ROLE OF ADVERTISING IN RURAL INDIA Posted by Pravin thorat on January 21, 2011Leave a comment (1)Go to comments In India, the

advertising is mostly in English or Hindi. As rural markets widen beyond the English-and-Hindi knowing people, there are problems of translation into the vernaculars. Good translations are seldom easy; and there is often the need for thinking out the advertising concepts and the brand image in the local language itself. This is a problem for local copywriters to conceptualize in the vernacular, where necessary. Advertising in the local language in the absence of shortage of professionals, makes success of rural advertising campaigns difficult. It is a general assumption of advertising theory that advertising helps to create demand. It may be worth saying to what extent advertising creates demand, particularly in our rural society, which is in transition from traditional to modernity and to what extent it helps only to accelerate demand after the social and environmental changes have taken place. The basic trends for demand of products are determined primarily by prevailing social and environmental conditions. Advertising itself serves not so much to increase the demand for a product as to speed up the expansion of demand that may come up from favourable conditions and to retard advances due to unfavourable conditions. Most rural marketers treat this as an almost insoluble problem, because other factors also stimulate demand for e.g. price cuts, quality changes and increasing real incomes. We divert some resources from advertising to market research even at the risk of under advertising in rural areas This is essential because the basic marketing problem is the absence of elementary market research data individual rural areas. Individual fact, we do not know where we are going. Over planning leads to overcapitalization, from which it is very had to retreat. The five-year plans have been a classic exercise individual bad demand forecasting with sophisticated methods and poor data; and it has been compounded by business managements accepting national planning targets as gospel, without undertaking the responsibility of doing a measure of their own market research, which is an essential for rural markets individual India. The rural market information gap is wide enough to justify major collaboration between governments, universities, independent research

organizations and business. There is very little appreciation of it as a primary investment need, its very precondition; and very little money is spent by too few on it. Advertising caters to rural society with divergent life-styles and value systems presented an unusual challenge between the strategy of homogenization (overcoming the barriers between segments), and one of heterogenisation (capitalsing the very existence of many small riches). This sort of advertising involves constraints individual in the form of cost duplication of facilities and fragmentation. In such areas, the basic objective of advertising and market research may be to find and develop products, which may cut across heterogeneous preferences with common brands and similar or common advertising. Our rural marketers should keep an eye on import substitution and upgrade raw materials on the basis of research and development before they can ensure that adequate raw materials reach the manufacturing areas for products which would then reach rural markets individual a steady flow and at relatively stable prices. Tourist advertising and motivation pose a most fascinating challenge to our country with its old culture. Foreign tourist can be attracted to rural areas where historical monuments, game sanctuaries, and mountain and sea resorts exist. Rural India is a set of regional markets where cultural factors play a very important role. The raw materials come from the soil; and the relatively low productivity of Indian farmers is reflected in the low purchasing power of the rural buyer. The rural advertising problem in a country like India is related to political, social and economic problems. With low income from farms the question that arises is: can we afford the infrastructure of mass media for rural markets? The Indian rural market is very heterogeneous. Nevertheless, public advertisement is an important prerequisite for the creation of demand. The problem of rural consumer in our country is that he is traditional; to some extent, there is homogeneity and there are high resistance and low resistance products among the rural buyers. Rural buyers show a great many contradictions; and the advertising man has to understand them. For example, the poor spend lavishly on marriages; in certain parts rigid caste systems still exist; the community is more contended with whatever little it has. Many preach non-violence and practice violence. For mass media men to

motivate rural buyers to change their lifestyle is not therefore that easy. The concept of sufficiency is a hurdle to development and the problem of huge distances and inadequate outlets is quite considerable. Within a rural market, there are many mini markets based on caste, religion, language or other differences. All people living in an around these markets have distinctly different life-styles. The marketing men know that the cost of distribution increases as the town gets smaller and it is not economical to serve very small villages. Rural markets are no longer a sellers market now. Many people have underrated the strength of the market on the assumption that Indias rural poverty restricts rural purchases only to those items, which are basic necessities. This has turned out to be a myth now. The social status, needs, expenditure on weddings and entertainment, have influenced the operations of the rural markets. Many farmers travel to weekly markets to buy vegetables that they can themselves grow; but they go in order to have news, stimulation and for socialization. The bumper crops and the upturn in agricultural production have resulted in a considerable increase in the incomes of farmers and in their purchasing power. The increase in purchasing power in rural areas has generated vast potential markets for manufactured goods because the people want to raise their standard of living. New approaches must be evolved to awaken the rural population to the range of consumption possibilities open to them. Advertising and consumer research is essential for this purpose; for it must be determined not only what the villager wants but also what would motivate them to buy. Market research and consumer surveys are essential and should cover a fairly wide area of rural life, including the attitudes and aspirations of the rural buyer. In rural India the role that advertisement plays is major. It will enhance demand when favourable environment conditions have been created. Advertising does not create immediate demand. There is always an information gap. The biggest single advertising problem is the shortness of the reach of mass media. As our country is large, the problem is complex, for there is a huge potential rural market. There are not very many dailies in circulation; nor many a radio or transistor or a TV set. The mass media gap in India is as conspicuous as the income gap. Therefore, there is a need for extending basic infrastructure with a view to enlarging the reach of mass media in rural India. Hopefully, the electronic revolution will follow the green revolution in rural India. The different approaches to reach rural

buyers which may be profitably utilised include mobile publicity-cum-sales stalls, sales and cinema vans, participation in rural fairs and festivals. The value of this direct personal propaganda and selling cannot be overestimated, especially in the rural markets. These are often a potent means of changing habits by means of real life demonstrations of the goodness of the product and its utility, and by the invaluable personal link established between the seller and the buyer. In rural markets, persuasion by the opinion-makers, by the voice of authority counts; product messages may be conveyed in print, by the cinema, or in person by teacher, doctor, shopkeeper or village headman. In rural areas, the effective approach to be employed to reach the buyers is to establish contacts with local educators who can influence them by word-of-mouth. Such local educators are government officials, Block Development and Extension Officers, and Village Pardhans and School Teachers. To the extent that traditional social institutions like the panchayats still influence social habits, particularly at the time of marriages and festivals, they can be useful instruments for mass changes in consumer habits. They are usually strongholds of tradition: but when the strongholds themselves change, the surrounding societies are quick to follow suit. This is particularly so when change comes to the culture center of a community, the center from which new ideas radiate. According to one study, though most people consider the tradition-directed leaders to be an impediment in the communication process to induce changes, this is not necessarily true. The change via such leaders may be slow; but they (the leaders) reduce the risks and uncertainties of its consequences. They also help to generate confidence in the slower and later adapters. Both styles, the progressive and the traditional, may play their roles; and it is for rural marketers to realize their possibilities. The study also indicates that the influence of opinion leaders in such non-mass media societies is largely confined to small social segments and the immediate neighborhood structures. A rapid development, therefore, calls for the earliest possible extension of the mass media, especially the radio and TV. The villagers are slightly hesitant about going to slightly smart looking shops. The relatively prosperous family generally becomes the trendsetter group in the village and they must initially receive the advertisers attention. Advertising research may focus on the sources of awareness in the rural sector-the influencing the villages. It must concentrate on determining the

different influences the villages are exposed to, either in the village or his visits to the towns. A villager normally makes his household purchases from a nearby small town or a fair, but visits a district, town or a still larger market to fulfill his requirements of consumer durables. It would be useful to ascertain his motivation in selecting different markets for different purposes. Seasonality figures prominently rural buying habits on account of harvesting seasons, fairs, festivals, marriage, etc. these things should be plotted in advance for sales promotion and advertising information on the styles of rural buyers, his attitude towards processes durability and the incidence of impulse buying- these should be checked. The rural buyer in general is price conscious. Chester and sophisticated models of agricultural machinery, sewing machines etc, should therefore be more acceptable to rural consumer. The goods should be made available to the rural consumer at places that are more convenient to him. Ideally, it is desirable to get down to the village and combine the sales and advertising effort at that level. But practically this would be very difficult as selling cost would be very high if we allow this approach. To expand sales in rural markets, hire purchase facility should be extended. Effective after sales services should also be extended where a distributor/dealer has been appointed. Some incentives should be given to dealers to open bank accounts in nearby banking towns. Eighty percent of total population is in villages and about 60% of the national income comes from rural areas. There is an inequitable distribution of rural income amongst the rural folk. In India, the advertising is mostly in English or Hindi. As rural markets widen beyond the English-and-Hindi knowing people, there are problems of translation into the vernaculars. Good translations are seldom easy; and there is often the need for thinking out the advertising concepts and the brand image in the local language itself. This is a problem for local copywriters to conceptualize in the vernacular, where necessary. Advertising in the local language in the absence of shortage of professionals, makes success of rural advertising campaigns difficult.It is a general assumption of advertising theory that advertising helps to create demand. It may be worth saying to what extent advertising creates demand, particularly in our rural society, which is in transition from traditional to modernity and to what extent it helps only to accelerate demand after the social and environmental changes have taken place. The

basic trends for demand of products are determined primarily by prevailing social and environmental conditions. Advertising itself serves not so much to increase the demand for a product as to speed up the expansion of demand that may come up from favourable conditions and to retard advances due to unfavourable conditions. Most rural marketers treat this as an almost insoluble problem, because other factors also stimulate demand for e.g. price cuts, quality changes and increasing real incomes. We divert some resources from advertising to market research even at the risk of under advertising in rural areas This is essential because the basic marketing problem is the absence of elementary market research data individual rural areas. Individual fact, we do not know where we are going. Over planning leads to over-capitalization, from which it is very had to retreat. The five-year plans have been a classic exercise individual bad demand forecasting with sophisticated methods and poor data; and it has been compounded by business managements accepting national planning targets as gospel, without undertaking the responsibility of doing a measure of their own market research, which is an essential for rural markets individual India. The rural market information gap is wide enough to justify major collaboration between governments, universities, independent research organizations and business. There is very little appreciation of it as a primary investment need, its very precondition; and very little money is spent by too few on it. Advertising caters to rural society with divergent life-styles and value systems presented an unusual challenge between the strategy of homogenization (overcoming the barriers between segments), and one of heterogenisation (capitalsing the very existence of many small riches). This sort of advertising involves constraints individual in the form of cost duplication of facilities and fragmentation. In such areas, the basic objective of advertising and market research may be to find and develop products, which may cut across heterogeneous preferences with common brands and similar or common advertising. Our rural marketers should keep an eye on import substitution and upgrade raw materials on the basis of research and development before they can ensure that adequate raw materials reach the manufacturing areas for products which would then reach rural markets individual a steady flow and at relatively stable prices.Tourist advertising and

motivation pose a most fascinating challenge to our country with its old culture. Foreign tourist can be attracted to rural areas where historical monuments, game sanctuaries, and mountain and sea resorts exist. Rural India is a set of regional markets where cultural factors play a very important role. The raw materials come from the soil; and the relatively low productivity of Indian farmers is reflected in the low purchasing power of the rural buyer. The rural advertising problem in a country like India is related to political, social and economic problems. With low income from farms the question that arises is: can we afford the infrastructure of mass media for rural markets? The Indian rural market is very heterogeneous. Nevertheless, public advertisement is an important prerequisite for the creation of demand. The problem of rural consumer in our country is that he is traditional; to some extent, there is homogeneity and there are high resistance and low resistance products among the rural buyers. Rural buyers show a great many contradictions; and the advertising man has to understand them. For example, the poor spend lavishly on marriages; in certain parts rigid caste systems still exist; the community is more contended with whatever little it has. Many preach non-violence and practice violence. For mass media men to motivate rural buyers to change their lifestyle is not therefore that easy. The concept of sufficiency is a hurdle to development and the problem of huge distances and inadequate outlets is quite considerable. Within a rural market, there are many mini markets based on caste, religion, language or other differences. All people living in an around these markets have distinctly different life-styles. The marketing men know that the cost of distribution increases as the town gets smaller and it is not economical to serve very small villages. Rural markets are no longer a sellers market now. Many people have underrated the strength of the market on the assumption that Indias rural poverty restricts rural purchases only to those items, which are basic necessities. This has turned out to be a myth now. The social status, needs, expenditure on weddings and entertainment, have influenced the operations of the rural markets. Many farmers travel to weekly markets to buy vegetables that they can themselves grow; but they go in order to have news, stimulation and for socialization. The bumper crops and the upturn in agricultural production have resulted in a considerable increase in the incomes of farmers and in their

purchasing power. The increase in purchasing power in rural areas has generated vast potential markets for manufactured goods because the people want to raise their standard of living. New approaches must be evolved to awaken the rural population to the range of consumption possibilities open to them. Advertising and consumer research is essential for this purpose; for it must be determined not only what the villager wants but also what would motivate them to buy. Market research and consumer surveys are essential and should cover a fairly wide area of rural life, including the attitudes and aspirations of the rural buyer. In rural India the role that advertisement plays is major. It will enhance demand when favourable environment conditions have been created. Advertising does not create immediate demand. There is always an information gap. The biggest single advertising problem is the shortness of the reach of mass media. As our country is large, the problem is complex, for there is a huge potential rural market. There are not very many dailies in circulation; nor many a radio or transistor or a TV set. The mass media gap in India is as conspicuous as the income gap. Therefore, there is a need for extending basic infrastructure with a view to enlarging the reach of mass media in rural India. Hopefully, the electronic revolution will follow the green revolution in rural India. The different approaches to reach rural buyers which may be profitably utilised include mobile publicity-cum-sales stalls, sales and cinema vans, participation in rural fairs and festivals. The value of this direct personal propaganda and selling cannot be overestimated, especially in the rural markets. These are often a potent means of changing habits by means of real life demonstrations of the goodness of the product and its utility, and by the invaluable personal link established between the seller and the buyer. In rural markets, persuasion by the opinion-makers, by the voice of authority counts; product messages may be conveyed in print, by the cinema, or in person by teacher, doctor, shopkeeper or village headman. In rural areas, the effective approach to be employed to reach the buyers is to establish contacts with local educators who can influence them by word-of-mouth. Such local educators are government officials, Block Development and Extension Officers, and Village Pardhans and School Teachers. To the extent that traditional social institutions like the panchayats still influence social habits, particularly at the time of marriages and festivals, they can be useful instruments for mass changes in consumer habits. They are usually strongholds of tradition: but when the strongholds themselves

change, the surrounding societies are quick to follow suit. This is particularly so when change comes to the culture center of a community, the center from which new ideas radiate. According to one study, though most people consider the tradition-directed leaders to be an impediment in the communication process to induce changes, this is not necessarily true. The change via such leaders may be slow; but they (the leaders) reduce the risks and uncertainties of its consequences. They also help to generate confidence in the slower and later adapters. Both styles, the progressive and the traditional, may play their roles; and it is for rural marketers to realize their possibilities. The study also indicates that the influence of opinion leaders in such non-mass media societies is largely confined to small social segments and the immediate neighborhood structures. A rapid development, therefore, calls for the earliest possible extension of the mass media, especially the radio and TV. The villagers are slightly hesitant about going to slightly smart looking shops. The relatively prosperous family generally becomes the trendsetter group in the village and they must initially receive the advertisers attention. Advertising research may focus on the sources of awareness in the rural sector-the influencing the villages. It must concentrate on determining the different influences the villages are exposed to, either in the village or his visits to the towns. A villager normally makes his household purchases from a nearby small town or a fair, but visits a district, town or a still larger market to fulfill his requirements of consumer durables. It would be useful to ascertain his motivation in selecting different markets for different purposes. Seasonality figures prominently rural buying habits on account of harvesting seasons, fairs, festivals, marriage, etc. these things should be plotted in advance for sales promotion and advertising information on the styles of rural buyers, his attitude towards processes durability and the incidence of impulse buying- these should be checked. The rural buyer in general is price conscious. Chester and sophisticated models of agricultural machinery, sewing machines etc, should therefore be more acceptable to rural consumer. The goods should be made available to the rural consumer at places that are more convenient to him. Ideally, it is desirable to get down to the village and combine the sales and advertising effort at that level. But practically this would be very difficult as selling cost would be very high if

we allow this approach. To expand sales in rural markets, hire purchase facility should be extended. Effective after sales services should also be extended where a distributor/dealer has been appointed. Some incentives should be given to dealers to open bank accounts in nearby banking towns. Eighty percent of total population is in villages and about 60% of the national income comes from rural areas. There is an inequitable distribution of rural income amongst the rural folk.

Wooing Rural Customers! Dr Tapan K Panda (The author looks at the potential of the rural markets of India and innovative strategies followed by the advertisers to woo rural audience for making a brand choice) Since long Indian marketers are trying to consolidate their brands in the rural markets of India. The estimate speaks of the potential volume of business that can be generated in Indian Rural markets. The estimate is about three times that of the European Market. Yet there has not been substantial progress in this area. The reasons are well known. The rural market is typically a seasonal market. The consumption level goes high in post monsoon and dries up during non-crop period. The unit disposable consumption level is very low and the assortment has to be made in a different size compared to the urban market to make it suitable for the rural customers pocket. Multiplicity of assortment adds up to the cost level of the product and works against adding experience effect to the production. Further more the distributed settlement and high transportation cost makes it potentially less feasible for many

companies to launch products for rural consumption. Yet few success stories in Indian marketing history makes it a point to enter in to the rural market. The pressure from the multinationals in the urban markets is also forcing the domestic marketers to search for alternatives. The saturation of urban markets, the demanding urban customers and intermediaries and frequent promotion schemes to break the brand loyalty level are factors forcing for an entry in to the rural market. But rural market has its own inherent problems! One of them being the low level of education that creates problem in brand identification. Since they can not read the brand names and price tags it makes it easier for the clones to launch brands similar in label and design and spoil the brand image of the so called successful urban brands. Unscrupulous retailers are taking the benefit and damaging the perception of the brands before they actually enter in to the rural market. So marketers and advertisers are looking for alternate medium for promoting brands through advertising. The success of a

business in India will be decided in future by its success in the heart of India i.e. the rural market. The rural advertising in India needs some innovative and alternative media to woo the customers. The conventional wisdom of urban glossy advertising and fantasy mix through television is not going to work in the rural markets. The Joint Publicity Committee of the nationalized banks started advertising through mobile van publicity in early 90s in the rural markets of India. It is a potential tool for reaching customers but how do we do that? The best would be to make an announcement in the village about a show of some religious and holy films in the local language and in between we can carry the message to the audience. Rural advertising strategy is not only important for those who are planning for a brand promotion in the rural market but also for the existing players in the businesses like tractors, pesticides, fertilizers. Conventional media like television and radio covers some of the areas but still 265 million are beyond the catch of advertisers through the available vehicles! Even though there is a reach to the villages but how many of them have the rural electricity to run the shows! The rural audience may have the purchase parity to be a potential

customer but his idea of consumption and behavior as a consumer is completely different. So the vehicle as well as the message has to be in the liking of the rural customer. Corporations and advertising agencies have started working out in this area. The puppet shows in Punjab, Folk media like Ragini in Haryana for communicating qualities of Virat cement, Pala and Daskathia in Orissa for promoting safe electricity consumption and tooth pastes of Colgate Palmolive, Baul songs in West Bengal for advertising insecticides are some of the examples. Britannia has entered in to the rural market by participating in rural melas and displaying its down market brand Britannia Tiger Biscuits. These rural melas and weekly haats have become more popular medium of rural advertising by the media planners. Through this arrangement they can break the saddle of scant geographical distribution of customers in rural markets as people of number of villages assemble together to participate in the fair. It is a good ground for brand awareness building, trial sales and sampling. It provides a wider audience at a fairly low cost. Companies like HLL, Titan and Colgate Palmolive use festivals like Rathyatra, Kumbhmela, and Onam

for brand promotion. These companies are following a typical media schedule and are always in a march from one place to the other with our festival calendar and a collapsible arrangement of the exhibition setup. Companies can also use popular forms of entertainment like puppetry, nautanki, ragini, bhangra, qaualli and traditional dance shows to increase the brand experience. The companies can develop a story line relating to the brand and show the characters using the brands for their advantage and even the dresses of the characters can be that of the brands packaging. The Lowe Lintas s database covering 5.96 lakh villages over 459 districts suggest the best places to undertake a brand promotion. The recent example of adopting a railway station by Titan during Kumbha mela helped them to generate a high brand recall as for each arrival of the train the announcement was made Welcome to SonataNaini. The extensive network of postal and medical workers throughout the country can be used as an alternative vehicle for brand promotion in the rural areas. The days are not far when the postbox, post office walls and the postmans dress will carry the logo and

brand names of companies, the walls of the rural primary health centers, the schools will be covered by suitable brand advertising catering to the taste of the rural target market. Once this innovation of reaching through alternate cost effective media starts then the rural consumption will go high making it potentially more attractive than the urban market.

Advertising & Sales Promotional Strategies In Rural Market - Presentation Transcript 1. Advertising & Sales promotional strategies in rural market 2. 3. Dabur uses Astra to boost rural sales
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Shopkeepers selling Dabur India's consumer products would now learn marketing through role-plays staged by professional actors at their shops. As part of a recent initiative titled Astra, advanced sales training for retail ascendance, FMCG major has recruited 75 sales and HR managers across the country who would educate over 2,000 distribution channel partners of the firm about the complexities of sales and distribution through the audio-visual medium Dabur has a distribution reach of 25 lakh retail outlets across the country. About 75 per cent of the company's sales come form rural areas, hence, it has created the Astra training consultancy module in five vernacular languages, Bengali, Tamil, telungu, Malayalam and Kannada

4. Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd (BBLIL)

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Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd (BBLIL) markets its rural brands through magic shows and skits. Reckitt and Colemen uses NGO's in rural areas to educate customers about product benefits which establishes one to one communication channels. HLL's Operation Bharat to tap the rural markets. Under this operation it passed out lowpriced sample packets of its toothpaste, fairness cream, Clinic Plus shampoo, and Ponds cream to twenty million households. Today, these brands have a flourishing market in rural India.

5. PHILIPS INDIA LTD. - ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EQUIPMENT

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Objective - promote Phillips Electronic Entertainment products, viz., Stereos and CTVs, among the rural population of Tamil Nadu. Communication Strategy - Based on information regarding buyer behavior. 'Philips Super Shows' were conducted in five district headquarters with the intention of motivating dealers as well as opinion leaders to generate word-of mouth publicity, as a first step.

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This was followed by extensive van operation in 5000+ population areas with audience participation techniques for mouthing the brand, supported by mass media campaign in regional press (district wise edition), rural cinemas, radio, wall painting and intensive merchandising activities. Marico Industries - Parachute Coconut Oil Pouches With the objective of creating awareness for Parachute Coconut Oil pouches in towns with less than 20,000 population in Tamil Nadu, and in order to convert loose oil buyers into Parachute pouch customers, Marico Industries launched a van campaign. The communication Strategy focused on getting women out of their homes to participate in the van campaign, which was aimed exclusively for them and for the first time conducted by women. Result - A study by Marico showed a 25per cent conversion from loose coconut oil usage to Parachute Pouch Pack, post van campaign and a substantial increase in sales from the campaign areas ACC Limited - ACC Suraksha Cement In a market dominated by graded cements in the semi urban/rural areas of Karnataka, ACC Cement ventured out to establish the superiority of ACC Suraksha blended cement and build an image of a Premium Cement for the brand.To reach the opinion leaders viz. Architects, Engineers, Contractors, etc.,the assistance of the regional local press was sought and other Direct Marketing efforts such as field meetings with small groups of masons & customers were used. Result - A post-campaign study initiated by ACC revealed tangible improvement in off-take in the state of Karnataka andan extremely positive response from dealers, who believed that the campaign helped in strengthening their hands. Source: Anugrah Madison Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

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8. Success Stories in Rural Market

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Lever's Breeze soap A1 Tea, Britannia's Tiger biscuits, LG's Sampoorna 502 Pataka Chai, the tea brand.

9. Rural Promotion
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Promotion is the process of marketing communication to inform, persuade, remind and influence consumers or users in favour of your products and service .

The Product The Company Buyer Channel 10.The Promotion Media

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Newspaper : Eenadu(A.P), Dina Thanthi ( Tamil Nadu), Punjab Kesari (North), Loksatta (Maharashtra), Anand Bazaar Patrica (West Bengal), Daink Baskar (North) Television: Sun TV (Tamilnadu), Asianet (Kerla), Eenadu( AP), Aplha Punjabi (North), Aplha Mararthi (Maharashtra). Radio: Radio reach is highest in Kerla (62%) followed by Tamil Nadu (35%) and Karnataka (32%). Example : Colgate, Jyoti Labs, Zandu Balm are some of the company using radio communication programme. A ten second spot in Regional station would cost only about Rs. 2000/Cinema :1. Films on products like Vicks, Lifeboy, Colgate and Shampoos are shown in rural cinemas halls. 2.LIC and Private insurance companies have been showing short movies in rural theatres to create awareness about life insurance Outdoor Advertisement Form of media which includes signboard, wall painting, hoarding tree boards bus boards etc.

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Direct Mail Advertising: Mailers for seed and pesticides to be sent as per agricultural season. Direct mailers on consumer durables to be sent during the harvesting season so that the farmers will,. have money for purchasing the same.

14.Farm to Farm / House to House

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Many LIC agents and companies dealing with high value consumer durables have tried this approach with success in rich rural areas. ACC representatives retailers make house-to house visit and give information about product stability.

15.Group Meeting
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The Banker once in a week visit a village get the villagers in school hall or Panachyat office and explain to the villagers the various financial facilities offered by the bank MRF conduct tractor owners meet in association with local distributors.

16.Opinion Leaders
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Asian Paints promoted its Utasv brand of paint by painting the village Sarpanchs house a few months prior to the launch to demonstrate that the paint does not peel off and is an ideal replacement of chuna. The health development assistant of HUl regularly meets school teachers to promote Lifeboy soap in Villages.

17.The Melas ( It is estimated that over 20,000 melas are conducted every year)
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Paint compaines supooerting Pola fair in Maharashtra by painting the horns of the bulls. Sonepur Mela, Vaisakh Purnima Mela( Bihar). Navaratri Fair, Ambaji (Gujarat) Naucahndi Mela, Ramlila Mela(UP) Kartik Mela, Gwalior Trade Fair( MP)

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18.Haats ( On certain days of the week , both the sellers and buyers meet in the villager to buy and sell goods and services).

Parachut Oil, Nirma washing powder and tiger brand biscuits have been promoted through haats.

About 40,000 Haats are held in rural areas in our country, highest number haats in U.P (10,000). 19 Audio Visual Van ( The van is a mobile promotion station having facilities for screening films, slides and mike publicity.
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Nippo promotes batteries through specially designed vans called melavans. The van are equipped with TV/VCR for showing products awareness films. Colgate India makes extensive use of VANs. ITCs mobile Vans take the message of e-choupal to new village.

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4 As approach of Indian Rural Market Opportunity The Indian rural market with its vast size and demand base offers a huge opportunity that MNCs cannot afford to ignore. With 128 million households, the rural population is nearly three times the urban. As a result of the growing affluence, fuelled by good monsoons and the increase in agricultural output to 200 million tonnes from 176 million tonnes in 1991, rural India has a large consuming class with 41 per cent of India's middle-class and 58 per cent of the total disposable income. The importance of the rural market for some FMCG and durable marketers is underlined by the fact that the rural market accounts for close to 70 per cent of toilet-soap users and 38 per cent of all two-wheeler purchased. The rural market accounts for half the total market for TV sets, fans, pressure cookers, bicycles, washing soap, blades, tea, salt and toothpowder, What is more, the rural market for FMCG products is growing much faster than the urban counterpart. The 4A approach The rural market may be appealing but it is not without its problems: Low per capita disposable incomes that is half the urban disposable income; large number of daily wage earners, acute dependence on the vagaries of the monsoon; seasonal consumption linked to harvests and festivals and special occasions; poor roads; power problems; and inaccessibility to conventional advertising media. However, the rural consumer is not unlike his urban counterpart in many ways. The more daring MNCs are meeting the consequent challenges ofavailability, affordability, acceptability and awareness (the so-called 4 As) Availability The first challenge is to ensure availability of the product or service.India 's 627,000 villages are spread over 3.2 million sq km; 700 million Indians may live in

rural areas, finding them is not easy. However, given the poor state of roads, it is an even greater challenge to regularly reach products to the far-flung villages. Any serious marketer must strive to reach at least 13,113 villages with a population of more than 5,000. Marketers must trade off the distribution cost with incremental market saturation. Over the years, India's largest MNC, Hindustan Lever, a subsidiary of Unilever, has built a strong distribution system which helps its brands reach the interiors of the rural market. To service remote village, stockiest use autorickshaws, bullock-carts and even boats in the backwaters of Kerala. Coca-Cola, which considers rural India as a future growth driver, has evolved a hub and spoke distribution model to reach the villages. To ensure full loads, the company depot supplies, twice a week, large distributors which who act as hubs. These distributors appoint and supply, once a week, smaller distributors in adjoining areas. LG Electronics defines all cities and towns other than the seven metros cities as rural and semi-urban market. To tap these unexplored country markets, LG has set up 45 area offices and 59 rural/remote area offices. Affordability The second challenge is to ensure affordability of the product or service. With lowdisposable incomes, products need to be affordable to the rural consumer, most ofwho are on daily wages. Some companies have addressed the affordability problem by introducing small unit packs. Godrej recently introduced three brands of Cinthol, Fair Glow and Godrej in 50-gm packs, priced at Rs 4-5 meant specifically for Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the so-called `Bimaru' States. Hindustan Lever, among the first MNCs to realize the potential of India's rural market, has launched a variant of its largest selling soap brand, Lifebuoy at Rs 2 for 50 gm. The move is mainly targeted at the rural market. Coca-Cola has addressed the affordability issue by introducing the returnable 200-ml glass bottle priced at Rs 5. The initiative has paid off: Eighty per cent of new drinkers now come from the rural markets. Coca-Cola has also introduced Sunfill, a powdered soft-drink concentrate. The instant and ready-to-mix Sunfill is available in a single-serve sachet of 25 gm priced at Rs 2 and mutiserve sachet of 200 gm priced at Rs 15. Acceptability The third challenge is to gain acceptability for the product or service. Therefore,there is a need to offer products that suit the rural market. One company whichhas reaped rich dividends by doing so is LG Electronics. In 1998, it developed a

customized TV for the rural market and christened it Sampoorna. It was a runwayhit selling 100,000 sets in the very first year. Because of the lack of electricity andrefrigerators in the rural areas, Coca-Cola provides low-cost ice boxes a tin boxfor new outlets and thermocol box for seasonal outlets. The insurance companies that have tailor-made products for the rural market have performed well. HDFC Standard LIFE topped private insurers by selling policies worth Rs 3.5 crores in total premium. The company tied up with nongovernmental organizations and offered reasonably-priced policies in the nature of group insurance covers. With large parts of rural India inaccessible to conventional advertising media only 41 per cent rural households have access to TV building awareness is another challenge. Fortunately, however, the rural consumer has the same likes as the urban consumer movies and music and for both the urban and rural consumer, the family is the key unit of identity. However, the rural consumer expressions differ from his urban counterpart. Outing for the former is confined to local fairs and festivals and TV viewing is confined to the state-owned Doordarshan. Consumption of branded products is treated as a special treat or luxury. Awareness Hindustan Lever relies heavily on its own company-organized media. These are promotional events organized by stockiest. Godrej Consumer Products, which is trying to push its soap brands into the interior areas, uses radio to reach the local people in their language. Coca-Cola uses a combination of TV, cinema and radio to reach 53.6 per cent of rural households. It doubled its spend on advertising on Doordarshan, which alone reached 41 per cent of rural households. It has also used banners, posters and tapped all the local forms of entertainment. Since price is a key issue in the rural areas, Coca-Cola advertising stressed its `magical' price point of Rs 5 per bottle in all media. LG Electronics uses vans and road shows to reach rural customers. The company uses local language advertising. Philips India uses wall writing and radio advertising to drive its growth in rural areas. The key dilemma for MNCs ready to tap the large and fast-growing rural market is whether they can do so without hurting the company's profit margins

Advertising is the promotion of a product or service and is extremely pervasive in contemporary society. To maximize sales, companies will pay a premium for wide exposure through the mass media. Advertising space is common, but not restricted to these realms; billboards, public transportation, movies (product placement), schools, clothing, even bathroom stalls carry ads and the industry is constantly finding new ways to advertise. The United States has the largest advertising market, accounting for half of the world's advertising expenditures (estimated at 500 billion in 2004 by the New Yorker). Japan holds a secure second place over Germany and the United Kingdom but still at less than one fifth of the U.S. total. In the United States, the number one target market for most major companies is the youth market. American youth spend over $70 billion a year as consumers and also influence their parents purchases (The Educators Reference Desk). Marketing to youth begins in early childhood where approximately 90% of the ads shown during childrens programs promote food and drink products. Companies believe that young people are more inclined to be loyal to their favorite products if they are influenced early on. Most companies employ other persuasive tactics to lure the youth dollar, like enlisting celebrity endorsers. Actors, musicians, and athletes earn a lot of money to promote everything from cereal to expensive clothes and lifestyle choices. Companies hope that youth will define their personal identity through a loyalty to what they buy, wear and eat. Although the majority of youth are attracted to logos, brand names, and popular chains, many others resist brand culture for political reasons. One example of resistance is the culture jam movement in North America. Founder and publisher of Adbusters magazine Kalle Lasn and other media activists are concerned about the erosion of our physical and cultural environments by commercial forces. Culture jamming aims to change the way information flows, the way institutions wield power, the way television stations are run and how food, fashion, automobile, sports, music and culture industries set their agendas.

WALL PAINTING An Economical and best Media in Rural Marketing

Wall Paintings are an effective and economical medium for advertising in rural areas. They are silent unlike traditional theatre .A speech or film comes to an end, but wall painting stays as long as the weather allows it to. Retailer normally welcomes paintings of their shops, walls, and name boards. Since it makes the shop look cleaner and better. Their shops look alluring and stand out among other outlets. Besides rural households shopkeepers and panchayats do not except any payment, for their wall to be painted with product messages. To get one's wall painted with the product messages is seemed as a status symbol.

The greatest advantage of the medium is the power of the picture completed with its local touch The images used have a strong emotional association with the surrounding, a feat impossible for even a moving visual medium like television which must use general image to cater to greatest number of viewers.A good wall painting must meet some criteria to generate awareness and remind consumer about the brand. The wall should :The most frequented shops can be painted from inside also one feet above the ground level. It is courteous to take the verbal permission of owner .

The permission is normally given However by taking the permission of the rural retailers or house owners, one gets the owner morally committed to taking care of wall painting The message should be simple, direct and clear .

A definite way of arresting is to use bright colors and these do not fade away easily A good paint will survive the ravages of dust, sand and rainstorms for about three years Paintings must be taken after rainfall. It should be peaked up during the festival and post harvest season. To derive maximum mileage their usage needs to be planned meticulously.

Renown Advertising Private Limited Published by Renown Advertising Private Limited at 10:05 PM0 Advertising Comments Labels: Renown Advertising Private Limited, Wall Painting

RURAL MOBILE VAN

MOBILE VAN An Effective way of Communication

The wastage of conventional media is often masked by statistics of coverage based on published data on reach. In reality, the actual reach of conventional media in the rural segment is very low and there fore cost-ineffective. This is particularly true of print media viz newspapers and magazines; Female readership of the print media is low even in the urban market: in rural market, it is virtually negligible. The reach of TV in the rural segment is limited and largely restricted to Black & White sets. In addition to clutter, the viewer is subject to vagaries in power supply in the rural environment leading rural marketers have depended a great deal on outdoor media, particularly wall painting. With a limitation of visual communication MIS believes this medium is basically unreliable and messages are often over- painted with other messages almost immediately. It is also important to consider the state of the mind when messages are beamed to a target segment.

In conventional media, your message will be one of several messages received, often barely subliminally by the viewer/reader. The video van is a medium that reaches the target segment and has his/her undivided attention and more so provides an opportunity for 2 way communications. An opportunity to create a multi media blitz for the product and highly focused advertising targeted at the interior village consumer. MOBILE VIDEO VANS- MODULATES of OPERATIONVAN WORKING: A Video van covers 2 /3 villages in a day to cover up to 22 to 78 villages in one route cycle of 26 operating days. 2/3 shows are screened on each operating day. One shows in the day time and one show after undown through 21 colour TV or projection on 100 screen. Each show is one hour in duration consisting of film songs, dialogs & dharmik serials interspersed with advertising time.Shows are preceded by day time activity to include extensive audio publicity coupled with distribution of printed publicity materials, sport sales, retailing, merchandising, Attractive games and market survey can also be conducted during the day time. OPERATING SCHEDULES: The operating schedules along with the detailed route plane is finalized at least 15 days before commencement. Route plane specifies movement of a mobile video van for one cycle of 26 operating days. EQUIPMENT & PERSONNEL: Each video van has a colour TV/ PROJECTION System consisting of a VCD/VCR, audio support system with cassette player, microphone, horns / Sound box, an on-board self generating UPS system or a genset for power supply. A crew of 3 trained personnel consisting of a van supervisor, an equipment operator and a driver com helper. A megaphone is provided with the van to facility audio publicity. MOBILE HOARDING: Hoarding space available on sides of the video vans is utilized to paint your advertising message or product visual. MONITERING AND CONTROL: Daily feedback reports are prepared for each show are submitted on weekly basis and the monthly reports are completion of each van cycle. Internal inspections are conducted regularly to keep checks on proper functioning of the equipment and personnel. MAINTENANCE: Video vans operate on continuous basis. Maintenance of the equipment is done on board. Schedules of preventive maintenance of the van are intimated in advance to ensure minimal disruption in the publicity program. Van crew and software are replaced on board without disruption to program. ALTERNATES IN MOBILE VIDEO VANS: The options are video vans in form of matador and those vans built on LCV chassis. In both case the projection is done on 100 screens. LCV vans have a collapsible screen fixed on the rear side of the van. Matadors have a portable screen structure operation of Matadors provides the flexibility to position the van in interior of villages, which is rendered inaccessible to LCV vans because of narrow approach roads and multiple overhang structures. LCVs offer a larger hoarding space Matadors while having. A smaller hoarding space can move through a village for audio publicity obviating the need for a moped. This movement enhances van publicity to the target segment and offset reduction in hoarding space. It also increases efficacy of audio publicity towards garnering consumer participation in van activities.

Advertising Market Stats/Projections:

The overall advertising and media industry is expected to close at Rs 21,314 crore in revenues in 2008, riding a 20 per cent growth rate Television advertising market is projected at Rs 8,674 crore in 2008 The print industry stands at nearly Rs 10,000 crore. The cinema medium will corner around 0.7 per cent of the total advertising budget in 2008. Outdoor media industry will grow at 14 per cent to touch Rs 1,454 crore, Radio is likely to record a 40 per cent growth in 2008 to touch Rs 672 crore [via BS]

And the most awaited: Internet advertising will constitute only 1.7 per cent of the overall advertising spends in 2008, up from the current 1.4 per cent. Whats really driving the growth in Television industry is the focus on regional language channels. Network 18 and NDTV are going very strong in the local market and emergence of regional channels/ shopping channels is becoming an attractive play for local advertisers to invest in. This is where online advertising has a major challenge lack of regional content and substantial number of eye balls to monetize. Do you think Mobile Internet can overcome this challenge? Whats your take?

Coca-Cola in Rural India - Presentation Transcript

1. 2. 3. Rural Market Scenario Coke in Rural India Submitted to:- Mr.N.H Mullick

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Most MNCs that came in to India after 1999 targeted India upper middle class to earn more revenues. According to industry estimates rural India accounts for 74% of population and 58% of indian rural disposable income. Rural India is also characterized by growing affluence: agricultural output increasingly to early 215 millions tonnes in 2004 compared to 176 millions in 1991. Rural Market Scenario

4.

According to data compiled by the National Council of Applied Economic Research rural India now accounts for the 70% of toilet soap users, and 38% of two-wheelers purchases come from India.

Atlanta based Coca-Cola company is one of the first global majors to have spotted the potential spin offs from the countrys rural market.

It has perfected a unique supply chain to cater to indias vast rural markets hinterland. The results are working and cocacola India rural penetration increased from 13 percent in 2001 to 25 percent in mid 2003.

5.

Rural Market Scenario

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Over this period, the numbers of companys rural distributors increased from less than 4000 to 5500. Colas, being fast moving consumer good, hold enormous potential from a manufacturer like the coca-cola company. The biggest reason for this is the low per capita consumption, which coke estimates at 3.7 bottles person per year compared to 10 bottles per person per year for all India.

6.

Rural Market Scenario

Breaking to this market required innovative thinking and a new strategy. Rural india meant reaching 6,27,000 square Km; it meant getting distributors to travel 200 kms to reach five shops with drop sizes of than a case.

A typical village retail environment consists of 4-5 kirana shops( stripped down version of mom and pop shops), the size of such stores varies depending on the size and population density of village where it serves.

7.

Coke in India

Coca-Cola was the leading soft drink brand in India until 1977 when it left rather than reveal its formula to the government and reduce its equity stake as required under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) which governed the operations of foreign companies in India.

After a 16-year absence, Coca-Cola returned to India in 1993, cementing its presence with a deal that gave Coca-Cola ownership of the nation's top soft-drink brands and bottling network.

8.

Coke in India

Cokes acquisition of local popular Indian brands including Thums Up (the most trusted brand in India21), Limca, Maaza, Citra and Gold Spot provided not only physical manufacturing, bottling, and distribution assets but also strong consumer preference.

Leading Indian brands joined the Company's international family of brands, including Coca-Cola, diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta, plus the Schweppes product range.

In 2000, the company launched the Kinley water brand and in 2001, Shock energy drink and the powdered concentrate Sunfill hit the market. Coke in India

9.

Coca-Cola India achieved 39% volume growth in 2002 while the industry grew 23% nationally and the Company reached breakeven profitability in the region for the first time.

Coca-Cola India produced its beverages with 7,000 local employees at its twenty-seven wholly-owned bottling operations supplemented by seventeen franchisee-owned bottling operations and a network of twenty-nine contract-packers to manufacture a range of products for the company.

10. Coke in India

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Coke and Pepsi dominated the market and together had a consolidated market share above 95%. While soft drinks were once considered products only for the affluent, by 2003 91% of sales were made to the lower, middle and upper middle classes. Soft drink sales in India grew 76% between 1998 and 2002, from 5,670 million bottles to over 10,000 million and were expected to grow at least 10% per year through 2012.

11. Coke in India

In spite of this growth, annual per capita consumption was only 6 bottles versus 17 in Pakistan, 73 in Thailand, 173 in the Philippines and 800 in the United States.

With its large population and low consumption, the rural market represented a significant opportunity for penetration and a critical battleground for market dominance.

In 2001,Coca-Cola recognized that to compete with traditional refreshments including lemon water, green coconut water, fruit juices, tea, and lassi, competitive pricing was essential.

12. Coke Rural Initiatives

Coca-Cola India doubled the number of outlets in rural areas from 80,000 in 2001 to 160,000 in 2003, which increased market penetration from 13 per cent to 25 per cent. It brought down the average price of its products from Rs 10 to Rs 5, thereby bridging the gap between soft drinks and other local options like tea, butter milk or lemon water. It doubled the spend on Doordarshan, increased price compliance from 30 per cent to 50 per cent in rural markets and reduced overall costs by 40 per cent.

13. Coke Rural Initiatives

It also tapped local forms of entertainment like annual haats and fairs and made huge investments in infrastructure for distribution and marketing.

Result: the rural market accounts for 80 per cent of new Coke drinkers and 30 per cent of its volumes.

The rural market for Coca-Cola grew at 37 per cent over the last year, against a 24 per cent growth in urban areas. Per capita consumption in rural areas has doubled in the last two years.

14. Coke Products: 15. Coca- Cola in Indian Market

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We want to be the Hindustan lever limited of the indian beverage business. Sanjeev Gupta, Deputy President Coca-Cola India in May 2002 The rural market is the significant part of our rural marketing strategies which enables us to help the consumer link with our product. Sanjeev Gupta, Marketing Director Cola-Cola India, in August 1995 The real market in india is the rural areas. If you crack it, there is a tremendous potential. Nanto Banarjee- Spokeswoman CCI.

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16. Thanda Goes Rural

In early 2002, CCI launched a new advertisement campaign featuring leading Bollywood star Aamir Khan. The advertisement with tagline- Thanda matlab Coca- Cola was targeted at rural semi urban consumers. The idea was to position Coca-Cola as a generic brand for cold drinks. The campaign was launched to supports CCIs rural initiatives. CCI began focusing on the rural market in the early 2000s in order to increase volumes. The decision was not surprising, given the huge size of the untapped rural india.

17. Thanda Goes Rural

In an effort to make the price point of Coke within reach of this high-potential market, Coca-Cola launched the Accessibility Campaign, introducing a new 200ml bottle, smaller than thetraditional 300ml bottle found in urban markets, and concurrently cutting the price in half, to 7.

Rs. 5. This pricing strategy closed the gap between Coke and basic refreshments like lemonade and tea, making soft drinks truly accessible for the first time. Coke invested in distribution infrastructure to effectively serve a disbursed population and doubled the number of retail outlets in rural areas from 80,000 in 2001 to 160,000 in 2003, increasing market penetration from 13 to 25%.

18. Thanda Goes Rural

However, the poor rural infrastructure and consumption habits that are very different from those of urban people were two major obstacles to cracking the rural market for CCI.

Because of the erratic power supply most grocers in rural areas did not stock cold drinks.

19. Brand Localization Strategy: The Two Indias

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India A: Life ho to aisi India A, the designation Coca-Cola gave to the market segment including metropolitan areas and large towns, represented 4% of the countrys population.

This segment sought social bonding as a need and responded to aspirational messages, celebrating the benefits of their increasing social and economic freedoms.

Life ho to aisi , (life as it should be) was the successful and relevant tagline found in Coca-Colas advertising to this audience.

20. India B: Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola India believed that the first brand to offer communication targeted to the smaller towns would own the rural market and went after that objective with a comprehensive strategy.

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India B included small towns and rural areas, comprising the other 96% of the nations population. This segments primary need was out-of-home thirst-quenching and the soft drink category was undifferentiated in the minds of rural consumers. Additionally, with an average Coke costing Rs. 10 and an average days wages around Rs. 100, Coke was perceived as a luxury that few could afford.

21. CCIS Rural marketing strategy

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CCIs rural marketing strategy was based on three As Availability, Affordability and Acceptability. The first A Availability emphasized on the availability of the product to the customer. The second A - Affordability focused on product pricing. The third A- Acceptability focused on convincing the customer to buy the product.

22. Availability

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Once CCI entered the rural market, it focused on strengthening its distribution network there. It realized that the centralized distribution system used by the company in the urban areas would not be suitable for rural areas.

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In the centralized distribution system, the product was transported directly from the bottling plants to retailers. However, CCI realized that this distribution system would not work in rural markets, as taking stock directly from bottling plants to retail stores would be very costly due to the long distances to be covered.

23. Availability

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For transporting stock from spokes to village retailers the company utilized auto rickshaws and cycles. Commenting on the transportation of stock in rural markets, a company spokesperson said, We use all possible means of transport that range from trucks, auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and hand carts to even camel carts in Rajasthan and mules in the hilly areas, to cart our products from the nearest hub.

24. Availability

The company instead opted for a hub and spoke distribution system, Under the hub and spoke distribution system, stock was transported from the bottling plants to hubs and then from hubs, the stock was transported to spokes which were situated in small towns.

CCI not only changed its distribution model, it also changed the type of vehicles used for transportation. The company used large trucks for transporting stock from bottling plants to hubs and medium commercial vehicles transported the stock from the hubs to spokes.

25. Affordability

A survey conducted by CCI in 2001 revealed that 300 ml bottles were not popular with rural and semi-urban residents where two persons often shared a 300 ml bottle. It was also found that the price of Rs10/- per bottle was considered too high by rural consumers. For these reasons, CCI decided to make some changes in the size of its bottles and pricing to win over consumers in the rural market.

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26. Affordability

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In 2002, CCI launched 200 ml bottles (Chota Coke) priced at Rs 5. CCI announced that it would push the 200 ml bottles more in rural areas, as the rural market was very price-sensitive. It was widely felt that the 200 ml bottles priced at Rs. 5 would increase the rate of consumption in rural India. Reports put the annual per capita consumption of bottled beverages in rural areas at one bottle as compared to 6 bottles in urban areas.

27. Acceptability

The initiatives of CCI in distribution and pricing were supported by extensive marketing in the mass media as well as through outdoor advertising. The company put up hoardings in villages and painted the name Coca Cola on the compounds of the residences in the villages. Further, CCI also participated in the weekly mandies by setting up temporary retail outlets, and also took part in the annual haats and fairs - major sources of business activity and entertainment in rural India.

28. Distribution Strategy

To reach out to rural India, Coke started out by drawing up a hit list of high potential villages from various districts. To ensure full loads, large distributors (Hubs) were appointed, and they were supplied from the company's depot in large towns and cities.

Full load supplies were offered twice weekly against payment by demand draft. On their part,the hubs appointed smaller distributors (Spokes) in adjoining areas. The smaller distributors undertook fixed journey plans on a weekly basis and supplied against cash. The distributors also hired rickshaws (cycle operated vans) that travelled to villages daily.

29. Coke Rural Market 5,472 4,263 3,935 Distributors 25% 21% 13% Rural Penetration 158,432 130,375 81,388 Rural Coverage 2003 2002 2001 30. CCIs distribution system in urban areas CCIs distribution system in Rural areas Distribution Strategy 31. Advertising Strategy

Coke realised that the communication media used in cities and urban areas would not work in villages because of low penetration of conventional media.

Coke has estimated that TV access is 78.5 per cent in urban India but only 41per cent in rural India Similarly, Cable & Satellite access in urban India is 51 per cent in urban India but only 14 per cent I rural India. Coke considered alternative options, and decided to concentrate on 47,000 haats (weekly markets) & 25,000 melas (fairs) held annually in various parts of the country.

32. Advertising Strategy

CCI also launched television commercials (TVCs) targeted at rural consumers. In order to reach more rural consumers, CCI increased its ad-spend on Doordarshan.

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The company ensured that all its rural marketing initiatives were well-supported by TVCs. When CCI launched Chota Coke in 2002 priced at Rs. 5, it bought out a commercial featuring Bollywood actor Aamir Khan to communicate the message of the price cut and the launch of 200 ml bottles to the rural consumers. The commercial was shot in a rural setting.

33. Advertising Strategy

In the summer of 2003, CCI came up with a new commercial featuring Aamir Khan, to further strengthen the Coca-Cola brand image among rural consumers. The commercial aimed at making coke a generic name for Thanda. Of the reason for picking up the word Thanda, Prasoon Joshi, national creative director McCann Erickson, the creator of the commercial, said, Thanda is a very North India-centric phenomenon. Go to any restaurant in the north, and attendants would promptly ask, thanda ya garam?

34. 35. Advertising Strategy

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Between March and September 2003, CCI launched three commercials with the Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola tag line. All the three commercials aimed to make rural and semi-urban consumers connect with Coca-cola. The first ad featured Aamir Khan as a tapori (street smart); in the ad he makes the association between Coca-Cola and the word Thanda.

The second commercial in the series featured Aamir Khan as a Hyderabadi shop-keeper; here again he equates the word Thanda with Coca-Cola.

The third commercial featured Aamir Khan as a Punjabi farmer who offers Coca Cola to ladies asking for Thanda.

36. Advertising Strategy

Thanda usually means lassi or nimbu pani, garam is essentially tea. Because the character, in itself, represented a culture, They wanted to equate Coke with Thanda, since Thanda too is part of the popular dialect of the north.

Thus making Thanda generic for Coca-Cola. With the long-playing possibilities of the Thanda idea becoming evident, Thanda became the central idea. Once we decided to work on that idea, the creative mind just opened up.

37.

38. Rural Success

Comprising 74% of the country's population, 41% of its middle class, and 58% of its disposable income, the rural market was an attractive target and it delivered results.

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Coke experienced 37% growth in 2003 in this segment versus the 24% growth seen in urban areas. Driven by the launch of the new Rs. 5 product, per capita consumption doubled between 2001-2003. This market accounted for 80% of Indias new Coke drinkers, 30% of 2002 volume, and was expected to account for 50% of the companys sales in 2003.

39. Pepsi Vs Coke

The main competitor and rivalry of Coke is Pepsi, but if we the rural market, there are some major regional players like Campa- Cola and others. When Coke launched Thanda matlab Coca-Cola, suddenly Pepsi came up with Thanda- Chelaga Kya. PepsiCo too had started focusing on the rural market, due to the flat volumes in urban areas. Like CCI, PepsiCo too launched 200 ml bottles priced at Rs. 5. Going one step ahead, PepsiCo slashed the price of its 300 ml bottles to Rs 6/- to boost volumes in urban areas.

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40. Market Share 41. Future Prospects

CCI claimed all its marketing initiatives were very successful, and as a result, its rural penetration increased from 9% in 2001 to 25% in 2003. CCI also said that volumes from rural markets had increased to 35% in 2003. The company said that it would focus on adding more villages to its distribution network. For the year 2003, CCI had a target of reaching 0.1 million more villages. Analysts pointed out that stiff competition from archrival PepsiCo would make it increasingly difficult for CCI to garner more market share. In early 2003, CCI announced that it was dropping plans to venture into other beverage businesses.

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42. Future Prospects

Company sources said that increasing volumes of cola drinks had made the company rethink its plans of launching juice and milk-based beverages. In 2002, CCI had announced plans to launch beverages such as nimbu paani (lemon juice), fruit juice, cold coffee, and iced tea in collaboration with Nestle India. Though CCI was upbeat on account of its early success in its drive to capture the rural market, the question was whether the company would be able to take this success further.

43. Pesticides Issue

A major media setback occurred in August 2003, when the Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment announced that it had found high pesticide content in soft drinks manufactured and sold by both cola majors.

With many social and political groups becoming active against the cola companies in rural areas, it remains to be seen whether CCI will be able to quench its thirst for the rural market.

Though CCI refuted these allegations, the company reportedly experienced a considerable decline in sales after August 2003. After presenting the facts, CCI was able to regain its rural customers.

'Rural middle class an untapped market' Mr M.P. Nandakumar, Director, Anugrah Madison Advertising Pvt Ltd., Chennai, addressing the Commerce and Business Management students of Auxilium College, Vellore, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Business Line Club in the College. - S.S. Kumar Vellore , Nov. 28 THE rural middle-class constitutes a potential market lying to be tapped by the corporates in the business of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer durables, two-wheelers and four-wheelers, but they should be sensitive to the requirements of the region while devising strategies for promoting products, according to Mr M. P. Nandakumar, Director, Anugrah Madison Advertising Private Ltd, Chennai. There are 16.4 million urban middle-class households and 15.6 million rural middle class households in the country, but the latter had a better purchasing power because they do not incur any expenditure on rent, transport and school fees, compared to their urban counterparts, who spend a sizable portion of their income on these items. The estimated annual business from rural markets was Rs 1,23,000 crore, comprising Rs 65,000 crore of FMCG, Rs 5,000 crore of durables, Rs 45,000 crore of agricultural inputs including tractors and Rs 8,000 crore of two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Twenty nine per cent of the rural people own cars, 27 per cent own colour televisions, 24 per cent own refrigerators and 10 per cent own washing machines, which points to the untapped potential in the rural areas. "We therefore have to look at the rural market very seriously for future expansion," said Mr Nandakumar while inaugurating the Business Line Club and delivering

the keynote address on the topic, `Brand Building Beyond the Urban' under the auspices of the Departments of Business Management and Commerce of the Auxilium College here on Friday. Rural domination: Another revealing aspect of the market is that 55 per cent of the LIC policies, 50 per cent of the BSNL mobile connections, 53 per cent of the FMCG products, 59 per cent of durables, 60 per cent of Rediffmail sign-ups and 50 per cent of online shopping on Rediffmail are accounted for by the rural sector. New-generation motorcycles are replacing cycles and mopeds, while cars are replacing tractors, as the new status symbol among the rich. Gold-plated wristwatches are being replaced by mobile phones and cement-roofed houses are replacing the old asbestos and tiled houses. Mr Nandakumar said that the popular products had amazing innovative usages in the rural areas. Godrej hair dye is used for buffaloes to enhance their market value in the shandy, while paints are used on cattle horns for easy identification. Innovation: The most innovative usage is that of washing machines to make lassi in bulk in Punjab. Horlicks was used as a health drink to fatten up cattle in Bihar, while Iodex is rubbed on animals to relieve their muscular pain after a hard day's work. The advertisement executive said that better education and the TV revolution has triggered knowledge enhancement and brought about changes in the aspirations of the rural people, while the telecommunication revolution has brought the world at their doorsteps. TV impact: The dressing style of the rural people has also changed due to the impact of the TV. Studies revealed that TV advertisements are not understood by the rural people who think "they are for the rich". "Being sensitive and relevant to the requirement of the region should be of utmost importance in the choice of

products, packaging, pricing, promotions, markets and communication," he said. N. Krishnan, Regional General Manager-Circulation, The Hindu said that the objective of the Business Line Clubs being started in different colleges was to initiate useful interactions between the educational institutions and the corporate world. Ms S. Kavitha, Secretary, Association of the Department of Commerce, Auxilium College welcomed the gathering. Ms Natasha, Assistant Secretary of the association proposed a vote of thanks.

Coca-Cola India [ Images ] doubled the number of outlets in rural areas from 80,000 in 2001 to 160,000 in 2003, which increased market penetration from 13 per cent to 25 per cent.

It brought down the average price of its products from Rs 10 to Rs 5, thereby bridging the gap between soft drinks and other local options like tea, butter milk or lemon water. It doubled the spend on Doordarshan, increased price compliance from 30 per cent to 50 per cent in rural markets and reduced overall costs by 40 per cent. It also tapped local forms of entertainment like annual haats and fairs and made huge investments in infrastructure for distribution and marketing. Result: the rural market accounts for 80 per cent of new Coke drinkers and 30 per cent of its volumes. The rural market for Coca-Cola grew at 37 per cent over the last year, against a 24 per cent growth in urban areas. Per capita consumption in rural areas has doubled in the last two years. The launch of the Rs 5 pack has reaped rich dividends in terms of sales and the bottles are expected to account for 50 per cent of the company's sales in 2003. Coca-Cola is just one example. A lot of fast-moving consumer goods and consumer electronic companies are aggressively targeting rural consumers. Speakers at the session on 'Going rural: The new marketing mantra' agreed that the rural market was the key to survival in India. The necessity arose because the growth rates of consumer products were slowing down not because the markets were getting saturated in terms of penetration as in the US, but because most consumer markets were getting cluttered. While overall volumes continue to grow reasonably well, there are too many players eating into each other's market share. The companies, therefore, reduce prices in urban areas and invest heavily in sales promotion, intensifying the battle for market share. Operating margins come under pressure and new growth markets have to be explored. This is where the rural markets play an important role. The rural market was tempting since it comprised 74 per cent of the country's population, 41 per cent of its middle class, 58 per cent of its disposable income and a large consuming class, Coca-Cola India CEO Sanjiv Gupta said. Today, real growth is taking place in the rural-urban markets, or in the 13,113 villages with a population of more than 5,000.

Of these, 9,988 villages are in seven states -- Uttar Pradesh [ Images ], Bihar, West Bengal [ Images ], Maharashtra [ Images ], Andhra Pradesh, Kerala [ Images ] and Tamil Nadu. For manufacturers of consumer goods, these are the markets to look out for. While the 1980s saw a boom in Class I towns with the spread of television, the Class II towns showed strong growth in the 90s propelled by reforms. According to the National Council for Applied Economic Research, the millennium belongs to the Class III and IV rural-urban towns. It estimates that an average rural Indian household will have five major consumer appliances by 2006, almost double of what it had five years ago. In order to efficiently and cost-effectively target the rural markets, the companies will have to cover many independent retailers since in these areas, the retailer influences purchase decisions and stock a single brand in a product category. In such an environment, being first on the shelf and developing a privileged relationship with the retailer is a source of competitive advantage to consumer good companies. Most of the companies have started tinkering with pack sizes and creating new price points in order to reach out to rural consumers since a significant portion of the rural population are daily wage workers. Thus, sachets and miniature packs, as in the case of shampoo sachets priced at Re 1 and Rs 2 or toothpaste at Rs 10, have become the order of the day in hinterland India and help improve market penetration. Yet, driving consumption of goods in rural areas is not just about lowering prices and increasing volumes but also about product innovation and developing indigenous products to cater to their demands. For example, soap makers use advanced technology to coat one side of the soap bar with plastic to prevent it from wearing out quickly. Also, the companies need to turn to innovative methods of advertising like fairs orhaats to reach their potential customer base. Two years ago, many companies congregated at the Ganges [ Images ] river for the Kumbh Mela festival, where about 30 million people, mostly from rural areas, were expected to come over the span of a month. The companies provided 'touch and feel' demonstrations and distributed free samples. This proved to be extremely effective in advertising to the rural market. BS Corporate Bureau in New Delhi

Affordable Luxuries: Godrej Hopes to Clean Up in Rural India

Published: June 03, 2010 in India Knowledge@Wharton

Weddings anywhere in the world mean shopping, and India is no exception. In Indian villages, though, a marriage in the family means shopping not just for the trousseau and home appliances -- it also means buying hair dye, henna and bigger bars of soap. For many households in rural India, what the rest of the world considers everyday products are luxuries to be indulged in once in a while. Consumer products companies in India are working overtime to change that thinking. At Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), though, ensuring its products fly off village store shelves has become the governing ambition. In April 2009, GCPL initiated the ambitious Project Dharti (Dharti is the Hindi word for Earth) to increase the company's focus on rural India. The program's goals are: to generate sales in rural India that overtake within a year the contribution of the country's urban areas; that rural sales growth will outstrip overall sales increases; and that GCPL's distribution network within three years will have expanded to 50,000 villages and 8,000 small towns across India. At first glance, those aren't unreachable targets for the US$450 million company. About 38% of GCPL's revenues came from rural markets in 2008-09 and the company already had a presence in 15,000 villages and 4,000 small towns when Project Dharti was launched. GCPL is the second largest bath soap manufacturer in India, after Hindustan Unilever. The company claims its Godrej No.1 brand is the best-selling Grade 1 soap (the highest rating of the Bureau of Indian Standards based on the fat content; toilet soaps have a higher fat content than bathing bars) and the market leader across north India. A combination of internal and external reasons has led to this shift in focus. First, GCPL realized that the urban share of its soap sales was higher than the rural share. "This created a dichotomy as ours is essentially a portfolio of value brands -- and rural India is a valuefor-money market," explains Dalip Sehgal, managing director of GCPL. Then there was the economic downturn of 2008-09. While consumer goods were largely insulated from the slowdown, the demand for consumables in urban India didn't grow as fast as it did in rural markets. The Nielsen Company estimates that the fast-moving consumer goods market in India grew 14% in the 12 months ending November 2009. Rural demand accounted for 18% of the growth, while urban demand made up only 12%. Another reason is the natural growth of the rural market. Rural incomes are on the rise due to increasing food price realizations and government-sponsored employment programs, and that in turn is leading to growing consumption in those markets. A frequently-quoted statistic is that rural India already accounts for 54% of India's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales, while a white paper by retail consultancy Technopak Advisors and the Confederation of Indian Industry predicts that the rural consumer market will reach US$425 billion in 2010-11, with 720 to 790 million customers. GCPL's annual report of 2008-09 also acknowledges the potential: "Estimates indicate that over 300 million people will move up from the category of rural poor to rural lower middle class between 2005 and 2025. With this change, rural consumption levels are expected to rise to current urban levels by 2017. Such developments in India's markets are expected to create major opportunities for Indian consumer product companies."

The Mumbai-based company, which is part of the US$2.28 billion Godrej group, is ensuring it is well-placed to take advantage of that opportunity when it occurs. Sehgal says GCPL is already halfway to achieving its Project Dharti goals. By February 2010, the distribution network had been expanded to 6,000 small towns and 22,000 villages. Rural sales' contribution to total revenue has increased to 42%, and GCPL has gained a percentage point each in market share of hair color and soaps. The Four Mantras of Successful Rural Marketing So, what is GCPL doing right? R. Seshadri, managing director of Anugrah Madison, an advertising agency that focuses on rural and semi-urban markets, believes there are four mantras for a brand to succeed in India's rural markets: "Customize product and communication; build recognition through demonstration; build word of mouth for the brand; and build access through innovation and a cost-effective distribution channel." He says GCPL seems to doing all that, and more. Conventional wisdom says rural consumers need customized products designed to suit their needs, their conditions and their wallets. But they also want products similar to those available in urban markets, so many believe that small compromises in product quality are acceptable. Not so, declares Pradeep Lokhande, founder of rural management consultancy Rural Relations. "Rural consumers want the same product as urban shoppers. If you compromise on quality to make it affordable now, they will shun your brand when their income levels increase. And if they can't afford your prices now, they aren't your customers." Sehgal agrees: "Aspiration levels have gone up. They want the same brands they see on TV. The only vector is affordability and demonstrated usage in new categories." The solution lies in customizing the size of the offering, not the product itself. GCPL has done just that, introducing smaller packages of the same products, at price points rural consumers can afford. Smaller bars of soap, herbal henna packets for 10 cents, sachets of powder hair dye and talcum powder for 20 cents act as entry points for rural consumers, who return for larger packs when their budgets permit. Sales of consumer products in rural markets peak immediately after the harvest and during festivals and the wedding season (September through December), when many of India's 600,000 villages are in a have-cashwill-spend mood. Company executives say the response to the smaller packages has been strong, especially in South India, where the smallest available size of GCPL's Cinthol soap retails at 50 cents. An 11-cent bar has been added to the portfolio. Communication and promotion strategies also need to be tailored to suit rural customer needs. It starts with the media plan. For value brands like Godrej No.1, GCPL has stopped advertising on private cable and satellite channels, preferring the cheaper and more widely received government-owned television network, Doordarshan, as well as All-India Radio. In addition, it advertises on regional language TV channels and in local publications. "It is more cost-effective to be on Doordarshan since the share of voice is higher," explains Sehgal. In addition, brand recall in urban areas is unlikely to be affected since a campaign for Godrej products is running parallel across all national media. The hair color brands and soap brand Cinthol also retain a more conventional media plan, including ads on cable television. The commercials that appear on regional TV channels and Doordarshan are quite different from those on cable television, keeping local sentiments in mind. For instance, visuals of people playing with their hair or running their fingers through their hair would be frowned

upon in conservative villages, although it's a common image in hair care product advertising across the country. "We ensure we speak the language of middle India," Sehgal notes. "The idiom may be simpler but the proposition at all times is one of great value." Seshadri points out that demonstration and recognition are critical to success in rural markets, as is interactive customer engagement. "The rural consumer is just evolving from the economics of necessity to the economics of gratification. Unlike the urban consumer, he is largely a first-time user of several product categories, be it FMCG or durables," he adds. Regular below-the-line activity such as in-store demonstrations and stalls at village fairs and farmers' meets are also forming part of GCPL's rural marketing strategy. Barbers as Brand Ambassadors In particular, GCPL is counting on word-of-mouth brand building for its Expert line of hair color products. The company is reaching out to 50,000 barbers and salons in nine states, offering to engage them in a co-branding exercise. Under the program, the salons add the "Expert" tag to their names, with all fixtures -- including mirrors and chairs -- displaying the GCPL brand logo prominently. The salons will also be provided grooming kits including the hair dye, mixing bowl and brush, as well as other GCPL products such as talcum powder and shaving cream. "Most people turn to their hairdressers for advice when they decide to color their hair. So it makes sense for us to influence the influencer," says Sehgal. The chain of Expert barbershops will enhance GCPL's reach in the hinterland. In the past year, the company has added 7,000 villages and 2,000 small towns to its distribution network. Typically, GCPL's distribution operates on a hub-and-spoke model where a superstockist in a small town oversees distribution for several adjoining villages, which are looked after by sub-stockists. The company reaches deeper into the interior through regular visits to stock smaller villages with supplies. "[A] good distribution network is the only answer in rural India," notes Rural Relations' Lokhande. "Companies need to keep two issues in mind here: one, ensure distributor margins are high enough to make them service their territories well; and two, offer consumers a choice of products so that the marginal cost of distribution reduces, while avenues of income generation increase." But there's a trade-off between the cost of distribution and incremental penetration. Given the expense of running and maintaining a vehicle and the need to extend credit to shopkeepers in smaller villages, the cost involved in reaching settlements with less than 2,000 people isn't offset by the consequent increase in sales. Anugrah Madison's Seshadri notes: "About 83% of India's villages are in the 2,000 and below population strata, with hardly any shops. So, most marketers need to address the top 17% [of] villages, which account for 50% of [the] rural population and 50% of rural wealth. Of course, having done this, reaching the last mile (villages with populations below 2,000) is the biggest challenge." Sehgal adds: "Every incremental village is smaller, so doubling reach will not double revenue. That is the commercial dilemma FMCG companies face: the deeper you venture into population strata, the smaller the business opportunities." Still, he isn't fazed by the challenges. Sehgal is confident about completing Project Dharti well in time. After all, he says, "It isn't as if we only just discovered rural India. What we discovered last April was the need to expand rapidly and, accordingly, accelerated our pace."

Market Development in Rural Areas of advertising communication

Posted:2010-12-23 14:47:00 views:5800

Paper Keywords: rural market advertising media Abstract: "The rural market" has not a geographical sense, but represent a spending power and hierarchy. Rural market consumer demand in the market, commercialization of improved; their consumption to upgrade faster, highlights emerging consumer with and urban consumption of different characteristics. enterprises in developing the rural market in general when a "full-scale attack + key breakthrough" advertising strategy, specifically, do five combined, that is the central combination of media and local media, advertising and public service ads combined media advertising and word of mouth quiet operation combined with a fixed combination of media and mobile media, advertising and ground-air promotion combined. With a secondary market becoming saturated, the importance of the rural market more and more prominent in rural areas as a country with huge market potential for unlimited consumption increasing attention by the parties. However, all businesses have been gearing up to enter the rural market and seize the commanding heights of the new , the more it is found that they in one or two advertising tool for the city to lose ground in the rural town unexpectedly fail. the reasons for this result is that the living conditions of rural residents, the media exposure habits, consumer psychology and so the city residents are different, so they understand the ad to determine, receive channels also differ with urban residents, will use the ad in the city to move directly to rural areas, the effect will be greatly reduced. In addition, as many as 900 million Chinese rural population, located in different regions of the country, their state not the city population is concentrated as dense, the income gap between different regions is very great. Right into the rural market, is committed to advertisers, How to choose a strategic combination of advertising and target market? how to design effective forms of advertising and content? What kind of put the development strategy? are real and urgent problem. 1 on the rural market Traditionally, the general in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are the primary market, the capital of prefecture-level cities and some cities in the developed secondary market, other prefecture-level cities and some economically

developed county-level market, the market for the three other county-level cities, towns and some developed areas of the rural market for the four markets, or "Big Country" market. With the development of rural economic reform, the rural market into the complex, fuzzy, multi-period. on the concept of rural markets, in addition to the true sense of the rural , it should also include the county, county-level cities and small towns, known as the "big rural market." proposal of the concept, is conducting a survey of rural markets, analysis, synthesis, after determined. the big cities around the satellite towns, primarily an agricultural economy of the county-level city and small town areas with better planning and construction, are included in the scope of the rural market, where "rural market" has not a geographical sense, but represent a spending power and level.

Advertising in Indian Rural Market

Earlier, rural India was ignored by the marketers because of lack of infrastructure and other problems like illiteracy and poverty. Now, the scenario has completely changed with noticeable improvement in all the problem areas. It is generally seen that companies foraying into rural areas, engage in shortterm sales-oriented activities. In order to be successful in the rural markets, organizations should design integrated campaigns. They should have the real desire to invest energy and capital in the rural areas on par with the urban market. They should also understand that the gestation period for positive results in the rural market is much more than that in the urban market. Therefore, they should enter the rural market only when they are well-equipped with patience to wait for sustained results. The Indian rural market, having a huge population base, offers an immense opportunity to explore. The increasing affluence, supported by favorable monsoons and good agricultural output, is giving a good boost to the Indian rural economy, which is transforming into a large customer base for the corporates. Though rural India was ignored earlier, now it is no longer a segment that is largely poor, illiterate and innocent. As per available figures, 75% of the rural population is engaged in agriculture and they contribute approximately half of the total rural income, whereas, only 25% of the rural population is engaged in the non-farming sector and they contribute the other half of the total real income. These figures reflect that the monsoon no longer influences the buying habits of the rural population. Corporates in the Indian Rural Market To explore more attractive markets, multinationals are targeting Indias rural market. Some of the organizations which have already made their presence felt in the rural market are Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL), Coca-Cola, LG Electronics, Britannia, HDFC Standard Life Insurance, Philips and telecom companies like Reliance, Tata Indicom and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). The urban market is now considered saturated as the competition has increased multifold. Hence, the companies are trying their luck in the hinterland.But the major challenge which the companies are facing is how to reach to the rural masses that are different from their urban counterparts in economical, social and cultural backgrounds...

The rural market: What are the opportunities and challenges?

by India Food Brief on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 11:47am Contributing Editor, TradeBriefs: Archana Pande

Different agencies have different definitions of rural, all agree that majority of Indias population lives in rural regions. This means the rural market is huge customer base for products and services. Better-developed Indian states have better developed and prosperous rural markets. Youth migrating to urban areas for education/jobs carry back urban aspirations to their hometowns. Rural must not be equated with only agricultural markets. Consumers in rural markets are value, price and brand conscious and will not accept inferior quality goods or buy them simply for offered discounts. Word-of-mouth feedback and social bonds are strong.

Government efforts have paid off as employment and rural income has increased. Connectivity has improved with newly constructed roads. Along with improved literacy, people are more aware, have higher aspirations and higher disposable income. Rural India has a vast postal network and there are several events that people meet socially such as melas, haats and mandis. Companies can reach potential clients at such events. Many FMCG giants have explored these huge opportunities and customised products for their unique and area-specific needs.

Electricity is a persisting infrastructure challenge in some rural markets. Not all people hold bank accounts, which can make it difficult to make or receive payments. Use of plastic money like credit/debit cards may be limited. Further, rural markets in north, south, east and west India will have diverse requirements hence the same product may not be equally well accepted in all parts. Rural income may vary, particularly in predominantly agricultural areas, which affects their spending power throughout the year. Social customs maybe rigid e.g. women may not venture out or may not contribute to decision making. Catering to this diversity means companies will incur higher R&D and marketing/ advertising costs.

Having said this, rural markets are a source of products made there or have raw materials for other products produced elsewhere. ITCs e-Choupal program is a successful project to reach farmers and one that can transport services and goods into and out of rural India.

As the urban market gets saturated, companies will increasingly turn to the about 73% of Indias population that lives in rural areas (Census 2001). Going beyond statistics and analysis from the comfort of an office, companies will truly understand and benefit when they visit and interact with their target rural market and consumers. Their communication will be more effective. Then a challenge will be converted into an opportunity.

Most of you are aware that India in the midst of mobile revolution. Mobile subscribers in India are growing at nearly 100% year on year and rural subscriber growth is taking lions share of it. Recently TRAI announced that India has reached 250 million subscriber targets much before scheduled time. This pace of growth is expected to remain for atleast a few years from now. Traditional advertising is now giving way to mobile advertising, which is more personal and better targeted. The conversion rate for mobile advertisement is expected to be much higher than print or TV advertising. This opens up a huge avenue for advertisers to market their product or get their message across.

Take the recent example of Fair & Lovely scholarships ad campaign, promoted via Reliance Mobile, which got selected as a finalist for the US-based 2007 Mobile Marketing Association Awards. (via agencyFaqs).

Reliance Mobile which has an active subscriber base of over 35 million and 20 million Reliance World application enabled hand-sets executed a pan India ad campaign from mid August to mid September, 2007, on Reliance Mobile phone network. Clickable banner ads in various languages and a special Fair & Lovely Scholarship Zone was created for R World. The banner ads were linked to a microsite where interested students were supposed to provide their details like annual family income and the course they intend to pursue. SMS marketing using Short Code (51234) and Instant Voice Response (IVR) system in some cities were also used to inform students about the scholarships. Fair & Lovely scholarships mobile ad campaign generated around 50,000 leads out of which 60 per cent were from tier II and III cities and 40 per cent from urban cities
So next time you are thinking of reaching the villages and small town audience in India, Think Mobile !

Indian TV Ads: Is it worth spending Rs. 3,50,000 for 10 second?

by ARU N PRABHU DESAI on OCTOBER 12, 2007

Yes, some of the top Indian TV Channels demand a price tag of Rs. 3,50,000 for a 10 second spot during primetime. The ad rates are even higher during highly viewed Indian cricket matches. Do you think it is worth it? It sure must be, because advertisers do pay that kind of money !

Infact, the channel broadcasters are increasing the ad rates even further by 25%, much to the disappointment of major advertisers.

The Indian advertising market has been growing at extremely fast pace since last 5 to 7 years, thanks to consistent economic growth of around 9% and huge rise in the number ofMultinationals entering India in last few years. What better medium for these multinationals to reach out to growing Indian middle class consumers. One advertisement during the telecast of India Pakistan cricket match ensures that your product / brand is seen by atleast 200 million TV viewers (approx. ).

Do you think Rs.3,50,000/- tag is justified then?

If you calculate, it comes to roughly 2 rupees per 1,000 viewers. Thats dirt cheap, I must say!

However, it is not all rosy for broadcaster in coming years. The number of TV channels are growing by hundreds. In this year alone more than 100 TV channels are going to get launched and many more in pipeline. With so many channels in fray the competition to acquire ads from advertisers is going to be fierce, thereby pulling down the ad prices. Do you know the number of TV channels that will be available to cable viewers in next 2 years?

A whooping 700 TV channels ! Who is going to watch so many channels? And are there enough viewers to watch?

Yes, there are! India is likely to see nearly 70% growth, with the subscriber base reaching nearly 77 million households by 2010, from existing 46 million.

With those kind of TV channels, India is set to become the largest advertising market in the world. I am excited!

HUL plans to intensify rural push for brands

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Hindustan Unilever's rural push: Commercials are aired on television sets mounted on travelling palkis,' for housewives and children in the village. RELATED TOPICS CompaniesHindustan Unilever Limited advertising and marketingbranding and design rural marketing consumer goodspersonal products

Purvita Chatterjee Mumbai, July 15 Intensifying its reach in the rural markets, HUL has decided to make its brands more experiential' in nature instead of merely making them available in these media dark markets. While its agency, O&M, has already been working on its rural initiatives, this time around HUL is tapping the rural markets with the intention of giving its rural consumers a chance to sample its brands with a difference'. Speaking to Business Line, Mr Sudhanshu Vats, Vice President, Home Care and Skin Cleansing, HUL, said, Deep down in India, the frequency of usage of FMCG categories is low. We want to drive consumption reaching out to the top villages in the top states. Our target is to reach out to 50,00060,000 villages with experiential and educational campaigns for our brands. From giving demos on the germ kill proposition of Lifebuoy to the grease cutting technology behind its dish wash brand of Vim, HUL is showing live examples of what its brands can do for its rural consumers instead of simply thrusting it on them. With competition getting intense in the urban markets, the FMCG major has been losing share across a host of its categories and tapping into the rural markets with its latent demand is the new gameplan to get market shares. With programmes such as Khushiyon Ki Doli (a palki or palanquin with LCD TVs and DVD player moves around the

village to educate rural housewives about HUL brands), a rural initiative spearheaded by Mr Vats, HUL is also betting on the monsoons to give an additional fillip to its rural sales . As Mr Vats said, At the moment the monsoon is progressing well and a good monsoon does impact our sales. Today half our sales comes from rural India and the rural thrust programmes of the government brings more money in the hands of rural India and that directly impacts the kind of categories that we are in. Considering that 70 per cent of India resides in rural markets, HUL is gearing up to tap into the additional disposable incomes in these markets to generate sales (and thereby shares) of its brands. As incomes become homogenous, particularly disposable incomes, it becomes directed towards our kind of products after categories like food, he said. In the past, HUL has initiated programmes such as Project Shakti that targeted villages with a population of less than 5,000.

Message 1: Language & Culture/Discourse Analysis: Advertising in Rural India Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 10:32:19 -0500 (EST) From: tkbhatia <tkbhatia mailbox.syr.edu> Subject: Language & Culture/Discourse Analysis: Advertising in Rural India
Advertising in Rural India: Language, Marketing Communication, and Consumerism. Tokyo Press, Tokyo, Japan. 2000. ISBN 4-87297-782-3. By: Tej K. Bhatia, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244. USA. A dramatic change is in progress. Villagers who used to crack open peanut M & M candies, eat the nut and throw away the shell are now demanding chocolate candies that will melt in their mouths, not in their hands. Charcoal-cleaned teeth are a rare sight; so is the case with twigs of niim (neem) and babul (babool) tree. Today, the ultra bright shine of Colgate or some other international brand of toothpaste holds more appeal than the traditional methods of cleaning teeth. Even the native expressions of cleaning teeth, such as daatun karnaa and musaag lagaanaa, are endangered to being replaced by new expressions such as paste karnaa, 'to brush teeth with paste'. Consumerism and globalization is invading parts of India where, as some would venture to say, time seems to have ceased for centuries. These villages and small towns, which were once inconsequential dots on maps, are now getting the attention of global marketing giants and media planners. Thanks to globalization, economic liberalization, IT revolution, Indian diaspora, female power, and improving infrastructure, middle class rural India today has more disposable income than urban India. Rural marketing is gaining new heights in addition to rural advertising. Rural India represents the heart of India. Approximately 80% of India lives in over half a million villages (627,000), generating more than half of the national income. This book explores the formidable challenges of reaching this magnitude of the rural masses where scores of official languages and a few hundred rural dialects are spoken. Based on the interviews with consumers, media giants, and analysis of case studies, it offers insights into the following: * Various facets of rural media (conventional and non-conventional) and integrated marketing communication. In addition to rural market discourse, media forms such as wall paintings, calendar advertising, outdoor advertising, print, radio and television advertising. * Art of crafting messages to meet rural tastes and sensibilities. In particular, uniquely Indian media forms such as video van technology, which has changed the face of not only marketing but also political campaigning. * Rural markets (haat) which are the mobile McDonald's or Walmarts of India.

* Targeting women and religious groups in addition to rural population. * Marketing taboo products such as 'bidi', cigarettes, sanitary supplies, and other such products. * Globalization and its effects on product naming, product monitoring, rural discourse and media forms. * Creativity and deception, together with guidelines for advertisers and marketers. * Information structures and logic of rural ads. * Ads as a social barometer of changing relationships and value systems. This work is the first of its kind, devoted solely to advertising in rural India. It provides a first-hand look at the dynamics and complexity of Indian rural media and its interaction with urban media.