Building Service Brand in Rural India.

Building Brands in Rural India

October 8, 2007 by Mahesh M Piddshetti

In a market where life has revolved around deep rooted community values, joint families, and social customs and taboos (women, for example, are not allowed to wear trousers), marketers realize that the traditional routes of market entry and brand building employed in urban India are often not feasible. As Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Group, says, The challenge [for brands] is to understand the [psyche] of the rural consumer, create better distribution, and [appreciate] the heterogeneity.In recent times, rural India has witnessed a wave of change. Dinesh Malhotra, general manager of Linterland (rural arm of Lintas), points out, With media exposure and increasing literacy levels, people in rural India are now demanding a better lifestyle. The educated rural yuppie (males in the 15-34 age group) is moving out to work in nearby towns and cities, and sending money home to his family. This has created an indirect increase in disposable incomes and a surge in demand for consumer goods. The rural youth are slowly evolving as opinion leaders in influencing brand and product decisions in a market that was swayed by village elders for centuries.When building a brand in rural India, word-of-mouth is a huge motivator. Focused brand-building initiativeslike participation at community events such as melas (village fairs), haats (markets), street theater, van campaigns, and puppet showsgenerate positive word-of-mouth and influence buying decisions.Cholayil Ltd., a purveyor of the herbal soap Medimix, campaigned in mobile vans to promote its brand. We run a van campaign which visits the interior villages where there are no distributors. We halt the van at specific points [where village folks congregate and watch videos shown on these vans] and give out product samples. However, contrary to claims of Medimixs success, Malhotra believes that van campaigns can be very expensive. [Alternatively, promoting ones brand] in large congregation points like village markets and fairs has a far wider reach, and is more cost effective.

Direct media promotions have helped build knowledge of product categories and change long-entrenched living habits. Colgate-Palmolive, a leading oral hygiene product manufacturer, entered the rural market at a time when Neem twigs (the Neem tree has herbal properties) and non-dentifrice products like ash, charcoal, or salt were the norm for brushing teeth (in fact in some rural pockets, this tradition still continues). In 2001, Colgate-Palmolive launched Operation Jagruti to educate villagers about oral hygiene and its benefits vis--vis traditional products like Neem. Through product trials and free samples, the company was able to generate awareness in this new market. On a similar note, CK Ranganathan, managing director of Cavin Kare, notes, When we entered the rural areas in South India, people used to wash their hair with soap. When we launched the Chik brand of shampoo we educated the people on how to use it through live touch and feel demonstrations and also distributed free sachets at fairs. This strategy worked wonders in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradeshtwo important states in India. Colgate and Cavin Kare have shown that communication is key when it comes to building brands in rural markets. As R. V. Rajan, managing director of the Anugrah Advertising Agency, adds, To communicate effectively, it is important to understand the fears, aspirations, and hopes of the rural consumer. Not to mention the traditions and stereotypes that have governed their lives for centuries. While communicating the brand message, marketers must realize that language plays a prime role. Though a large part of urban India is well versed in English (thanks to the British and modern television), in rural India, heritage plays a powerful role and regional languages are predominant. There are 15 regional languages, and 1600 dialects in India, and as one moves into the countryside, English is replaced with regional tongues. V. S. Sitaram, Dabur India executive director, explains, Often people treat India as one big market, but the reality is that India is more like the European Uniona mix of different cultures, habits and languages. Dabur is also considering the use of South Indian celebrities to propagate the brand message in South India. Marketing companies not only need to customize their communication, but in some cases they must also change their product names to match regional differences. Take toothpaste, for example: Daburs Lal Dant Manjan (red toothpowder in Hindi) was rechristened as Dabur Sivappu Pal Podi (red toothpowder in Tamil, the local language) for the South Indian market.

Brand Building In Rural India A Road Map

An Article written by Mr. R Seshadri, Dy. Managing Director, Anugrah Madison (Jan 1, 2005) The day after Dr. Manmohan Singh was elected as the Prime Minister of India soon after the last Lok Sabha Elections, the newspapers across the nation carried excerpts from his Press Conference with the Headlines blaring Manmohan promises a new deal for Rural India (or something to this effect). Surely the new Government seemed to have seen the writing on the wall the fact that two other Chief Ministers from the South had lost their jobs because it was alleged that they did not pay enough attention to the development of their rural masses. When mighty politicians fall because they did not nurture their rural constituency, can you imagine the plight of a poor Brand Manager in a company who chooses to ignore Rural India!! Well, much has been said and written about the rural awakening among the denizens of Corporate India. Reams and reams of statistics has been churned out to prove what a Golden opportunity rural India offers to those willing to walk the dusty rural path and soil their hands amidst simple rural masses whose hopes and aspirations have been raised not only by the media explosion but also by the politicians who do not fail to meet them once in five years on their fancy Rath Yathras. However, one must admit that over the years, the politicians and bureaucrats have been doing their bit in terms of improving rural infrastructure rapidly. The Electrification of villages, phenomenal growth in rural telephone density, Gram Sadak Yojana, PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act are sure indicators of the increasing importance being given to Rural India by the Government. On the other hand, the mushrooming of internet kiosks and now the growing presence of Supermarkets and Hypermarkets catering to rural by corporates like ITC and DCL Shriram (Chaupal Sagar, Hariyali) proves that Corporate India too is keen on making its present felt in the countryside. Before I come to the specific issue of Building a Brand in Rural India, lets look at some pitfalls of building a brand in rural. Most marketing men adopt a few quick-fix strategies before venturing into the Rural markets with their brands. They merely strip down all the so-called frills from the product currently being sold in urban and believe that the product is ready to go rural. Just extend their brand to low cost packs, thus making it cheaper for rural. Or merely modify the packaging marginally. Eg: add the brand name in Vernacular languages, use cheaper packing material Just adapt the urban advertising i.e. dub the film in the local language, translate the print material Or offer meaningless sales promotion giveaways eg. Combs, spoons, tumblers, etc. FREE All these and more are just short-term measures to enter the rural markets. And if one believes that these will ensure success in the rural markets, it can but remain only as wishful thinking. What then is the route to building a Brand in rural ? A route that is sensitive and appropriate to the needs of the rural consumer.

I believe, that you can Build your Brand in Rural only if you build the following five attributes into your product : 1. Build customisation 2. Build Empathy / Relevance 3. Build Recognition 4. Build Word-of-mouth 5. Build Access Lets deal with each one of these issues separately and see how a combination of these measures can truly help Build a Brand in Rural India. BUILD CUSTOMISATION We all know that the rural markets and the rural consumers are quite distinct from their urban counterparts. Customising or reverse-engineering your products to suit the needs of the rural consumers is the key to success in the rural market place. One needs to first go into the rural markets to find out the wants, needs, aspirations and dreams of the rural consumer. One must meet up with the villagers to understand their expectations and create a product that is relevant to their needs. Which means its not enough to merely depend on research data or numbers from the airconditioned comfort of our office. We not only need to engineer a product that appeals to him but also need to go back to him for ratification of its relevance. The example of RUF & TUF ready-to-stitch jeans kit priced at Rs.195/a few years ago, customised for the rural market comes to mind as a fine example of building relevance for the market place. Despite the Brands subsequent decline (for various reasons), their approach to rural India and the phenomenal success they achieved has already become a part of marketing folklore. BUILD EMPATHY / RELEVANCE Building empathy for your brand begins with the Brand name. It is important to seek out a Brand name that is preferably vernacular, that is in tune with the ethos of the market and the social milieu it will sell in. And the same logic applies for the colour, the slogan and every aspect of communication. They must strike the right chord with the rural consumer and cannot be seen wearing urban glasses ! The glitz and glamour of urban advertising, the sophisticated graphics and gimmicks used in the execution of the commercials are beyond the scope of comprehension of an average rural consumer. When Philips launched a Rural thrust for their Audio & Video products in TN some years ago, my Agency created the memorable and eminently successful Enga Veetu Super Star Philips (The Super Star of my Home Philips) Campaign, which connected well with the rural audience since it was rooted in their culture, habit and attire without trying to make a fashion statement.

BUILD RECOGNITION There are two issues that need to be addressed while Building Recognition into a Brand targeting the Rural Market. a. The need for protection against the rampant prevalence of duplicate or parasite brands. b. The need to physically demonstrate the use of a product in view of the high involvement of a rural consumer in the purchase process. Visit any small town or village and you will find a brand that uses the same colour scheme, lettering style and pack graphics of a RIN or a PONDS except that it will be called REN or POMES. And most products have the Brand name written in English and Hindi. The unsuspecting rural consumer in the South, who can read neither of these languages is the main victim. The task for the original manufacturer is therefore cut-out. He not only needs to build-in distinct attributes into the Brand including rendering the Brand name in local languages but also draw the rural consumers attention through repeated communication. Secondly, the unhurried rural consumer, whose pace of life is slow and measured unlike his urban counterpart, has enough time on his hands to take his time in buying a product (particularly Durables). He is certainly not as savvy as an urban consumer in the usage of a product be it a shampoo, detergent powder or a television set. The key to success therefore lies in, clearly demonstrating the use of the Brand, which remains a critical element in the success of a Brand in rural. For example, some years ago, CavinKare found that though their shampoos were getting encouraging trials from the rural consumers, the penetration levels were extremely low. Many rural consumers had no clue how to use a shampoo. CavinKares team travelled extensively in rural pockets, caught hold of school boys to demonstrate how to lather, wash and comb hair! This exercise had significant impact and made the rural consumer comfortable with the concept of using a shampoo. BUILD POSITIVE WORD-OF-MOUTH We all know that most villages consist of distinct ethnic or caste groups to which the families belong, forming very strong homogenous rural communities. Here again unlike the urban consumer who tends to be far more individualistic in his buying habits, the rural consumer is largely influenced by the reference groups within the family, community or the village. Depending on the type of product being sold, the nature of the individuals driving these reference groups (or opinion leaders) would vary. The marketers targeting rural would do well if they clearly identify these reference groups to build positive word-of-mouth for the brand. Strong word-of-mouth for a brand can be built through executing customized events within the village revolving around the core message of a Brand, appealing to the core target group. BUILD ACCESS Reaching the rural consumer with their products and services remains the biggest challenge to an average marketer. Though on the face of it, the task of distribution to 6.38 lakh villages across the country appears daunting, 60% of rural wealth and 50% of rural population exists in the top 13% of these villages in the 2000 and above population strata. Again, 90% of Consumer Durables purchased by the rural people happen in just 1900 towns located in the 20,000 to 50,000 population strata.

The real challenge therefore, lies in accessing the last mile. Here again, if the existing infrastructure consisting of the omnipresent Public Distribution Shops, Post Offices, Mandis, Haats, Melas, etc., are tapped effectively, accessibility to the rural consumer can become less and less of an issue. HLL has already shown the way to marketing men through their SHAKTI Project on the effective use of Self Help Groups to access the last mile. I am sure as the days go by, the compulsive need to enter far flung rural homes will provoke marketing men to come up with more creative solutions for cracking this problem of Building Access. To conclude, Building a Brand in Rural India will continue to pose the biggest challenge to the marketing fraternity in the years to come. Hence, the Art and Science of Brand Building in rural needs to become an integral part of the learning process in the innumerable Management Institutions across the nation. It must become mandatory for every student to spend a few weeks in the midst of his rural brethren as a part of his learning. And for those practicing marketing professionals, it is not too late to go back to the class rooms and spend time in the idyllic rural countryside to understand this enigma called the Rural Consumer
INTRODUCTION The term "brand" which is defined as a name, term, sign, symbol or special design or some combination of these elements that is instead to identify or differentiate the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers. But a brand, by definition, has a very small description of a package of value, on which our consumers relies & do same consistently over a period of time. A brand makes a distinction for a product or service from competitive offerings. BRANDING PROCESS Branding is a process, as well a strategy for an orientation/ creating awareness sometimes with differentiations among products/service by which a marketer tries to build a long-term relationship with the customers, a tool to position a product or service with a consistent image of quality and value for money to ensure the development of a recurring preference by the consumer. Branding provides differentiation strategy when product cannot be easily distinguished. The process of creating a brand stems from research that starts with the concept of what the product is, and what its functions and objectives are. From this evolves the idea of what is should look, feel and talked about like. From these ideas generate the name and all its connation, after which packing, logo and communication strategies are developed. So Brand building is usually a long, tedious and methodical work involving segmentation, marketing mix, and packaging, technical and financial inputs. A branding process, if executed well creates a brand ie equipped to handle changes in demographics, thinking from and functional changes as well as competitor actions.97% of new brands that are developed in the FMCG sector failed due to the reason of static nature applicable to overall market as it requires a continuous change in product appearance and performance as well as the total value equation is must for survival of any brand. BRANDING IN RURAL INDIA The concept of branding entered in Indian rural markets. Consumers have graduated & aware about to branded products as they are also having better income opportunities with

increased affordability since last few years. A brand is recognized in the rural market with the help of colours, visual effect or any other identification rather than name which facilitates easy brand recall like: WO KALA WALA MANJAN DENA, WO NEELA WALA KAPDE DHONE KA SABUN DENA etc. But some brands are known by their names, for example, Nirma and Pan parag also. The challenges in creating a brand identity in rural involve the need to relate the brand with the rural lifestyle & behaviour, with appropriate status symbols, or with the rural environment. As most brands are introduced in urban markets and then move to rural, creating a brand identity in rural markets is really a tough job. As non of the biscuits industry can easily break the image of Parle-G specially in rural market as even a child can easily identify that. Building a brand image in rural areas/market place The brand should have its own individuality. It should work like a celebrity & the advertisement should be based on empathy so that it could create a feeling of belongingness among the rural consumers. As Mahindra & Mahindra have maintained their sterling image in rural. The Bhumiputra (son of soil) series of tractors,/ Ram ka Mesey, Shyam ka Taffe etc. with its rugged features. Studies also have evaluated that the brand loyalty in the rural areas is much higher as comparative to the urban ones. But it is possible just Because of the brand could found an acceptance in the rural market as the one offering good value proposition. But building brands in rural areas is a different. This requires a specific committed focus and may not happen as spill over from urban market or by doing slight modification in communication and brand building efforts that were planned for urban markets for that there are the following tools, approaches and strategies have been employed by different organizations, to successfully build their brand in the rural markets: CUSTOMIZATION A deep study of rural markets has the requirement to find out the needs, wants and aspirations of rural consumers by directly contacting them. This can be followed with creating or 're-modifying' a product or service delivery process to make it relevant to the need of rural consumers. The entire brand building efforts has to be built on the basis of their needs and aspirations from a specific product category and the corresponding value provided by the brand. RELEVANCE It should starts with the brand name itself and it is important that the brand name or the punch line is in lingo language and is in tune with the culture of the market and the social surroundings of the market in which the product is going to be sold. The same logic applies to the colour, logo, slogan and every aspect of communication so that it strikes a right chord with the rural consumer and they can relate to the message. The successful advertisement campaign by NAMAK with the tagline 'Desh ka Namak', has a celebrity endorser not as a hero but as one who is depicting an identity of population of different regions, speaking in the regional idiom; it was a campaign to which audiences could relate to.

MEDIA The media selection for a brand is really a tough taske for the branding as well very important, as the usual mass media may not prove to be very effective when used alone in the rural market. So, the organisation should select other below the line media as well; which can arouse the interest of rural consumers. The media selection should based on the purpose to build a wish for a particular brand i.e. live demonstrations, or contests depicting the qualities and the strengths of a given product. Demonstration vans with audiovisual equipments , which clearly demonstrate how a given product will solve the existing problems of rural consumers, are likely to have much deep-rooted impact, than the short commercial on TV. The brand building, can be done in the Mandis, Melas and other gatherings of the rural areas & can be followed by the presence of the organisation in the regular Haats and Mandis for live demonstration of the benefits and actual sales of a product. Because of high level of interaction, haats can be an effective medium for rural advertising. Villagers are in buying mood at the haats and mandis. MESSAGE Message for the brand building should be in the local manner of speaking and such that the rural audience can easily decode the intended meaning. Message should meet the rural sensibilities and should be modified in accordance with the cultural variation from one region to another. Message should be utilitarian and narrating the functional benefits of the product. Rural consumers have strong visual sense. As they relate more with logos, colour and symbols, icons. Therefore, these have to be built prominently in the overall communication. Otherwise the entire brand building effort can go haywire. IDENTIFICATION OF AUDIENCE The vast massive amount of the rural population either does not understand English or even is illiterate. So, it becomes extremely important that the illiterate rural consumers or those who can not understand English can be certain that they are getting what they are thinking of or desiring to have and not the cheap imitation or a fake product having a similar name. WORD OF MOUTH Rural communications effort undertaken by an organization should be such that it can generate a lot of publicity in the oral Leninist culture of rural India. Therefore, targeting the right set of opinion leaders with the campaigns which lead to oral publicity in the region is more likely to develop the brand recall than the five or ten seconds commercial on the TV, which the rural consumers are likely to forget at the time of the purchase. The rural consumers want more believable information and in order to be twice as sure they prefer to hear from other people whom they feel to be more dependable than the TV or print media advertisement. The stories they hear from others are more believable in from of clues and tips. CONCLUSION

So at the ending stage it can be said that 'branding' as a trend is getting established in the rural market. But the response of consumers towards brands varies region-wise i.e. from developed to the developing or under-developing areas. Different age groups with different socio-economic profile approach the branding trend in very different manner in the rural market across different product categories. So to estabilish a brand image in rural areas should be conducted with the help of various tools like customization, relevancy, word-ofmouth etc.

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Market seeding Direct marketing & exhibitions Top

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Strategies of Rural Branding

GoRural India provides complete end-to end communication package instead of focusing only on advertising. We cater to the last mile of the rural belts including semi-rural and smaller towns. Our rural services portfolio include:

Rural marketing and Branding Event Management Market day activities Visual Merchandising New offerings Other markets Research and Consulting

Rural Marketing and Branding

India is diverse in its culture, language, literacy levels, religion and socio - economic backgrounds. Many media campaigns by some of the biggest organizations have failed because of their lack of understanding on this diverse nature of our rural consumers. GoRural India however, is equipped with the right solutions.
Van Campaign the crowd puller

No distance is too long for us. We take your brands to the distant land, country side, semi urban towns and rural places through our innovative mobile van campaigns. With greater visibility and deep reach,

we make your brands ring bells in every nook and corner of India. Vehicles carrying advertisement always grab attention. Moreover, if it is in rural area, it certainly is a crowd puller. Van campaign is one of the most effective communication channels for rural consumers, since it involves inter personal communication with maximum target customers. Van campaigns help in:

Better brand building Higher product and brand visibility Product sampling and trials Carries electronic media like television ads Crowd pulling medium Retail merchandising

Door to door campaigns Branding at the door step

Taking the product to the door step of the target audience is a sure shot path for a wider reach. This not only ensures us from not missing any potential customer but also earns the trust of the customers. In rural areas with lesser population, the target customers for certain products are restricted to certain localities. Door to door campaigns have shown excellent results for high value products.
Theatre Branding and Trials Success through silver screen

Movies in theatres are Indias major source of entertainment in both the urban and rural areas. Hence theatres are a wonderful place for brand communication. We are tied up with most theatres, where in we conduct ad trials for research and further brand promotion.
Campus Activation:

We are connected to around 1000 colleges in the rural and semi urban areas. This would help us to directly interact to one of the most important growing target group of the country, the youth. For clients looking towards such target group in the rural front, a ready made youth centric platform is available for their marketing and branding campaigns.
Wall Paintings Writing success

This is one of the traditional modes of advertising, which is still popular in rural areas. They ensure high brand awareness, highlight key brand promise with high visibility, enhancing top-of-the-mind recall. Event Management

Folk media

The best way to inform anyone is by entertaining them. We understand and explore this aspect to our clients advantage. Rural masses can be easily reached through Folk media in the local language and local folk art. This makes it easy to convey the brand message and product benefits in an entertaining and interesting manner. We are associated with over 120 different folk groups across southern India to suit the tastes of different geographies. Some of our folk arts include

Burakhatha Pallesudhulu Yakshaganam Ugadolu Drum Beats Buttabommalu Pulivesham Daskathiya Palla Lavni Yakshagana Mimicry Magic shows

Interactive Games For effective communication

To ensure that we are communicating effectively, we need to get the target audience involved with the product and its experience. For this we design interactive games that invoke people participation at our rural kiosks drawing the attention of huge crowds. It also doubles the effect as it is the right place to conduct trial runs of the product, facilitating spot sales.
Festival Branding A community interaction opportunity

In rural part of southern India, festivals always demand community celebration with huge gatherings in specific locations. We deem this as a great opportunity for branding, trade exhibitions etc. Providing community services like water supply kiosks, first aid centres, pilgrimage help centres etc., will create a wonderful platform for close community interaction, branding and association with target customers.
Others events Information through entertainment

Events like sports, drama, food festivals, open air cinemas, infotainment programs etc., also do well in rural parts as they pull large crowds for entertainment.
New Town Launches Tailor-made for success

When all of the above elements are combined to the right effect, it is a New Town Launch. This aspect we have tailor- made for telecom majors, who have been our clients for a long time. So far we have successfully conducted over 3000 new town launches for various telecom products. In this we introduce the product in new towns and create awareness across the town. A new town launch could include:

Dealer meets Van Campaigns Town branding Coverage in local cable

Market Day activities A golden opportunity

At GoRural India, Mandis, Haats, Melas and special days of trade in different villages are Market Day events. The annual consolidated trade in these market centres is worth billions. We deem it to be a golden opportunity not to be missed by any organization.

We help our clients in identifying, planning and executing various events in various Market Days for effective product sales. These are few statistics signifying the importance.
MANDIS:

Total no of mandis:6800 Average population catered to by each mandi:1.36 lakh Most agricultural areas with population more than 10,000 have mandis.

HAATS:

APMC:

Average sale per day: Rs 2.25 lakh Number of sales outlets/haat: 300+ Number of visitors per haat: 4,500 Average sale per outlet: Rs900 Villages covered by haat: 20-50

MELA:

An APMC market on an average serves 435 sq km in the country. Farmers live within the radius of 40 kms of APMC

Average outlets in every mela: 850 Average sales per mela: Rs.143 lakh

Visual Merchandising

Visual merchandising is a critical dimension for any retail operation to be successful. It is an art of attracting the shopper's eye to your product and services. GoRural offers customized and focused visual merchandising solutions for you. Our solutions blend business and psychology of marketing at retail principles with technical skills in visual display, props, signage, and design techniques to make your merchandise an eye catcher. The R&D department at GoRural India is always on its toes to lookout for new and emerging opportunities in rural sector. The team through its research and study in recent times has identified newer delivering true corporate social possibilities. We have identified few new avenues for rural markets:
Pilot launches

GoRural India launches pilot programs for our clients who are looking to experiment with new markets and areas. Instead of going for a full fledged campaign, we help corporates test new waters incrementally. Depending on the results, we partner and advise the organization to decide upon the next course of action.
The Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)

is a marketing board established by the state governments of India order to facilitate farmers to sell

their produce and get reasonable price. India has a total 7557 regulated APMC yards in total.
Village Catalyst

Through the Village Catalyst model we create human nodes in village that help your brand become part of the rural lives. Catalysts educate rural folks on employability for free and help them connect to the mainstream job market. A catalyst is a bridge between the company and the rural populace. His constant involvement with the rural folks will embed the brand to become part of their lives. The catalyst model is a sustainable model for long living brand presence in rural markets along with delivering true corporate social responsibility
Haats

GoRural India sees a big opportunity in targeting HAATS as an avenue for brand awareness. Haats are unregulated open markets concentrating on rural retail where consumers and producers meet once or twice in a week to sell and buy. It is estimated that 47,000 haats are prevalent across the country that transact business worth 1 lakh crore every year.
Setting up franchisee outlets/retail stores

GoRural India with its deep rural penetration can guide corporates in opening up new franchisee outlets.