity with prevailing customs in the regions that you want to work for is essential. The other challenge is the reach and the available means of reaching out to these
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markets, hence the video van is one of the very effective means of reaching out physically to the rural consumers." The fact of the matter remains that when compared to the Indian urban society, which is turning into a consumerism society; the rural consumer will always remain driven by his needs first and will therefore be cost conscious and thrifty in his spending habits. "Decision-making is still conscious and deliberated among the rural community. But nevertheless, the future no doubt lies in the rural markets, since the size of the rural market is growing at a good pace. There was a time when market predictions were made on the basis of the state of the monsoon but this trend has changed over the years; there is a large non farming sector, which generates almost 40 per cent of the rural wealth. Hence the growth in the rural markets will be sustained to a large extent by this class in addition to the farmer who will always be the mainstay of the rural economy," affirms Patankar. "Although the melting of the urban - rural divide will take a while, this is not for want of the availability of the means but for want of the rural consumer's mindset to change; which has its own logic, which is driven by tradition, custom and values that are difficult to shed," he points out.

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The Solution and Strategies

Strategies
Dynamics of rural markets differ from other market types, and similarly rural marketing strategies are also significantly different from the marketing strategies aimed at an urban or industrial consumer. This, along with several other related issues, have been subject matter of intense discussions and debate in countries like India and China and focus of even international symposia organized in these countries. Rural markets and rural marketing involve a number of strategies, which include: Client and location specific promotion Joint or cooperative promotion.. Bundling of inputs Management of demand Developmental marketing Unique selling proposition (USP) Extension services Business ethics Partnership for sustainability Client and Location specific promotion involves a strategy designed to be suitable to the location and the client. Joint or co-operative promotion strategy involves participation between the marketing agencies and the client.

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'Bundling of inputs' denote a marketing strategy, in which several related items are sold to the target client, including arrangements of credit, after-sale service, and so on. Management of demand involve continuous market research of buyers needs and problems at various levels so that continuous improvements and innovations can be undertaken for a sustainable market performance. Developmental marketing refer to taking up marketing programmes keeping the development objective in mind and using various managerial and other inputs of marketing to achieve these objectives. Media, both traditional as well as the modern media, is used as a marketing strategy. Unique Selling Propositions (USP) involve presenting a theme with the product to attract the client to buy that particular product. For examples, some of famous Indian Farm equipment manufactures have coined catchy themes, which they display along with the products, to attract the target client, that is the farmers. English version of some of such themes would read like: The heartbeats of rural India With new technique for a life time of company For the sake of progress and prosperity Extension Services denote, in short, a system of attending to the missing links and providing the required know-how. Ethics in Business. form, as usual, an important plank for rural markets and rural marketing. Partnership for sustainability involve laying and building a foundation for continuous and long lasting relationship.

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'''Building sustainable market linkages for rural products: Industrys role, scope, opportunities and challenges''' Market linkages for rural products: There are, broadly speaking, three ways in which they can be connected to the markets. They can do it on their own through cooperatives. Or, the state can do it for them through its procurement engines. Stages one and two, in a manner of speaking. Across India, previous attempts to create such linkages have floundered. Take Assam and other eastern states itself. Around the Eighties, the state government here decided that cooperatives were a great way to consolidate its political base. Loans went to the undeserving. Debts were written off. The institutions slowly got corrupted. As for the linkages provided by the state, these offer uncertain sustainability. Given this context, one can conclude that profit-oriented industry linkages are a more sustainable, more scalable alternative. In this scenario, companies can use the social infrastructure (the self help group et al) as an alternative procurement and distribution chain and vise versa. Industrys role in building market linkages: To make an effective market linkage, industries have to play as an engine of market, which can generate a brand image of the rural products. This initiative of industries will also strengthen the backward and forward linkages of the rural market, besides, accelerating the innovations of the rural products. Definitely, this strategy will also give a remarkable dividend to the industries & profit making companies. In micro level, it is observed that to create a sustainable market linkage for rural products, industries can develop an ecosystem of Self Help Groups (SHGs) by involving the local communities through village level empowerment. It is nothing less than the next phase in the
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democratization of commerce. Under this paradigm, industries can create a network with viable marketing channels covering all the linkages from villages to the global level. This architecture provides the right value of procurement through the village procurement centres and rural entrepreneurs can sell their products faster with better price realization. This model is also capable of generating a consumer business and an output business in a win-win scenario, where rural producers can get a wide marketing horizon and the industries shall get a new, lower cost salesforce. Another role of industries in building market linkages for agro-based rural products can be the dynamic contract farming. If a conventional industry can kick off a contract farming business, and export niche horticulture crops like cucumbers, the small and marginal farmers who could grow these small cucumbers would make Rs 30,000 in profits in a year. KRBL, one of Indias largest basmati exporters, has contract farming agreements with 24,000 farmers; Global Green buys from about 12,000 farmers. Moreover, in the current era of information technology, industry and private companies can also creatively use ICT for building sustainable marketing linkages. This approach creatively leverages information technology (IT) to set up a meta-market in favour of small and poor producers/rural entrepreneurs, who would otherwise continue to operate and transact in 'unevolved' markets where the rent-seeking vested interests exploit their disadvantaged position. ITC e Choupal is the best example in this context. Through creative use of Information Technology, ITC eChoupal has been creating sustainable stakeholder value by reorganizing the agri-commodity supply chains simultaneously improving the competitiveness of small farmer agriculture and enhancing rural prosperity. eChoupal also sidesteps the value-sapping problems caused by fragmentation, dispersion, heterogeneity and weak infrastructure. ITC takes
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on the role of a Network Orchestrator in this meta-market by stitching together an end-to-end solution. It eliminated the traditional 'mandi' system which involved lot of middlemen as a result of which farmers failed to get the right value for their produce. The solution simultaneously addresses the viability concerns of the participating companies by virtually aggregating the demand from thousands of small farmers, and the value-for-money concerns of the farmers by creating competition among the companies in each leg of the value chain. Scope & opportunities: The basic scope of this novel initiative will be the mutual benefits of the rural entrepreneurs and industries. The entrepreneurs primary beneficiaries, SHGs bridge with the community, participating companies/industries and rural consumers have befitted through a robust commercial relationship. These models of marketing linkages demonstrate a large corporation which can play a major role in reorganizing markets and increasing the efficiency of a rural product generation system. While doing so it will benefit farmers and rural communities as well as shareholders. Moreover, the key role of information technologyprovided and maintained by the industry/company for building linkages, and used by local farmersbrings about transparency, increased access to information, and rural transformation. Besides, this strategy of market linkage, addresses the challenges faced by rural entrepreneurs due to institution voids, numerous intermediaries and infrastructure bottlenecks. Moreover, the prime scope of this model is the creation of opportunities for the rural entrepreneurs for product differentiation and innovation by offering them choices. Because of this sustainable market linkages, rural producers can participate in the benefits of globalization and will also develop their capacity to maintain global quality standard. Nonetheless, it creates new stakeholders for the industry
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sector. And subsequently, they become part of the firms core businesses. The involvement of the private /industry sector at the rural product and market development can also provide opportunities for the development of new services and values to the customers, which will find application in the developed markets. It will be worth mentioning that building a sustainable market linkage through industrys intervention will also empower the rural mass (producers, farmers & entrepreneurs) to cope with socio-economic problems in the rural society and will ensure economic self reliance. Challenges: There are significant challenges to the entire process the most important being the capacity building of the rural entrepreneurs. For decades, the entrepreneurs associated with very conventional/traditional knowledge of business, humiliation with government, so they are likely to look at these initiatives with skepticism. Only consistent performance can convince the skeptics. Therefore, the industries must play a catalytic role to cope with this challenge and should also train the entrepreneurs to develop their managerial and IT skills. On the other hand, the products of the existing and popular brand also stand as threat to the rural products. These global giants (brand) may try to suppress the rural products in the markets with its communication hype. Therefore, developing alternative and additional market linkages for these products is an absolute necessity. Moreover, the low volumes of rural products, high operating cots, high attrition, and absence of local know how and relationships may also create problem in the process. Henceforth, it is essential to make a way out to cope with these odds. Conclusion: These issues gain added complexity under globalization, where markets are characterized by extreme competition and volatility. While rural products has been perceived traditionally as catering to the local market, or at best, to a wider national market through limited formal
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channels, the reality of globalization since the 1990s introduced a new dimension to the market for such products. The issue of rural product generation through industrialization, therefore, needs to be viewed from a new angle and on far more scientific lines. The core of a scientific approach is to understand the market opportunities for rural products along with the country's development priorities and to chalk out a strategy where rural industries have an important role to play. While rural products are forced to increasingly become part of global supply chains, these products need to adapt themselves, not only according to the changing tastes of the national market, but also according to changes in tastes in the international market. Therefore, a process is essential to explore the market linkages and capacity building for SHGs through a bottom up approach and continuous dialogue with stakeholders of rural enterprise. This process should ensure the participation of rural people as consumers and producers in the globalization mechanism, with better livelihoods and global access to markets. The real challenge of building a sustainable market linkage starts here. Solution Set up of a Life style Research Team which would analyze the needs & preferences of the consumer , Indepth.. Understand at length his comfort levels in terms of what he wants and what he would spend for what he wants.. Make products and service available for him to suit his needs & Preferences.. Have a deep pocket network to make products available for him at a close proximity from where he can buy easily.

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Some myths about the Indian rural market

Myth no 1: In the aftermath of urban-rural convergence, rural market will be mainly an extension of urban markets and will eventually embrace the product and brand lifestyles of the latter, supported by higher disposable incomes, aggressive retail promotion and advertising. The reality: Rural markets represent a distinct dynamic in how they come into being and make unique demands on how the product is designed and how the brand is positioned and promoted. Greater the strategic attention to these unique demands, assure greater the chances of product's success in the rural market. Myth no 2: The market size can be estimated based on mere demographic interpolation of current penetration levels and sales volumes and that even fringe presence or limited acceptance of lifestyle consumer products in rural market would translate into future market potential to be tapped. The reality: Fringe acceptance of consumer products or brands is no indication of market potential. It actually would only result in higher incidence of brand and product mortality as more firms try to choke those segments with competing brands. Rural market dynamics instead demand sustained effort at brand building and product acceptance. Myth no 3: That rural market represents a more or less homogenous matrix of attitudes, values and purchasing behavior across regions leading to what may be termed "one size fits all" approach. The reality: The Indian rural market is a complex mosaic of mindsets, cultures, and lifestyles. While education, employment, income, agricultural land ownership may still be the major deciding factors accounting for social differentiation, they do not yield reciprocal cohort

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behavioral patterns, with respect to consumption patterns, purchasing decisions and priorities of product ownership. Myth no 4: That rural markets are highly price-inelastic and only suited for 'value-for money' products as against premium quality products. The reality: Despite lower incidence of premium product purchases, the rural consumers across all income segments exhibit marked propensity to spend on premium high quality products which are backed by strong brand values, where they correspond to their own aspirations and quality needs. The problem really lies in market not being able to offer a premium product in the specific context of rural demand.

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Conclusions
The following conclusions could be drawn: 1) The Language and content must be according to the suitability of rural environment. 2) Background figures are also a deterministic factor. 3) Admissibility of brand ambassadors plays an important role in this regard. 4) Special promotion measures are the strong applicable factors in this regard.

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Bibliography
1. Marketing Management by Philip Kotler 11E. 2. 'Advertising Express' ICFAI Journal Jan 2006 Branding India. 3. Indian Management May 2007. 4. "Positioning" A1 Ries and Jack trint by warner Books. 5.The Power of Branding praxis Business line's Journal on Management. 6. The Marketing White Book-2006 by business world 2E. 7. "The future of competition" by Prof.Venkat Ramasamy Co-author with C.K. Prahalad. 8. Monish Bali, "The rural market likes it strong", The Economic Times. 9. Neeraj Jha, "Gung-ho on rural marketing", The Financial Express. 10. T. P. Gopal Swamy," Rural Marketing, Environment-Problems and strategies, Wheeler Publishing, 1997. 11.www.hill.com 12.www.indiainfoline.com 13.The Marketing Mastermind Case study HLL- Rural Marketing Initiatives ICFAI Press, PP. 62, Feb 2003.

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