Post-pandemic challenges and opportunities in rural

India
Biprorshee Das
Source: Warc Opinion, Biprorshee Das
Downloaded from WARC

This isn’t the first time Spotlight is focusing on rural India – the last time was in 2019, before anyone had an
inkling that things were going to drastically change in just a matter of months. Almost two years later and a
pandemic wiser, WARC India Editor Biprorshee Das revisits rural marketing in this India Spotlight series and
asks how strategies are changing, and what the new opportunities and challenges are post-COVID.

This article is part of a Spotlight series on rural marketing in India. Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic and the sufferings it has wrought have caused a shift in mindset. For the marketing
world, it redefined consumer sentiment in many ways. Broadly speaking, the challenges in rural India remain the
same but what has changed are the ways a marketer can now look at addressing them.

There has been rapid digitisation, for instance. The acceptance of the digital way is an initiative that has long
been pushed by the Indian government and which gained momentum during the lockdown. And it was not just an
urban phenomenon. Rural India knew better than to shy away from the convenience of technology, opening new
vistas for the Indian marketer – a point that hasn’t been missed in this edition’s knowledge papers.

The first wave of COVID-19 in India also resulted in migrants returning to their native homes. Albeit jobless,
reverse migration also triggered a change in rural consumer behaviour.

The FMCG sector that almost always found favour in rural regions took note. We did too and approached
Parle Agro, one of the leading FMCG brands in the country to share insights.

Nadia Chauhan, joint managing director and chief marketing officer of Parle Agro, affirmed the beverage
company has always had a pan-India strategy rather than focusing on either rural or urban but also mentioned
that rural India has always been on its mind.

Adaptation has been the key, she said. The brand didn’t even stop launching new products and foraying into
new categories during the lockdown. If that’s not identifying opportunity, what is?

Over the last year, it has been noted how during the first wave, rural India provided a cushion for brands even
as the rest of the country took a hit.

While the second wave hit both urban and rural regions just as severely, the silver lining that all agreed on is
there is a hint that consumer demand is on the rise. Being observant and leveraging the opportunities present
will serve the marketer well.

Championing rural India

Strategists contributing to this Spotlight India agreed that the digital momentum would be what to make the most
of while marketing to the rural consumer. For instance, Mohit Joshi, chief executive officer of Havas Media
Group India, is optimistic and sees the pandemic as a mere bump that cannot eclipse the potential of rural
India.

“The larger challenges that marketers face with the evolving rural consumer are the complexities of
hyperlocalisation with languages, dialects, beliefs and traditions, as well as adapting to the uncertainties caused
by the pandemic.”

He adds that there is no doubt the future lies in the rural markets.

“They are becoming more and more promising, and with the right investment in education, infrastructure, women
empowerment, financial schemes and technology, they are bound to be more pivotal to the growth of our
economy.”

Neha Chauhan, brand strategy partner – experiential and shopper marketing, Arc Worldwide, interestingly
observes how reverse migration resulted in the woman of the house becoming a secondary provider – an
insight that cannot be ignored.

“With this change in the role of the ‘nurturer’ came the ‘prioritisation of spends’ on purchases, given the limited
cash inflow. The needs were now being weighted from the woman’s lens and this resulted in a major shift in the
‘hierarchy of cash flow’ within the rural household,” notes Chauhan.

DDB Mudra’s strategy head, Anand Murty, also paints an optimistic picture saying rural consumer sentiment
is leading the charge after the second wave.

He says: “While rural consumers aren’t yet bursting with optimism about current economic conditions, they are
looking more confident about the future and expecting an improvement in the financial and business
environment.”

The team from Anugrah Madison, an arm of Madison World that focuses on rural activation, notes how brands
need a robust Go to Market approach right now and lists the way to go about it.

Sharad Varshney, national planning head at Dialogue Factory, GroupM, champions digital as a serious
opportunity in the rural markets right now. According to him, rural Indians are becoming increasingly concerned
about their future well-being and focusing on financial planning, in particular. This is a point that the GWI report
in this edition also makes.

“With the pandemic accelerating digital adoption, rural Indians are also increasingly relying on digital services for
their day-to-day activities, while major e-commerce retail giants are expanding their distribution and deliveries in
small towns or at taluka headquarters,” observes Varshney.

Research strategist Shraddha Ganesh notes how digital behaviour is being redefined in rural India. It is fast
becoming a way of life and she cites the example of WhatsApp that reportedly has 309 million Indian user – the
bulk from Tier 2 and 3 cities.
Further noting that there are 15 million WhatsApp Business users as the app continues to evolve, it is one of the
many potent tools for the rural marketer.

“On most marketing calendars, for digital-first brands or otherwise, WhatsApp has yet to establish a significant
presence. Considering the comfort the app has managed to establish in rural India, it will be a shame to not
optimise these upcoming features to not only sell efficiently but to also establish a personal relationship with the
consumers,” she says.

Amit Rangra from Wunderman Thompson says that rural India is no longer access deprived and is much better
connected than ever. Among the points he makes that is significant is how marketers will need to pay attention
to language.

He says that “with increasing acceptance for making and consuming vernacular content, brands need to ensure
that they make communication understandable, not through dubbing but in the local lingo using local idioms,
anecdotes, and cultural and social symbols that keep the communication relatable”.

He adds: “We need to accept the fact that today’s rural consumers are comfortable with their language and
technology is helping to shape this newfound belief and confidence.”

Rural marketing enthusiast and YES Securities’ marketing head, Amit Bhandare, mentions how the pandemic
gave rural households a sense of purpose, making them more proactive about aspirational buying. He lists
the challenges and opportunities for brands in rural India in his paper.

“All in all, the second wave ended up strengthening rural market fundamentals, amid other conducive factors like
good monsoons, adequate water levels across reservoirs from last year’s decent rainfall, higher crop harvests,
better minimum support prices, and growing non-farm incomes,” says Bhandare.

Gandhi once famously said how India lives in its villages. It has been a few too many decades since he did but
we still dare not disagree.

Read more in this Spotlight series

Brand in action: How Parle Agro plans marketing strategy to keep rural India in mind
Nadia Chauhan

The rural ways of buying: An opportunity to reimagine digital

Shraddha Ganesh

After COVID: How to realise the potential of rural markets

Sunny Vohra, Aparna Tandon and Pallavi Patil

Future success: Investing in rural India

Mohit Joshi

COVID-19 and rural India: The challenges and opportunities for marketers
Sharad Varshney

Rural India: Propelling the Indian economy during COVID-19

Neha Chauhan

No magic bullet: Rural marketing in a post-COVID world

Anand Murty

Game changer: Technology and the rural market

Amit Rangra

Challenges and opportunities: How brands can succeed in rural India

Amit Bhandare

Sales, service and social impact: Mitigating COVID’s effect on rural India
Sriharsh Grandhe

Rural marketing in a post-COVID world: Consumer sentiment data

Spotlight data report