Rural Market – 

Meaning and Definition
The rural population in India is around 70 per cent. Of the total
population, 62 per cent of consumer expenditure in India comes from
rural market. The rural market in India is not a separate entity in itself
and it is highly influenced by the sociological and behavioural factors
operating in the country. Rural markets are tomorrow’s market and
marketers should know how to penetrate these markets. Rural markets
are the new markets which are opening up for various product
categories.

Rural market offers growth opportunities as the urban markets are

increasingly becoming competitive and in many products even getting
saturated. Now income level and standard of living is increasing rapidly
in rural areas. The demand of branded products is also increasing. The
rural market in India brings 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 market covers all marketing activities ascertain the demand,

product planning, distribution and facilitating the entire marketing
process, with aim of satisfaction of rural consumer. Rural market
includes all business activities which involved in flow of goods and
services from producers to rural consumers.

The definition of rural as given by the Census of India is not being

Urban. There could be several approaches to understand the rural
market. It will not be an exaggeration to state that if the whole of India
excluding the metropolitan cities, various district headquarters and the
large industrial townships is considered as the rural market.
Rural market is not an independent entity by itself. In fact, there are
sociological and behavioural factors which affect the economy of rural
market. By and large, markets may be described as an environment of
the country side and the habitants thereof. People are the market for
marketers.

In that sense, India is the second market in the world. As per 1991
Census, the population of India is 844 million. It is growing at the rate of
2.00 per cent every year. The rural population of the country is at 627
million, accounting for 74.3 percent of total population.
The Indian rural market, with its vast size and demand base, does offer
great opportunities to marketers. More than three-fourth of country’s
consumers live in rural areas and more than half of the national income
is generated by them. It is only natural that rural India should occupy an
important position in the total market of India.
The rural market is made up of two broad components:
(1) The market for consumer goods which includes both durable and
non-durable goods, and
(2) The market for agricultural inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, etc.)
and other investment goods.

The market for agricultural inputs is predominantly rural and relatively

well established.
Marketing in rural areas has a varied conceptual dimension as the events
occurring in markets are necessarily taking place in a set of conditions
affecting the rural dwellers and institutions hinterlands. Many marketers
seem to take rural market as agricultural marketing, but it is a wrong
view of the subject.

In fact, by rural market, we mean the performance of business activities

that direct the flow of goods from urban to rural areas (for manufactured
goods) and vice versa (for agricultural produce) and products
manufactured by rural non-agricultural workers.

There are different definitions for the term rural market:

1. Census of India 2011 – The rural market has been defined as a place
where the population is not more than 5,000, the density of population
is not more than 400 per square kilometre and at least 75 per cent of the
male working population is engaged in agriculture.
2. Reserve Bank of India – Locations with population up to 10,000 will
be considered as rural and 10,000 to 1,00,000 as semi-urban.
3. Planning Commission – Places with population up to 15,000 are
considered as rural.
4. NABARD – All locations irrespective of villages or towns, up to a
population of 10,000 will be considered as rural.
5. Most Companies in the FMCG would define rural as any place with a
population up to 20,000.
6. Consumer Durable Companies would consider any town with a
population below 50,000 as rural.
7. A Simple Definition from Marketers’ View would be, “any market that
exists in an area with less than 10,000 population, low density of
population and without significant infrastructure facilities is a rural
market”.

Rural Market – Basic Reasons for which Rural Market

is Needed
Around two-third of Indian consumers live in rural areas generating half
of the national income. This reflects that Indian rural market has a huge
scope of demand base and offers great opportunities to marketers. That
is why it is obvious and fair to enter and involve in rural areas. The
consumer durable market in urban areas for products like colour TVs,
washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners is growing annually
from 7% to 10%.
The growth rate of rural market is at high pace which is around 25%
annually, Rs. 989 crore (Rs. billion). According to Venugopal Dhoot,
Chairman of the Videocon Appliances “The rural market is growing
faster than urban in India now.” Followed by, Ravinder Zutshi,
Samsung’s director, marketing, says that, “The urban market is a
replacement and up gradation market today.”
It is transparent that from past few years, the rural market sector has
projected tremendous growth when compared with urban markets.
There are some basic reasons that are given below:
1. Socio-Economic Changes (Lifestyle, Habits and Tastes,
Economic Status):
The change in lifestyle and economic status is one of the most important
factors that have driven the rural sector towards the improvement. The
source of information and awareness of the rural people have changed
their habits, tastes and preferences. AH these factors have together
contributed towards the improvement in the rural sector.

2. Literacy Level:
Another major factor for the improvement of rural sector is the increase
in literacy level of the rural people. Before independence, the literacy
rate was around 25% but from past decade it has been traced that there
is a huge improvement in the sources of information and education up to
69%.
3. Increase in Expectations:
With the media reach and high income level the awareness and
preference of the rural people has been developed when compared to
their urban counterparts. Their demand towards quality products with
better pricing has increased. Instead of being price conscious the rural
people are also expecting good quality products and are aware of
branded products.

4. Increase in Income:
The growth in rural markets has reduced the complexity of its functions.
With the increase in income level of rural people their purchasing power
and economic status of living have also developed. This in turn leads to
the further development of rural marketing activities in the Indian
economy.

5. Infrastructure Facilities:
Infrastructure and communication plays a vital role in bringing the
improvement of rural sector. Well-developed roads, hi-tech media and
electricity leads to the improvement of the entire marketing activities. In
the current’ scenario, the rural market has also been facilitated with such
infrastructural facilities.

Rural Market – 19 Distinct Features of Indian Rural

Markets
The following feature of rural markets differ in a big way when
compared with urban markets:
Feature # 1. Infrastructure:
In rural sector, infrastructural facilities such as, all-weather roads,
telecommunication, better logistic facilities, electricity and other
financial support are not in adequate position. Although the government
has been implementing many development schemes to improve rural
infrastructural facilities such as – Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna
(PMGSY), Rural Electricity Supply Technology (REST), Pradhan Mantri
Gramodaya Yojna (PMGY), it has not reached the entire rural
population. So, still we have to move a long way.
Infrastructure is one of the most important factors which differentiate
the rural and urban markets like poor logistic facilities create more
problems in product distribution, improper road connectivity that delays
their reach and so on.

Feature # 2. Heterogeneous Market:

India is the home for a number of languages, dialects and sub-cultures
which vary from region to region, state to state or even place to place. In
India we have twenty four official languages and the dialects range more
than thousand six hundred. It puts pressure on the marketer to plan
different schemes to promote their products in different consumer
segments instead of framing uniform promotional strategy. Existence of
different communities, caste system, traditions, values and beliefs are
also the reason for the heterogeneity of rural market. This creates a wide
range of regional disparities and inequalities.
If we take the states like Punjab and Bihar as an example, the per capita
income of Punjab is high (Rs. 78,171) whereas the situation is contrast in
the state of Bihar (Rs. 15,268).
Consumer preferences are more influenced by the factors like literacy
level, socio-cultural background and their economic conditions. That is
why the difference exists among rural and urban consumers while
accepting new ideas and innovative products.
For example if we consider the demand for branded products, it is more
in urban sector than in rural sector because of increased urban literacy
level and well developed socio-cultural background.
The above given factors contribute towards the heterogeneous nature of
rural market. So, there is very less chances for the existence of monotony
behaviour of rural consumers. The behaviour of consumer varies due to
the factors of demographic environment like education & literacy level,
density of population, household patterns, occupational patterns,
lifestyle etc.

Feature # 3. Large and Widely Spread Markets:

As we are all aware that Indian rural market is large and widely spread.
In India, there are around 6, 40,867 villages approximately spreading
over 32 lakhs sq. kms. which accounts nearly 75 crores rural consumers.
Based on the survey conducted by the Census of India, 2011,
approximately 91,552 villages in India have population less than 200 on
a whole which accounts nearly 16%; and another 21% have population in
between 200 – 500. Due to the nature of huge and widely scattered
market, the transportation cost goes up in order to reach the less
population per settlement. This creates major problem for the corporate
while planning their distribution strategies.
Feature # 4. Agricultural Income:
More than fifty per cent of rural income belongs to the agriculture and
allied activities which is highly dependent on monsoon. So, the majority
of the rural prosperity is dependent on climatic conditions. Anyhow,
from the last decade the higher dependency on agricultural sector is
getting down and simultaneously the other sectors contribution is
increasing to improve rural income.

Feature # 5. Living Standard:

Agri-based activities are all seasonal oriented and it plays an important
role in the living standard of the rural people who are majorly engaged in
the agricultural and allied activities. The imbalance in season reflects
uneven streams of income that makes the rural population price
conscious and affects their purchasing power.
Even though they have higher seasonal income, they have lesser
disposable surplus. Some other factors like, traditional attitudes, higher
illiteracy level, down trodden life, also lead to lower standard of living.

Feature # 6. Occupation Pattern:

Majority of the rural population is holding agriculture and other related
activities as their main occupation. The major source of income for about
77% of the population is land. Minority of the population are engaged in
business and other services range about 10% and 2% respectively.
Other 2% of population has to be focused on those who are not engaged
in any sort of occupation that turns to be profitable. Thus, it is
transparent that agriculture is the sector on which the entire economic
prosperity depends.

Feature # 7. Literacy Level:

The literacy level in rural areas is about 69% when compared with urban
areas which have high literacy level around 85%. The different languages
spoken adds to the difficulties in rural communication system. The
education is one of the most vital factors that create awareness about
technical advancement.

Feature # 8. Large Number of Consumers:

Although the income and purchasing power play a major role in
determining the demand in rural areas, the number of consumers is also
an important feature that characterizes rural markets. There are states
like U.P., M.P., Bihar, Rajasthan and Odisha where rural population
varies from 80 to 90%. Thus, large number of consumers add to huge
scope in rural marketing activities.

Feature # 9. Media Reach:

In rural household the media reach is very low. In statistical terms it is
indicated that the reach of Print media is 10%, TV is 31%, and Radio is
32% and followed by Cinema which is 36%. Therefore, the rural specific
promotion media and methods to reach the villagers have to be primarily
considered by the marketers.

Feature # 10. Rural Electrification:

For agricultural operations and small industries in rural areas the
electricity is an important resource. About 5 lakh villages have power
supply leaving behind the large number of villages that are not supplied
with electricity at all. This has increased the demand for electric supply
which in turn has increased the demand for electric motors, pumps and
agricultural machinery.

Feature # 11. Communication and Transport Facilities:

The communication facilities in rural markets are really backward that is
reflected in many states where about 20% of the six lakh villages are
without telephone facility even today. The state like Maharashtra has
poor telephone facility in around 12,000 villages. 14,200 villages in MP,
17,600 villages in Rajasthan, 7,000 villages in Gujarat and 6,000 villages
in Orissa are not benefited with telephone facilities. When we take
transportation into account the result is considerably the same.
About 50% of the markets are not connected by road. Most of the roads
are kachha and become unusable during rainy season. Where it becomes
difficult for the farmers to travel by bullock carts which is very risky,
expensive and time consuming.
Feature # 12. Medical Facilities:
Lack of hospitals in remote villages also characterizes the rural markets
where medical facilities are quite inadequate for which the villagers have
to travel long distances for getting medical treatment.

Feature # 13. Slow to Adopt Brands – Slow to Give them Up:

In order to compete with their urban counterparts, the rural consumers
are slow to adopt brands as well as to give up the brands. Retaining
consumer loyalty becomes a major issue for the marketers in rural
sector. Hence, the marketers have to plan for longer lead times before
they go for investments in order to gain high returns. The rural
consumers do not give up the brands when compared with urban
consumers. This enables the marketers to gain their loyalty before initial
brand investment.

Feature # 14. Higher Receptivity to Advertising, with Lower

Persuasion:
Marketing that touches the rural consumers directly, such as personal
experience, seeing others using it, or live demonstrations of the brand in
action are highly persuading them.
It is important for mass media to be complemented by activities aiming
at real life demonstrations of the brand in action. As the retailer in rural
markets is not just a distribution node, but also a communication
channel, the retailer education also plays an important role. The retailers
can help endorse the brand, educate or even demonstrate to consumers
on its benefits with proper training facilities if given.
For example, Unilever’s Lifebuoy soap used a ‘germ glow box’ that
highlighted the germs in hands and make consumers aware that ‘visual
clean was not safe clean’. This was done through a demo kit to highlight
the importance of washing hands with an anti-bacterial soap as part of
the brand’s central proposition.

Feature # 15. Information Hungry; but Entertainment

Starved:
The scope of entertainment programs is very limited in rural community.
It makes it easier for marketing communications to generate higher
levels of involvement by making their communications more
entertaining. Packaging brand information through entertainment in
well design manner not only makes the communication more effective
and can improve understanding and absorption of key brand
information.
In case of Nokia who has successfully used a highly engaging radio
drama to communicate it’s ‘one year warranty’ in South Africa, and has
developed category benefits of mobility to first time buyers in India.

Feature # 16. Expenses are Yearlong; Income is Seasonal:

Seasonality of demand is a unique feature of the rural market. Being
predominantly agrarian, rural income tends to be highly skewed towards
a couple of months in a year. Thus demand is highly concentrating on
seasonal fluctuations throughout the year. It is therefore important that
marketers focus their marketing activities during times in which incomes
reach on the peak level rather than distribute them over the year, as they
would do in urban markets.

Feature # 17. Cultural Diversity and Heterogeneity of Market:

There are 5, 70,000 villages, half a dozen religion, 33 languages, 1650
dialects and diverse subculture makes Indian rural market a
heterogeneous market.

Feature # 18. Commercially Profitable and Socially

Acceptable:
Business minded companies have to be very careful while dealing with
the rural consumers when they try to be very aggressive in pushing out
their products. Very profit oriented or commercial companies may try to
dump their inferior products and unsold stocks in rural markets. This
approach of these types of companies may bring black mark for the
goodwill of the company.
Rural consumers are very simple and can generally be easily convinced.
Companies should take care to build their image and trust among the
rural consumers for long lasting impact on them.
Here are some examples which explain the big giants like HUL, Colgate
and Nokia etc., have entered the rural market to sell their products by
building trust and image on rural consumers.
Business minded companies have to be very careful while dealing
with the rural consumers when they try to be very aggressive in
pushing out their products. Very profit oriented or commercial
companies may try to dump their inferior products and unsold
stocks in rural markets. This approach of these types of companies
may bring black mark for the goodwill of the company.
Rural consumers are very simple and can generally be easily
convinced. Companies should take care to build their image and
trust among the rural consumers for long lasting impact on them.
Here are some examples which explain the big giants like HUL,
Colgate and Nokia etc., have entered the rural market to sell their
products by building trust and image on rural consumers.

Feature # 19. Untapped and Unexploited:

There has been a rise of employment opportunities for the rural poor due
to the introduction of various rural development programs. One of the
biggest cause behind the stable growth of rural market is that it is not
exploited and also yet to be explored.
There are several obstacles standing in the development of rural sector
like instability of social status in rural area, imbalance of income level
and literacy rate with high superstition and outdated techniques.

Rural Market – Importance

The rural markets are estimated to be growing firstly compared to the
urban markets. The potentiality of rural markets is said to be like a
‘woken up sleeping giant’. These facts are substantiated in a study of
market growth conducted by various researches. 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.
The importance of rural market are as follows:
1. Increase in population and hence increase in demand.
2. A marked increase in the rural income due to agrarian prosperity.
3. Standard of living is also increasing in rural areas.
4. Large inflow of investment for rural development programmes from
government and other sources.
5. Increased contact of rural people with their urban counterparts due to
development of transport and wide communication network.
6. Increase in literacy and educational level and resultant inclination to
sophisticated lives by the rural folks.
7. Inflow of foreign remittances and foreign made goods into rural areas.
8. Change in the land tenure systems causing a structural change in the
ownership patterns and consequent changes in the buying behaviour.
9. Rural markets are laggards in picking up new products. This will help
the companies to phase their marketing efforts. This will also help to sell
inventories of products out dated in urban markets.

Rural Market – Marketing Strategies for Rural Market

We now present certain aspects of marketing strategies for rural
markets.
1. Product Management:
In marketing strategy, product strategy occupies a pivotal place. A
marketer has to decide whether he should modify a product slightly to
suit the rural consumer needs and perceptions or market a totally
separate product or brand for rural market. Marketing a totally separate
product or brand for the rural market may not be possible in some cases.
Whereas in some cases it may very well be possible to develop entirely
different brands to suit rural market. For example consumer non-
durables or convenience products can be developed exclusively for rural
markets. It may be difficult to carry out the same exercise for consumer
durable products.
Where different branding strategy is not possible marketers may try on
products aspects such as packaging and quality. For instance there may
be a greater preference for smaller packs due to the lower income levels
and therefore, in product design it would be appropriate to go for smaller
packs for rural markets.
On the quality front, a rural consumer may not be given great promises,
maintaining a consistent and assured quality.
In planning products for villages, irrespective of the country, it is
important to ensure that the packaging is sturdy and robust. Products
meant for rural markets have to travel longer distances and the external
packaging should withstand frequent handling. Moreover, considering
the poor purchasing power of the weakest rural consumers, small pack
sizes containing enough product for a day or a week are essential.
It would be of great relevance to discuss the role of branding in rural
marketing as a part of product strategy. Majority of the rural consumers
are illiterate or less literate. Against this background the importance of
brand, logo and even the pack would be highest.
A rural consumer may not be able to read the name of a brand but
having heard the brand name and having seen he would be able to
recognise the brand easily. Therefore, a firm, while deciding upon its
branding strategy, should carefully underscore the preferences of rural
consumers.
This leaves an immense scope to marketers to develop brand loyalty in
the rural market. Therefore, distinct colours, logos, and pack facilitating
an easy identification of the brand is a must in rural marketing.

2. Price Management:
Pricing is crucial element in the rural marketing mix. The price of a
product should be reasonable and should be in tune with the afford
ability of rural consumer. If the product is over-priced, it may necessitate
the marketer to modify the price or to withdraw the product.
The price of the product is thus a critical determinant of the fate of a
product in the rural market. The market share and volumes of the
company are influenced significantly by the price of the product.
Price revolves around two elements—utility and value. Utility is the
generic property of the product to satisfy a need or want of the
consumer. Value is the quantitative worth the consumer attaches to the
product for which he is willing to part with a certain quantum of money.
In rural market both the elements of pricing, i.e. the utility factor and the
value factor are equally important due to the limited disposable incomes
with the rural consumer. The villager seeks products which not only
meets his need but also gives a fair exchange for the money that is parted
with.
The task of selling products in the villages is rather onerous and
demands attention to a number of other variables like distribution,
propaganda, demonstrations, publicity etc. It is, therefore, pragmatic for
a company to simplify its pricing policies by maintaining the same price,
throughout the country. It can introduce variations in the price through
other mechanisms like promotions and discounts.
The pricing objectives pursued by a company in the villages depend on a
number of factors, viz., the marketing goals of the company, the life cycle
stage of the product and the financial objectives of the company. As a
regards price management, it is proved that, by and large, the rural
markets are price conscious.
If rural market for a product is to be tapped a sound and relevant price
strategy is required, undoubtedly, penetration pricing will score an edge
over the skimming strategy in rural market. The rationale for
penetration strategy in rural market is due to income level and structure
of the market.
Not only economic factor but also psychologically, a rural consumer
compared to urban consumer would aim to save more and more in his
purchase decisions.
The rural purchaser mostly does haggling over each purchase. This is
because of want of price uniformity and lmpopularity of Agmarking and
ISI marking. As a consequence, personal inspection also becomes a
habit. Perhaps, these factors made, Westfall and Boyd conclude that,
“Indians are great bargainers” and majority of the Indian consumers are
rural consumers.
In spite of the advent of green revolution, the discretionary buying power
is not likely to be much with most of the villagers. Hence, necessities of
life as well as other products must be low- priced. The village customer
will prefer dust tea as against leaf tea, tooth-powder as against
toothpaste and Bharat blades as against Topaz on account of
cheaperness.
It is the cheap, single band, medium wave, battery operated, portable
transistor which meets the needs of a village family. The chairman of
Hindustan Lever Ltd. says that, “we will also need to take another look at
our product and market strategy.” Some clear preference—low unit price
for example —already distinguish the rural from urban consumers.
Therefore it may recognised that price is a key element in the marketing
strategies for rural market.
3. Promotion Management:
Promotion Management involves developing communications and sales
promotion strategies residing upon the media mix. Developing
communication is a tricky exercise. There is a need to talk of not only
rural language that even dialect specific in rural messaging. The
marketers need to indulge in a thorough research prior to the
communication decision.
The use of a model, the tone, in print or outdoor advertising, the colours
used, projection of logo will all make a severe impact. All these have to be
developed keeping the rural consumer personality in view. The
marketing communications must match the rural consumer aspirations
and culture.
The communications strategy of a marketer therefore has to be in tune
with the rural consumer psychology.
As the rural consumer are price sensitive, the impact of sales promotion
may be highly significant. Innovative sales promotion measures would
surely induce a rural consumer to try a brand. A constraint one may face
would be in terms of retailer cooperation. The retailer has to be properly
motivated, monitored and persuaded to effect sales promotion measures
announced by a company.
As regards media, thanks to satellite televisions, the rural consumer is
actively competing with his urban counter-part in terms of product and
brand awareness. The penetration of TV into the rural market has been
of a high order leading to informational boom in the country.
However compared to urban consumer a rural consumer is likely to stick
on to the main two or three TV channels. A focussed media research
would enable marketer to facilitate his media mix decisions.
Promotions in villages consist of participation in local rural activities like
fairs, festivals, carnivals, religious functions and sports events. Rural
promotions should ideally be conducted in the post- harvest period when
the farmers are flush with money from the sales proceeds of their crops.
Promotions should be avoided during the sowing period when the
farmer is investing heavily in agricultural inputs and is spending time in
the field?
In promotion management a marketer may have to go beyond the
conventional media and try to reach rural consumer.
Media Mix in the Rural Context:

I. Formal/Organised Media:
a. Press and other print media.
b. Direct mail.
c. Radio.
d. Cinema.
e. TV.
f. PoPs.
g. Outdoors.

II. Non Formal/Rural Specific Media:

a. Audio-visual vans or publicly vans.
b. Demonstrations.
c. Puppet shows, dance-dramas, rural art forms like Harikatha and
Villupattu performed at village melas and temple festivals.
d. Study classes.
e. Mike announcements, processions.
f. Carrying advertisement panels, decorated bullock carts carrying ad
panels.
g. Music records.
h. House-to-house campaigns by special promotion squads. Information
centres giving free advice on company’s product/services

4. Channel Management:
There are at least three problems pertaining to channel management
viz., transportation, warehousing and communication. The
transportation facilities still continues to be poor in rural India, which
makes the delivery of the product extremely difficult proposition, and
same is the case with warehousing.
The rural consumers should have access to products at their doorsteps.
For this, retail outlets become necessary in the rural areas. But,
marketing is not an important activity in rural India. In fact, there is
some evidence that urban markets, dose to the centres of production, are
increasingly favoured over rural markets because high transport costs
are involved in moving goods to the villages.
The cities and towns can readily absorb whatever is produced. This is a
pity because greater attention needs to be given to the requirements of
rural areas, where newly affluent farmers have disposable cash in respect
of both product development and distribution.
While the rural retailer have meager communication facilities, the
problem is to some extent solved in the recent years. In the light of this it
becomes mandatory to marketers to design his own transp9rtation
system and warehousing.
It is extremely relevant and necessary to train and organise rural retailer
to make him fall in line with the philosophy of the company. A retailer in
rural markets is less or unprofessional in his approach to consumers.
Owing to illiteracy and ignorance and also due to credit needs of rural
consumers, rural retailer may develop the tendency of consumer
exploitation.
A two pronged approach is therefore necessary in rural markets, one is to
bring about behavioural change in retailer, developing a professional
outlook, and the second is to awaken the rural consumer continuously by
mass educational campaigns to make him exercise his choice in his own
way.
It was identified in a study that there is a need to get deeper into the
distribution mode—communication to arrive at the right media/
messaging mix. It is found that as much as 81 per cent of visitors to haats
are on regular basis, and as much as 85 per cent attribute that buying at
haats leads to the better pricing.
So a haat is a better opportunity for promotion than for brand building.
Bargain-hunters are more likely to remember the product, brand for
price-off; than for image or positioning. A large captive audience at haats
is also ideal for product demonstrations and even sampling.
Consumer product companies need to learn a great deal about selling in
rural markets. The trouble with most rural marketing campaigns is that
they centre on retail outlets, a very urban phenomenon: Although most
villages have small shops, they are used infrequently.
Villagers usually prefer to make all their purchases at weekly haats or at
melas. And yet, few companies participate in such bazaars or fairs.
Instead of trying to change the shopping habits of the rural consumer,
companies should tune their distribution and merchandising to rural
habits.
Mobile traders serve the needs of remote villages having low density of
demand and are to be found in most districts of the country. This
channel of sale continues to be popular despite the development of rural
areas and offers excellent possibility for relationship marketing. But it
has been completely ignored by the corporate sector.
These mobile traders who may not cost much can be employed by
companies to market their brands, it may be direct marketing, for a
cluster of villages one trader may be appointed with a given schedule. In
this a credit policy also may be designed by companies to attract rural
consumers.
The logistics of feeding two million outlets spread over 6,30,000 villages
is a daunting task indeed. But, perhaps, this is not necessary if we realise
that the average monthly sale per village shop is a mere Rs. 5,000 which
is a low sale volume and restricts the variety and range of products
stocked.
Moreover, since a significant portion of the sale is on credit, it puts most
village shops in a self-limiting sales cycle. Companies need to, therefore,
focus on the 2,000+ population villages only, totalling 60,000 for their
distribution efforts.
About 47,000 haats and 25,000 melas are held in rural India. In spite of
the development of permanent shops, haats play a vital role in the village
economy. Most haats are held once a week, the average number of stalls
is 300 and the sale exceeds Rs. 2 lakh per haat day.
Each haat caters to the needs of about 4000 people from minimum 10 to
a maximum 50 villages. Larger haats are generally held in larger villages
because of better road and transport connections and higher purchasing
power available in these villages.
Of the total 47,000 haats, 4,300 are held in the 5,000 + population
villages and another 10,300 in the 2,000-4,999 population villages. On
an average people come from 20 villages to a haat, by targeting just
14,600 distribution points, a consumer company can hope to reach
almost 50 per cent of the rural population.
Only commercial melas are of interest to corporate India. The average
number of stalls per mela is 854, the average sale per mela per day (this
offers a better idea of a mela’s commercial importance than the total
sale, since the duration of a mela varies from one to 45 days) ranges from
a low of Rs. 0.6 lakh in Assam to Rs. 88 lakh in Haryana, the average
number of visitors is 7.6 lakh per mela.
Unlike haats which cater primarily to the essential needs of the local
people, melas cater to a much larger population, both rural and urban,
not only for their basic needs but also for the purchase of the more
sophisticated factory-made products. In fact, almost half the outlets at
melas sell manufactured goods.
Companies should pick the melas closest to the largest villages, where
people are relatively more urbanised and therefore already exposed to
brands. The list of the longer duration, regional and national level
commercial melas is unlikely to exceed 500 all over India.
By using these melas as mileage building events, a company can hope to
reach almost half the population of rural India, a fraction of the cost
when compared with TV, video vans or other equally expensive media
options.

Rural Market – Classification: Consumer Market,

Institutional Market and Service Markets
Traditionally rural people regularly use to visit different markets for
different commodities. For example –
i. Vegetable markets
ii. Grains markets
iii. Fruits markets
iv. Cotton markets
v. Animal fares
vi. Tea & coffee etc., have separate markets.
Rural consumers visit these markets often, meet and consult the
commission agents need to understand wholesalers etc., to get the
feeling of the markets. Marketers’ had to understand the purchasing
power of the rural consumers and plan their distribution and
promotional activities.
But as the rural India is progressing and the new type of markets have
come to existence.

The rural market can be broadly classified into 3 groups:

1. Consumer Market:
Consumer market constituents include individuals and households and
Consumer market products consist of consumables and durables. The
consumables include Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) which
includes food products, personal care products (body care, hair care,
cosmetics, textiles and garments, footwear, toiletries, etc.,) and
household care (fabric wash and household cleaners) and durables like
home appliances, watches, bicycles, television sets, radios, audio and
video players, automobiles, furniture etc.
2. Institutional Market:
Industrial market constituents include agricultural and allied activities,
food processing, poultry farming, animal husbandry, fisheries, cottage
industries, schools, NGOs, co-operatives, etc., and industrial market
products also consists of consumables and durables.
The consumables and durables are classified as given below:
i. Consumables – Agri inputs, animal feed, fuel, engine oil, etc.
ii. Durables – Agri implements like tractors, power tillers, pump sets,
generators, harvesters, sprinklers, boat, etc.
3. Service Markets:
Service market constituents include individuals, households, production
firms and offices and services are like banking, insurance, credit, retail,
healthcare, repairs, IT, power, communication, transport, education etc.

Rural Market – Difference between Urban and Rural

Market Research
There are various differences between urban market and rural market.
So, it is necessary to make different market research design for rural
areas as compared to urban market.
The various difference between urban and rural market
research are as follows:
Difference # Urban Market Research:
1. Respondents – Literate, brand aware, individuals respond
individually.
2. Time – Willing to respond, have time pressures, spare little time for
researchers.
3. Accessibility – Easy to access
4. Secondary data source – Internal data, syndicate research, published
media, many sources & large data.
5. Primary data source – Large number of middlemen, experts, sales
force, consumers, opinion leaders.
6. Sampling – Respondents form relatively homogenous group. Income
can be a criterion.
7. Data collection – Use of sophisticated instrument, style and
administration. Respondents are comfortable with number ratings and
timeliness.
Difference # Rural Market Research:
1. Respondents – Semi-literate or illiterate, brand unaware generally
group responses.
2. Time – Hesitant but devotes time.
3. Accessibility – Tough to access, geographical distances and
psychological approaches are barriers. Do not speak easily to outsiders.
4. Secondary data source – Very few sources and less data.
5. Primary data source – Less number of all categories.
6. Sampling – Heterogeneous groups. Income and land holding to be
carefully applied.
7. Data collection – Require simplified instruments. Respondents
comfortable with colour, pictures and stories.

Rural Market – Types of Promotional Tools for Rural

Markets
Some of the promotional tools for rural markets, which can be
adopted by rural marketers, are as follows:
1. Mass Media:
In the present world, mass, media is a powerful medium of
communication. Mass media with its known and perceived to be efficient
cost per contact is the most favourite medium to spread the promotional
message. The benefit of mass media is its huge reach and the easy
tracking in comparison with other below the line promotional activities.
It could be TV, cinema, print Media, radio and so on. It is necessary to
examine the sustainability of each to rural areas for promotion and
communication process.
TV is the most preferred mass media and Doordarshan leads the pack of
mass media option available with the marketer for the rural market.
MNC’s like Samsung were spending Rs.40 crores on advertising in the
semi-urban areas. A significant part of this budget goes to Doordarshan,
because no other medium has that wide a reach across the country.
Some of mass media options are:
i. Television – As of now, Doordarshan telecast network nearly covers
the entire country. In addition, there are a number of satellite channels
in operation, telecasting programmes in regional languages which can be
perceived anywhere in the country with dish antenna and cables.
Community viewing of TV or watching it at a neighbour’s house also
increases the percentage view ship in rural areas.
ii. Radio – Irrespective of literacy levels, topography, geographical
location or area of residence, radio reaches people easily. It continues to
be an important source of information for many rural people, either
through habit or through choice. Earlier, the Indian Radio industry was
limited to state broad caster-All India Radio (AIR), today with the rise in
the number of FM radio stations, the radio has truly matured as a
medium of rural communication.
iii. Cinema – Cinema is an important communication media in many
parts of the country, due to its universal appeal that cut across the
barriers of geography and language. Films in theaters attract large rural
audiences and provide an opportunity to disseminate product
information by way of short advertisement films and cinema slides. LIC
and other private Insurance Companies have been showing short movies
in rural theaters to create awareness about life insurance.

2. Outdoor Media:
Large number of outdoor media option is available with the media
planner to take the message to the rural market. Different options can be
selected based on the demographic profile of the population of a region.
Available infrastructure of the post offices, weekly markets, exhibitions,
public distribution system, co-operative societies and banks could help
in strengthening the existing promotional efforts. A vast network of 1.38
lakh rural post offices and 22,000 primary health centers need to be
tapped imaginatively for education and information.

Some of the available outdoor media are described below:

(a) Wall Paintings:
They are an effective and economical medium for advertising in rural
areas. Retailer normally welcomes paintings of their shops, walls, and
name boards, because it makes the shop look cleaner and better. This
has been widely used in case of agricultural inputs. It has been observed
that rural persons have more time to see and watch the hoardings than
the urban persons.

(b) Video Vans:
Video van concept started with the political parties who were not getting
access on Doordarshan to have contact with the rural masses. The video
van is one of the very effective means of reaching out physically to the
rural consumers and providing them with touch and feel of product and
the brand.
The promotion using these vans create a lot of word of mouth publicity
for a brand in the region which is much more effective than the
promotional campaign run on any mass media. If conducted in a proper
manner then the promotional campaign can be the regular discussion at
choupal for many days.
The commercial operation for video-on-wheels, a pioneer in this field,
was started in 1989 from a tiny one van which became a network of 125
vans in ten years with a business to the tune of rupees eight crores. Rural
Communications and Marketing (RC&M) joined the bandwagon in 1990
and had 50 vans and with a turnover of the Rs.2.7 crores in 1999. Other
organizations offering this facility are Sampark Marketing and
Advertising Solutions and Video express.

(c) Rural Games:
Focus of rural marketers can be on events like Quila Raipur Olympics
and Nehru Boat Race, which are annual extravaganzas for promotion of
their brands. Nearly one lakh spectators turn up to watch the rural sports
at Quila Raipur village being played out in three daylong events.
Punjab has 250 popular festivals in the year, which include sports
festival, agriculture as well as cultural festivals, in addition to the
religious festivals. It is here that the rural marketers need to focus their
attention, as the eyeballs of captive audience are available at these meets.
The latest estimates are that in most of these festivals 50,000 visitors
turn out on an average.
Rural games and tournaments are hugely popular in rural areas and are
attended by rural people in large numbers. These tournaments can be
sponsored at a reasonable price and could be utilized as a platform to put
the company’s stall for brand building and demonstration. The
company’s products could also be given as the prizes to increase the
brand awareness. These products, given as prizes would lead to lot of
word of mouth publicity in the rural areas as it would be talk of many
villages for good number of days.

(d) Primary Health Centre:

The primary health centers are very good platform to promote products
that have to be sold on health and hygiene grounds. The campaign in
these centers can be executed in co-ordination with the NGO’s, state
health departments, Medical Council or Dental Associations and even
international aid agencies.
Swasthya Chetna Campaign to promote the habits of washing of hands
by HLL in rural areas is a good example of this form of promotion; this
would have directly or indirectly promoted sale of lifebuoy, its leading
brand, in rural areas.

(e) Schools:
Young children are emerging as the change agent in the rural areas.
Organisations like HLL and Colgate are targeting the children in the
schools. They are not only educating them about the product benefits but
are also demonstrating the benefits offered by their brands for the health
of children and the entire family.

3. Unconventional Media like Shandies/Haats/Jathras/Melas:

These are the places where people from remote, underdeveloped area
and villages congregate on the pre appointed day or period as a rule.
These are places where there will be a captive audience for a fairly long
period and it is certainly beneficial to promote with the help of an
outdoor mobile publicity van with audio/video equipments.

4. Special Campaigns:
Marketers have to be really innovative, when it comes to promoting a
product in the rural market depending on the product category and the
target market. The organizations can select innovative promotional
campaigns. TAFE tractor launched a direct contact campaign to
strengthen the bond with existing customers through direct contact
exercise in 44 centers in a state. It involved activities like farmers contact
and dealer contact and tractor rally. It resulted in tremendous customer
response and sales increased by 12% after one month of campaign.
Direct contact with individuals and groups such as the panchayats and
other village groups helps in arousing the villager’s interest in their own
problem and motivating them towards sowing them and in the process of
leading to their self-development.
During crop harvest and marketing seasons, it is beneficial to take up
special promotion campaigns in rural area. ‘Tractor owners meet’
(TOMEE) conducted by MRF Ltd. is one such example. Appropriate
timing of these campaigns is more important since the promotion should
not only result in awareness but also in adoption and purchase.

5. Personal Selling and Opinion Leaders:

In the context of rural marketing, this approach is necessary for both
high value consumer durable items and capital agriculture inputs. It has
been found by experience that the rural consumers do not decide on the
bests of information provided by the companies or their advertisements.
They prefer to consult others who actually possess the various brand of
the product and also get their experience in using them.
Rural consumer makes well-considered buying decision for a specified
brand often after lot of consultation with the opinion leaders. But
opinion leaders change with the product category.
While for agri-inputs, the opinion leaders group consists of progressive
farmers, agri-extension workers and village leaders, for other product
categories, the opinion leader group consists of friends, well-informed
relatives(particularly those working in nearly towns), educated youth
and to an extent traditional village leaders. Dealers to play a major role
in influencing the choice of a brand at the point of sale.
The electricians, mechanics and technicians which are found in almost
all villages to service and repair products could be provided with free
accessories, tools and their shops could be painted with company logo
and brand name. These persons considered as specialists in their field
could act as local brand ambassadors and could promote the products
for the company as they are acting as opinion leaders for products in
their field and their advice is sought by the villagers and given weight age
in the purchase decision.
The following play the role of opinion leader in the case of
corresponding product category:
(a) Successful farmer – for farm inputs
(b) Village youth who go to city – for lifestyle products
(c) School children – for personal care products
Asian paints launched its Utsav range during the Pre-Diwali season.
Salesmen selected the opinion leaders in village and painted the village
post office, library, or the house of the pardhaan to demonstrate that
paint does not peel off. Salesman organized meets at the local dealers,
where village painters were invited.
Integrated campaigns, which are – low cost, scalable, offer multiple
contacts, and are interactive in nature, help in increasing brand
penetration and frequency of usage need to be developed for the rural
market.
Promotional activity must generate a lot of word of mouth publicity so
that the brand is on top of mind when rural consumer purchases a
product. Therefore, touch and feel aspect must be built into promotional
activity. Brooke-bond organized marches in rural areas with band, music
and caparisoned elephants to promote their brands of tea.

6. Folk Media:
There is a good audience available for different folk media in the rural
world. Marketer can effectively utilize some of these to take his message
to the rural audience. Different folk’s media are popular in different
regions; therefore the folk medium selected must be popular in the
region; then only it will be able to provide the desired level of audiences,
some of the folk media, which can be used as a promotion vehicle, are
described here below.

(a) Puppetry:
In rural India puppetry is an avenue for entertainment and creative
expression, which might be ritually scared and meaningful as a means of
social communication and vehicle of social transformation.
It is an excellent way of storytelling through the moving images called
puppets. The cost of this medium is very less and is very popular in
Rajasthan, Orissa and Haryana. People of all ages and genders can be
targeted by incorporating the product in the narrative.
Song and Drama Division of the Government of India makes wide use of
puppets in its campaigns to promote various government projects,
several other organizations, government, semi-government and private,
have also used puppets in support of individual schemes.
For example – Life Insurance Corporation of India used puppets to
educate rural masses about Life Insurance. These plays were shown to
the audience in villages in UP, Bihar and MP. The number of inquiries at
local offices of LIC during the period immediately following the
performance was compared with normal frequency and found to be
considerably higher. The field staff of the corporation also reported a
definite impact on the business.

(b) Folk Theatre:
Folk theaters are mainly short and rhythmic in form. The simple tunes
help in informing and educating the people in informal and interesting
manner. It has been used as an effective medium for social protest
against injustice, exploitation and oppression. Government has used this
media for popularizing improved variety of seeds, fertilizers, etc.

(c) Nautanki:
It is a folk dance drama which is performed in Uttar Pradesh on a make
shift stage surrounded by a tent. It is a prime attraction in the village
fairs amongst all age groups because of its narrative style and rustic
humour. This folk media provides captive audience and marketers can
use it as a platform to promote their products as rural audience believes
that the performers are more credible than conventional media like TV
or radio.

(d) Tamasha:
It involves seductive Lavni dance drama and interactive session with the
audience. As only males are the audience therefore products meant for
males can be effectively promoted through this media. The script can be
modified to incorporate the product benefit, advantages and its
availability.

(e) Birha:
Started during the freedom struggle to promote and develop the
independence movement through the medium of songs, Birha is song
about the current social realities of the day and is sung at gatherings,
which draw big crowds. It is a musical night organized in the state of
Uttar Pradesh and is popular amongst all the sections of the society. This
is a very effective medium to deliver social messages and can be used for
promotion of products that are very relevant for the rural masses.
Cultural practices and traditions of villages should always be given
adequate weight age while deciding on the promotional strategies. A
broad generalization is less likely to deliver effective results in the rural
areas. Therefore, it is important to pilot-run a campaign and measures
its effectiveness at a very small scale in one or two villages before
launching a large-scale operation in similar socio-cultural settings. It is
quite possible that a promotional campaign, which was successful in one
area, might not only be ineffective but also boomerangs in the other.
While any one can think of ideas for below the line activities it requires
conscious efforts by professionals to connect with the audience with the
right communication package-which takes the core message of the brand
and communicates it in a language, idiom, style and situations, which is
easily understood by the target audience

7. Hiring Strategy:
Top management’s commitment to tap the rural market exists in most of
the organizations but the lower levels that have to implement plans in
rural areas have exposure mostly to urban markets. They are not very
comfortable in rural setting. Urban and semi urban based salesmen are
not able to tap the full potential on the villages. The whole process of
reaching out to the rural markets can be made effective if corporate
sector hires professionals from a rural management institutes or
universities.
In a similar manner the salesman and brand promoter at grass root level
in rural markets should be selected from the educated unemployed
villagers, trained well and then appointed as salesman. They can be hired
on the pay role of HR outsourcing company to avoid increasing the head
count.
The following characteristics are essential requirements for a
professional to effectively cater to the rural needs and develop
image in between rural retailers and consumers:
(a) Fluency in Local Language – In India, as many as 18 languages are
spoken, with hundreds of dialects. If the sales people speak the local
language and dialect, then only local population can connect with them
and their promotional message. As this make them believe that
salespersons are like them only.
(b) Capacity to work for extended hours – There are 20 lakh rural outlets
spread over a very large area that would involve a lot of travelling and
that too away from one’s family and house for days at large.
(c) Adjustability with inadequate Boarding and Lodging facility – The
sales people has to stay in small hotels and can have to put up with the
problem like mosquitoes, dirty linen, unclean rooms etc.
A deeper understanding of the rural areas in needed for which the people
with rural exposure are required. The focus should be on infecting
marketing culture into the villages.

8. Social Strategies:
Social marketing is the application of marketing principles and
technique to market and considering the social cause or idea or behavior.
This developments approach not only builds the bonding with a given
brand but it also develops the population on different socio-economic
parameters.
Social marketing now holds an important place in the activities of many
companies and is viewed as a social obligation. In the rural setting it is
not just going and selling the products made by an organization but in
the process they also have to create the buying capacity for those
products. Social development role is extremely important in rural areas
where people value the relations and see these investments positively.

Some of the social strategy initiatives, which could be adopted

by corporate world to develop demand for their brands, are
given below:
(i) Employment of Rural Youth – Provision of employment opportunities
in sales and distribution of product in rural areas to rural youth would
increase the goodwill of the company in the eyes of the villagers. This
would increase their disposable income. The rural youth can be in a
better position to sell the product after an adequate sales training
programme.
(ii) Partnerships with NGO for Education Programmes – This would also
influence consumer behaviour, generate goodwill towards the company
as well as create a market for the products. The educated customers are
likely to have better employment prospects and hence additional
disposable income. They can be expected to make more rational and
informed decision. They would be more open to new ideas and can easily
distinguish the difference between the genuine and fake products.
(iii) Encouraging primary education in the villages – This can be a key to
influence consumers to change their habits and use a company’s
products. The underlying motive is to influence people’s behaviour. This
could be done through a V-sat connection, as being pilot tested by HLL
in Maharashtra. HLL believes that such an education effort to improve
sanitary habits will create more awareness of hygiene and cleanliness
which will in turn have a direct impact on the sale of its territories.

Rural Market – Important Rural Market Index to

Understand Rural Consumer Needs
To understand the rural consumer needs and type of markets to enter,
the companies depend on rural market index. The database of rural
sector is available in the software form. Advertising companies and rural
marketing consulting organizations use this information for various
purposes such as – where to invest in rural sector, which ate the
potential rural markets and which media will fit to promote their
product in rural areas.
Some of the important market indexes are explained in detail
below:
1. Thompson Rural Market Index:
The first successful attempt in the way to appraise the capacity of rural
markets was made by Hindustan Thompson Associates Limited (HTAL).
They developed the “Thompson Rural Market Index” as a guide to the
rural marketers to project the rural market potential, in the year of 1972.
Initially, total number of parameters identified by them were 11 and
different weightages also assigned for those factors to assess the rural
market potential. For this research, totally 334 districts in India were
selected and maximum data collected from those district level itself
because of more easiness and reliability of data. However, this was not
considered to be a satisfactory approach.
So, again another attempt was made in the year of 1986. At this stage,
they added 15 more parameters (i.e., totally 26 parameters) and
considered 383 districts in India for their research purpose and the
report was published in the year of 1986, as ‘Thompson Market Index’.
This database provides exhaustive data with respect to the Market
Potential Value (MPV) of a particular district.

Following are the main parameters considered for Thompson

Rural Market index:
Area of the District in (Sq. Km.):
i. Demographics –
Population – Rural numbers
ii. Males – Number
iii. Females – Number
iv. Density per sq. km.
v. Percentage distribution of population-by-population strata
vi. Number of villages
vii. Percentage distribution of villages by population strata
viii. Literate – Rural numbers
ix. Percentage of literacy
x. Literate – Males
xi. Literate – Females
Occupation pattern –
Cultivators – Number
Agricultural labours
Non-agricultural labours
xii. Agricultural related data – Gross cropped area (in hectares) Gross
irrigated area (in hectares)
Area under non-food crops (in hectares) Average size of operational
holdings (in hectares)
xiii. Agricultural inputs data
xiv. Pump sets and tube wells: Number
xv. Fertilizer consumption (in metric tonnes)
xvi. Number of tractors
xvii. Rural electrification data
xviii. Percentage of villages electrified
xix. Commercial Banks data –
Number of rural branches
Deposits (in Rs. Lakhs)
Advances (in Rs. Lakhs).

2. MICA Rural Market Index:

Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (MICA),
ranks districts according to seven basic parameters like:
i. Population
ii. Bank advances
iii. Cropped area
iv. Irrigated area
v. Number of cultivators
vi. Fertilizer consumption and
vii. Total value of agricultural output.
For this, data were collected from 1991 census reports and was priced at
Rs. 35,000 in 1991.
Linquest:
Marketing mapping tool from AP Lintas was the predecessor of
Lincompass. It considered totally 42 variables to rank the districts. It
was priced at Rs. 75,000 in the year 1991.
Indian Market Demographics:
NCAER consolidate this complete information based study in a routine
basis. Very large samples are taken for this research purpose. Its 10 year
White Book gives detailed information with respect to different classes of
income, trends in the durables etc.
Business Intelligence Units:
This is a Chennai based research unit and ranked 500 districts based on
purchasing power potential (which includes agricultural zones also).
Lincompass:
Lintas’ specialized rural marketing division, Linterland, has developed a
software tool, Lincompass which maps the rural market.
Arcview:
While taking decisions with respect to the area of transportation and
distribution applications, territory planning, dealer development, etc.,
this tool is very useful for the analysis of accessibility, coverage and
penetration.
This knowledge based intelligence system relates 5, 87,962 villages as
digitized points on the maps depicting the market potential of an area as
a cluster. It generates different kinds of maps like, agricultural maps,
socio-cultural maps, national and state highway maps, river maps etc. It
identifies potential markets from state to district to village or town.

Rural Market – 4 Major Issues Concerning the Rural

Market
Manufacturers and marketing experts have to pay special attention to
the question whether rural consumers constitute a distinct market from
urban consumers. It is clear that the rural market as a whole has
different features from the urban market.
Differences seem to arise mainly on account of certain external factors
that shape the rural market rather than due to the real tastes of
consumers themselves. In what follows, an attempt is made to present
some of the issues concerning the rural market.

Issue # i. Product Planning:

One of the prevailing beliefs is that the rural buyer imitates his urban
counterpart. Does this mean that the same products can be sold in two
different markets? Some manufacturers who tried to enter the rural
market have however, found to their utter dismay that this is not the
case. Goods have to be specially designed to meet the tastes and
preference of the rural consumer.
Before one embarks on a programme of rural marketing, one should
have a sound idea about rural consumer attitudes, habits, social
standards, important festivals, marriages, crop seasons, significance of
astrology, local institutions which have an impact on daily life, and
importance of gold, etc. An understanding of these would help in
designing the marketing strategies effectively for rural areas.

Issue # ii. Retail Outlets:

Most marketing managers believe that rural families mostly buy their
manufactured consumer goods in towns or mandi markets. While in the
case of some durables this might be true. It is not necessarily true for
consumer products which have a high frequency of use like soaps, hair
oils, tea, tobaccos, biscuits etc.
For products which cannot be taken up for sale by either the general
stores or the kirana stores, mandi markets became the most suitable
place to locate the retail outlets.
For radios, transistors, cycles, kerosene stoves, etc., which call for a
degree of servicing and stocking of spare parts, it seems essential that
retail outlets are not located away from the consumers, though the costs
of penetration will have to be taken into account.

Issue # iii. Branding:

Some marketing analysts believe that no special branding is required
and that sophisticated brand names will catch up in rural areas. This is
seldom true. Therefore, marketers may have to give their products
names which can be easily remembered and pronounced with wrappers
printed in local languages.
On account of high proportion of illiteracy and lack of persistent
publicity, branding carries practically little importance in remote
villages. The rural consumer does not make brand discrimination but
once induced to buy and use a product he becomes loyal to the brand,
provided he is satisfied about the functional utility.

Issue # iv. Promotion and Advertising:

Yet another belief that exists is that strategies adopted in promotion and
advertising for urban consumers can be replicated with only minimal
changes for use in the rural areas. For instance, manufacturer deals
without regard to the difference between market segments.
Today, even the biggest rural marketer’s service just upto the block town
level, with the village coming out not reaching there. The marketers who
swear by their marketing have singularly failed to exploit rural India’s
traditional selling system their near-obsession with just duplicating the
urban type network and that to with vary limited success, has kept the
find to the obvious.
Till now corporate India has based itself just catering to the needs of the
affluent rural elite, paying no attention whatsoever to the marginal/small
former. No one ever thought of landing a brand specifically for the rural
market, let alone liked seriously at the marginal rural classes as
consumers.
Firms are increasingly realizing the importance of weekly markets, fairs
and melas, and mobile publicity vans. For certain consumer products,
market experts have successfully tried to use mobile publicity vans as
sales outlets with the idea of making these self-paying, thus reducing the
burden of the additional expense on promotion.