JAIPURIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT,

INDORE
Rural Marketin Reflective Notes

Submitted by-
Vasudev Gokhe
Session 1
A basic introduction to marketing was given, as well as various marketing principles and standards, such
as the Pareto Rule and a description of marketing and its significance. According to this, 20% of
consumers are responsible for 80% of the company's income. This means that 20% of the clients are
responsible for 80% of the profit. In his second session, he addressed the value of case studies. They, he
believes, aid in the application of theory. The class then addressed marketing's definition, which is
"providing value for consumers." When someone mentions "value," they're talking about the quantity of
benefit against the cost.
Consumers' wishes for the things that the firm produces are the focus of sales, whereas marketing is
focused on generating the products that customers want. Then we discussed what it meant to be at the
"base of the pyramid" (BOP).
CK Prahalad developed the concept of BOP in his book Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP). He
feels that there is a significant demand for a new product or service. These individuals are unable to make
purchases. Students stressed the importance of undertaking further study on the BOP sector throughout
this session. Questions regarding lifestyle, income, and other issues would be included in the survey.
Following that, we looked at a variety of BOP definitions as well as the overall income of the pyramid.
Rural marketing is aimed at those in Tier 4 of the socioeconomic range.

FMCG items sold in rural India account for over 20% of SKU's income.

The lesson also looked at how need is an unavoidable component of human life that cannot be created.
We discussed supply and demand in class.
Session 2

In this lesson, we focused on the following BOP Principles:

In economics, "Bottom of the Pyramid markets" refer to the lower two-thirds of the human
pyramid. It now has a global population of around four billion people. These marketplaces
are often disorganised and difficult to locate.
1. Cost-Effectiveness Hybrids are a great example of innovation.
3. Operational Scale –
4. Environmentally sustainable development
5. Identifying capabilities -
6. New processes
7. Workplace tidying up
Customers must be educated.

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9. Infrastructure Design for Hostile Environments
10. Interface
11. Customer Service:

BOP Market essentials.

The first is price performance, which entails lowering the price to make it more accessible to
more people. They also did research and determined that jewellery was the most expensive item.
The municipal bank suvidha plan was intended to aid the BOP in saving money. This was an
attempt by the local bank to make money. For example, Arvind eye care has a high focus on
cost-cutting. This was fantastic news for BOP consumers once again.
Innovation comes in second, with hybrids that treat iodine deficiency first, followed by product
sales.
Another consideration is the breadth of activities, which prioritised partnership with both NGOs
and multinational businesses (MNCs).

Eco-friendly development, often known as sustainable development, is the fourth form of

development. Sir remarked that in order to guarantee that society has adequate resources to
consume, one must consider sustainability.

Sir spoke on product redesign, saying that we should first figure out what's wrong with the
product before recreating it for the best price. Sir also talked on marketing's four Ps.

Seeing and hearing are quite important while educating these bop target demographics.

They can easily converse with one another, create value, and treat one another with respect.
While governments and non-governmental groups are accountable for these 4 billion people, CK
Prahalad argues that these 4 billion people may also benefit businesses. Sir described it to us in
this way. He went on to price after addressing promotion, arguing that it is the only thing that
creates income.

Session 3

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• After presenting a problem statement and dividing the students into groups of 4-5, Sir led
session 3. They were then instructed to act out a role-play based on the issue statement, which
was mostly about rural marketing and how he needed to manage his products, as well as how
credit and technology might assist him in catering to his clientele.
• Sir then went on to mention Amul India and Arvind eye care as instances of the sixth BOP
component, process innovation. The term "process" describes the act of accomplishing a job by
following a series of stages.
Session 4
The In this session, the issue of marketplaces in rural regions was discussed. Individuals who
work to meet the rural market's demands. They must be investigated in order to establish the type
of marketing that occurs in rural markets. Its population is between 5000 and 5000 individuals
(75 percent of males are contributing to agriculture). After performing research on rural
marketplaces, some individuals have solely characterised them by the number of people who live
there. Rural marketing should be restricted to that area. Shopkeepers play an important role in
rural marketplaces.
There are four A's in rural marketing. This is then shown in class using various examples. The
following are examples:
Price optimization is crucial for convincing customers that the product is worthwhile and raising
their chances of acquiring it.

In rural India, for example, the availability of Nokia phone service and postal service is vital to
the people who reside there.

When it comes to accessibility, a person must be able to communicate with a vast number of
individuals.

Newspaper adverts, personal selling, and billboards in local languages raise public awareness. A
video was created to highlight HUL's involvement in rural market development. It was mostly
due to budgetary considerations. It is now possible to go to rural India using a cell phone.
Session 5
During the debate, Sir highlighted the value and acceptability of products by people in rural
areas. What has changed over time in terms of the rural customer? Increasing literacy exposure,
generating more money, relocating to a different region, and having the most exposure to
children and young people are all possibilities. Many people in China produce consumer
durables, but they struggle since their major customers are kids.

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For a long time, businesses have paid more attention to rural markets than urban ones. This is
because there are still a lot of untapped rural markets. Sir then talked on the stock market and its
investments, using LG as an example of a company that grows every year. The metro does not
serve some of the so-called "semi-urban" markets. They are focussing their efforts on two parts
of the value chain in order to expand the market: customer comprehension and market
expansion. People who live outside of cities are known as rural people. In these locations,
agricultural activity is more frequent than in cities. He ended by going over the marketing stages.

Session 6
ThisPre-readings and case studies were the exclusive emphasis of this session. We went through
the pre-reading material on agriculture and the evolution of farming practises in this class.
During the meeting, the following subjects were discussed:
• Using technology, farmers can keep control over their seed and water supplies.
• The Internet of Things (IoT) and associated technologies have the potential to increase income.

• Rural Marketing faced infrastructure and transportation difficulties, such as product acceptance,
pricing, accessibility, and product awareness.

• Because to technological improvements, rural India has a high literacy rate. Customers are
affected by the economy, which is separated into two categories: purchasing power and income.
.

Session – 7
The A commercial kicked off the session. According to Sir, the performers in the commercials dress up
like the products in order to create awareness and connect with rural consumers. Then he believes that the
company's tagline determines acceptance.
Characteristics of Rural Consumers
1. Brand loyalty is exceptionally high; once purchased, a Hero Honda product is kept.

2. Cost effectiveness - Rural clientele are well-known for their cost effectiveness. Quality products at
affordable prices are desired. Customer behaviour is influenced by several things.

• Cost – Benefits = Money Well Spent

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3. Customers are illiterate due to a lack of educational options. As a result, marketers must devise
strategies to raise product awareness.

4. Low-Income — Rural clients' income has grown. Their disposable cash is still going towards
necessities. That isn't enough.

5. Job Title – It is divided into two types.

• An organisation

• Non-firm jobs are becoming more common, and they have an influence on income, thus they are
becoming more common.

6. Word-of-mouth marketing - They have an impact since there is a type of marketing in which one
person buys something and another person decides what to buy. Because they lack formal information,
those with less education rely on word of mouth and trust.

7. Cultural factors

8. Social factors - People are divided into three groups: upper, middle, and lower. What people do for a
living defines the groupings in rural marketplaces. He looked at reference groups, the family, roles and
status, and how social you are in the next segment.

9. Personal component - When friends and family convince a consumer to buy a product, this is referred
to as "word of mouth."

10. Physiological - Businesses may impact the behaviour of their customers by marketing to them, telling
them about your product, and communicating with them.

8th Session -

This session focused on the company's targeted tactics:

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Specialization is a marketing strategy that allows you to divide your customers into groups. This is an
illustration of how 2G users use Facebook lite, Facebook, and Facebook at work (for businesspeople).

Product Specialization: You only sell one product to a large range of customers with this strategy. OLA,
for example, is a group of people who collaborate.

Market specialisation: A company utilises this strategy to try to target a particular market with a wide
range of products. Only a few companies have this attribute. Consider Johnson & Johnson as an example.

A single market sector is served by a single marketing mix. A "single segment" is what this is called (not
the entire market). If your firm is small and doesn't have a lot of money, a single-segment approach is
usually the best option.

Full Market Coverage: This strategy may be utilised to reach out to each and every client in the market.
The phrase describes a company's attempts to help as many people as possible.

We then took part in an activity to learn more about the elements that impact people's purchase decisions.
We had to choose a product first, and then figure out all of the aspects that would influence people to buy
it. Second, we had to figure out how to make a purchase decision.

Consider the factors that impact a person's choice to buy a refrigerator, for example:

• Social-cultural background (R1, R2)

• Social – family, friends

• Personal Occupation (working or non-working)

• Attitudes and beliefs are also psychological elements (whether they will be able to operate technology or
not)
Session 9 –

Rural marketing Process: -

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 1. defining the research business and objectives- 2. determining the research budget- 3.
determining the research purpose
4. The nature of the data
5. Information sources
6. Sample size and method-
7. Research instrument creation-
8. Field Organization and Data Collection-
9. Information gathering and analysis
10. Making a choice based on the findings-

The Rural Market's Challenges:

1. Spoken Language: People speak a variety of languages and dialects in different parts of the
country and throughout the world. Marketers must develop promotional plans in the
destination's language to establish promotional strategies for each of these destinations.
Villagers are less familiar with telephone, telegraph, and fax services than city dwellers. This
makes it more difficult for marketers to communicate with customers.

2. Markets that are dispersed across a broad area: People who live in rural areas require a lot
of land to carry out their responsibilities. Getting a brand to be available across the country is
practically impossible. They happen all over the place. These kind of events provide several
benefits to manufacturers and retailers. They increase public awareness and maintain people's
attention for long periods of time.

3. Low literacy rate: People in rural areas are less likely to read than those in cities and
towns. This makes communication in these isolated regions much more challenging. Only a
small fraction of the population consumes print media. This means it isn't very effective, and
it doesn't work at all on sometimes.

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4. Lack of communication: Most towns are unreachable during the rainy season. Many
communities lack telephone service. Other modes of communication are likewise becoming
obsolete.

5. Interview times: Because we must organise research around the availability of women, it is
challenging to coordinate interview schedules. In the morning and afternoon, they clean the
house.
Session 10 –
Sir began the debate by introducing the concept of Diffusion of Innovation. There are several
categories of customers, including those listed below:
1. Inventor
2. Be a pioneer. 3. Achieving Early Majority 4. The Fourth Majority 5. Slacker

Their reactions and behaviours are dissimilar.

As a result of this conversation, the notion of rural marketing research was born. Like any
other consumer study, the Rural Market Research team must deal with people who aren't
highly educated or have little expertise with market research procedures:

Choosing your goals-

There are two types of objectives. How the findings will be used is defined by the business
objectives. The research objectives tell us what we want to get out of it.

The next step is to create a research budget, which may be done in one of two ways. The first
stage is to establish a research budget and assess the value of the data.

Research-Inspired Design

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We must first establish a research goal before moving on to other topics of discussion. We
also need to talk about the kind of data we have. The information might be primary or
secondary in nature. To achieve our objectives when studying, we require a variety of
materials.

Obtaining a few representative samples- There are numerous techniques for utilising rural
marketing land holdings as a proxy for rural wealth and income, each with its own set of
difficulties.

Instruments are meticulously crafted—This page can be used as a resource for qualitative
research. A quantitative data gathering instrument might be an unstructured measuring device
that generates a large number of responses or a quantitative data collection questionnaire that
asks largely closed-ended questions with obvious answers.

Building the field and gathering information- Qualitative research relies heavily on in-depth
interviews and interactions with individuals in real-life circumstances. Focus groups are held
in well-known hamlet settings that are caste-neutral. A thorough interview is conducted at the
respondent's home or elsewhere.

Phase 1: Information gathering and analysis Qualitative research is carried out by recording
and organising data in a certain way. In quantitative research, spreadsheets in Excel or SPSS
format are created to aid data entry into the study database.

assisting in the dissemination of findings to the wider public-

Below you'll find the Executive Summary, Objectives, Research Methodology, Results,
Conclusions, and Recommendations, as well as a list of Appendices.

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 Session 11 –
This lesson focused on how people buy things to address problems. It helps the company
make money, resulting in a higher profit margin for the product. They're all linked to
different product tiers, and there are a lot of them. These levels add value to the customer's
perception of the advantages of a particular product.
When it comes to goods, there are several levels to consider:
1. The main item: This is the main benefit that the product provides to the customer, such as
transportation in the case of an automobile. This is done in order to satisfy the customer.
2. Principal Product: The primary product, a car, satisfies the need for transportation.
3. Expected outcome: This covers things like distance, speed, and strength.
4. Augmented Product: This refers to the extra features that a product provides.
5. Additional benefits, such as service, insurance, and so on, are referred to as potential products.
It encompasses the full scenario.

Sir spoke on how to classify agricultural goods.In the traditional classification system, we
have industrial, consumer, and durable products.In a rural region, we have a lot to
consider.Footwear, drinks, and food are examples of fast-moving products.Televisions and
mobile phones are examples of consumer durables.• Financial services products, for
instance.• Fertilizer and other agricultural items are available for purchase.

After that, we'll discuss Product Decision and Strategy:

1. Individual Product Decision - When determining what to make, consider the quality,
features, and style that are most appropriate for rural markets.

2. Product line and Mixed Decision - A product line is a collection of linked things, and a
product mix is a mixture of all the products in that line as well as products from other lines.

3. Product Lifecycle Strategy - In this case, the company must examine how to provide value
to the product so that rural customers would be interested in using it.

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 Session 12 –
In this session, Sir talked about product portfolios. He went through the company's product
lines, the number of items in each line, the number of differences across lines, and the degree
to which the products are related.
• A product portfolio is a pre-made graphic that can help you figure out which parts of a
company you work for. The next item of discussion was rural market distribution.
• Consider how easy and convenient it will be for people to get their items when choosing a
distribution strategy in remote locations.

The way the distribution is set up is quite important. Vivo, for instance, sells phones on the
street.
Later, the teacher talked about a case while simultaneously talking about the Ans off Matrix, a
new product line, and how it relates to the case. He challenged the pupils to come up with a way
to distribute the case.
Finally, he explained that distribution is all about making it simple for people to get what they
need. Companies like Colgate are increasingly thinking about how to access rural markets
through teaching and training jobless people.

Session 13 –
We learned about the distribution of During this class, we studied about commodity
distribution in a rural market context. How goods and services are made available to
individuals who desire them is determined by the distribution system. Customers and
manufacturers will be able to use each other's facilities more efficiently as a result of this
agreement.
Rural marketplaces and modern retail: As a result of increased agricultural yields, organised
retail has resulted in a significant rise in rural India's earnings. Rural areas provide a mostly
untapped retail growth potential that has yet to be explored. Inadequate infrastructure, poor
supply chains, and a lack of competitive pricing are the most significant issues. The Indian
Telecom Corporation built Choupal Sagar, the country's first rural mall (ITC). Tata Kishan
Sansar, Godrej Aadhar, and 3A Bazaar are some more designs that are identical to ITC's
Choupal Sagar.
Then we got into a great discussion about rural-centric distribution models.
• The Haats

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• Innovative distribution models
• The public distribution system is one of the topics explored.
The following are examples of cooperative societies:
• gas stations; non-governmental organisations; and mobile dealers in remote areas

Finally, we must build distribution channels for products like as Gillette guard, Colgate, and
other such items utilising the distribution models stated above.

Session 14 –
Sir In this training, we looked at strategies to increase rural communication.
• People who are illiterate or ignorant desire a message that is simple to understand. People,
on the other hand, do not commonly request certain brands.
• Small-town shoppers play an important role in their communities. Because they have more
media in their homes, people are more likely to utilise high-end things. They've heard of
Colgate and Lifebuoy.

• Selecting the proper targets A communication goal requiring the text to effectively
communicate in rural areas needs the usage of a range of communication strategies. There
are various methods for determining how successful communication is.

• Deciding where you want to sell your products. It's important to get to know your
customers. They are not from the same socioeconomic background as Biharis and
Jharkhandis. They are from different countries. Consider your target population's social
position and time limits while creating a profile. People respond to businesses based on their
willingness to try new things and their familiarity with the brand.

• Deciding what to reveal. They must decide what to do with their target market after it has
been identified. Make a purchase that you will like. As a result of communicators' efforts,
customers are convinced to think, alter their minds, and act.

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• The AICDA response hierarchy model is the most extensively used and oldest response
hierarchy model currently in use. Listening is crucial for capturing a customer's attention,
convincing them to buy your items, and acting positively. All three are required: concern,
conviction, and action.

• City women are more self-sufficient, autonomous, and independent. Women in cities are
frequently featured in advertisements for items that emphasise hard work and nice spouses.
As a result, these advertisements may not reflect the ambitions and dreams of rural Indian
women. Some may even feel embarrassed by them. Shampoo advertisements that depict
women's hair tied up and covered are unpopular in rural areas.

• People in rural regions frequently collaborate to make decisions such as where to reside. So,
how will the tea be used by the housewife? Donations from the family's primary income
source In a neighbouring town, a young woman buys tea, and the shopkeeper has an affect on
her. The firm must personalise its communication message for each participant in the event.
It is conceivable for a single person to have an influence on a city's production. More rural
families are now living together as a single household. People require one another. Everyone
must assist one another. Because people watch a lot of TV together, neighbours' envy and the
owner's pride don't function in this neighbourhood. Those who live in rural areas should have
access to communication tools.

• The best rural communication is succinct and to-the-point. Rural communication need a
simple rationale and a basic response. Marketers must think about how people in rural areas
live. It should be able to communicate with citizens of the country.

• Non-personal routes are ineffective in communicating. Everything is interconnected. It is

reasonable for the buyer to acquire.

Session 15 –
During A game was played to assist participants comprehend the differences between
traditional and non-traditional distribution channels during this session. The following are the
two parts of the exercise:
1. We must select a product from a regional brand that sells its products in the states of MP
and UP. How will you use conventional and non-traditional media?

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 2. Develop rural marketing communications strategy.
Session 16 –
There are several issues in rural places. In this session, Sir discussed them. The main issue is that
there are so many distinct languages and dialects, such as 22 officially recognised languages and
114 regional dialects. You speak Marathi if you reside in Maharashtra, although there are many
local dialects such as marathavada and konkan. Because there are so many dialects, this is the
most serious issue.
Mr. Smith told us that 40% of the population is illiterate, and the literacy rate varies greatly by
location. For example, in Bihar, it is 60%, whereas in Kerala, it is 94%. That's exactly what he's
saying. Because the rural market is illiterate, we must rely on basic messages and graphics to
successfully communicate our message.
Sir demonstrated how they discover and profile their rural clientele, communicate with them
using more photographs, and easily develop their messaging using the goods "Tata steel" and
"Dabur janam Ghunti." "Zandu Balm," with the slogan "pain easing balm," is the best example,
sir. She focused on two detergents: "Ghadi" and "Nirma," which have a combined market share
of 18 percent or more. Then, sir, go over the seven steps to building effective rural
communication —

1. Determine and profile the rural audience first.

2. Next, determine what the communication's aim is.
3. Create and create the message that has to be shared.
4. The fourth stage is to keep a rural communication budget.
5. Then, for the greatest output and comprehension of the people, pick the finest communication
medium.
6. Finally, the communication mix plan must be created.
7. Finally, assess the communication's effectiveness.

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