Mart : Established in 1993, MART is a pioneer in the rural domain and over the years has also developed

as the Leading Consultancy and Knowledge based organization on Emerging Markets.

MART's expertise lies in its understanding of the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) segments, their eco system and behavior. An understanding that has been built over years of interaction and engagement with rural as well as urban low income communities. An understanding that is constantly being revitalized and renewed as the emerging markets evolve in an ever-so-dynamic manner. Today, emerging markets are as much about unchanging traditions as is about changing lifestyles and evolving value systems. In such a dynamic environment, our clients have come to rely on us to provide them with accurate, insightful and contemporary knowledge. They place their trust in us and partner us in their search for relevant solutions. MART enjoys a unique position as an end to end solutions facilitator for both the corporate and development sectors. We bring to the table expertise and experience that have been garnered by successfully handling major assignments for both corporate and development sectors in Indian and abroad.

MART - A Brief History

For both development and corporate sectors, rural marketing was little more than a black box. This huge knowledge gap motivated our founder to create MART in the year 1993. The aim was to equip both players with relevant rural solutions. Today MART comprises a team of 50 professionals. What began as a small one-man operation, servicing a couple of clients, has today transformed into an organization with a large roster of clients, partnering some of the best organizations and agencies in the development and corporate sectors. We started by providing handholding services to NGOs and development projects. Today, our range of services includes research, strategy formulation, implementation and capacity building, which has helped us emerge as the only one-stop rural solutions provider of its kind not just in the country but in the subcontinent. Our operations have expanded from Delhi and its neighbourhood to include 10 states across the country. We provide support to our clients in the international arena as well, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Key Milestones 1993. MART opens its doors as the first of its kind rural marketing agency in the country.

1995. The first-ever comprehensive study of Haats and Melas is launched which establishes itself as the only reference to marketers on traditional marketing platforms in the rural domain. 1997. MART undertakes the largest survery for identifying livelihood opportunities in 1100 villages and 186 haats of UP for a World Bank funded project. 1999. MART develops the proprietary 3M Approach as a solution to the countrys need of generating large scale employment in rural areas. 2000. MART extends its operations to Andhra Pradesh and a core team is established in the state to provide technical inputs to bilateral projects, government departments, etc. 2000 MART partners with Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) to co-create Project Shakti which is upscaled to 12 states. 2002. A path breaking study on rural insurance is undertaken for FICCI/FORTE. Policy makers and private players have used this study extensively to promote rural insurance in the country. 2003. MART, as founder member of RMAAI in partnership with FICCI organizes first ever Conference on rural marketing. 2005. MART develops a unique cost-effective distribution model by deploying youth-onbicycles to distribute and promote products and services. This model is being successfully used by sectors such as telecom, FMCG, ICT, insurance, and health in rural India as well as in the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Nepal. 2006. MART is conferred with the RMAAI Gold Award for Innovative Long Term Rural Marketing Initiatives for its Rasoi Ghar model for HPCL. It also receives a Special Jury Award. 2007. As the India Knowledge Partner, MART teams up with University of Illinois, the World Bank, USAID and ICA Institute to host an international conference on linking markets and farmers communities.

We are now providing consultancy on emerging verticals like agriculture, health, ICT, financial services and urban livelihoods. MART is on the threshold of offering its services in the international domain, including Brazil and China.

The MART Way

We endeavour to become the most respected organization in the rural domain. We believe in finding innovative rural solutions that meet the specific requirements of our clients in the corporate and development sectors and we do so with a passion for excellence. We believe

in leveraging our understanding of rural communities in a manner that is beneficial not just to our clients but also to rural communities. We believe in creating synergies and partnerships with organizations and agencies in order to offer the best value to our clients. We offer end-to-end solutions through a range of comprehensive services to both corporate and development sectors. Our solutions cover research, strategy, pilot, scale up, implementation and training.link to Services Offered MART is a non-hierarchical organization. Our cross functional teams bring in-depth knowledge on both corporate and development sectors, a strength unique to MART. link to Team We are in the knowledge business. Our ability to provide comprehensive solutions to our clients hinges on our passion to learn and create new knowledge continuously, which we then enhance by constantly adding to that knowledge base and disseminating it to benefit the environment in which we and our clients operate. Traditional Haats and Melas in India With the best practices, tools and techniques that we have acquired through our strong relationships with organizations in both these sectors we can add further value to both sets of clients. HPCL Rasoi Ghar We love challenges. Unlike other organizations that believe in doing similar work again and again on similar projects where they can apply tried-and-tested models, we enjoy work that pushes us to find innovative solutions. By partnering with our clients in a creative and resultsoriented approach, we truly believe in pushing the envelope, extending the frontiers of knowledge and providing cutting-edge solutions. Project Shakti of Hindustan Lever We believe in providing effective solutions that are implementable and scalable an approach that has helped us to build long-term relationships with our clients. Our solutions straddle the chain of services from research to strategy to implementation and training for larger replication. Long term association with Tata Steel

http://www.martrural.com/our_clients.htm

Recognition
Silver award WOW awards 2009, in the category "Best rural marketing initiatve" for Arogaya Parivaar, Novartis. Silver award for the category "Best long term rural marketing initiatve" for Arogaya Parivaar, Novartis. Gold Medal for Long Term Rural Marketing Initiative by RMAAI, 2006 Special Jury Award by RMAAI for

establishing Rasoi Ghar (community Kitchen) model in rural India Pradeep Kashyap, Founder of MART is a recipient of the Jamnalal Bajaj Endowment Award for his outstanding contribution. He is called the father of rural marketing by industry experts. The Rural Marketing Book authored by Pradeep Kashyap and S Rout has become a standard recommended text book at IIMs and several premier business schools in the country MART 3M Approach for Micro Enterprise Promotion has been presented in international forums in USA, Srilanka, Philippines etc. MART was the lead India Organiser with World Bank, USAID, University of Illinois and others of 3rd International Conference Linking Farmers to Markets in India.
Services Delivered Corporate sector

HLL Project Shakti The model involved identifying, selecting and training rural women to become entrepreneurs as company dealers selling a large portfolio of rural brands. MARTs role included initiating dialogue with the local government agency (District Rural Development Agency), identifying and selecting potential entrepreneurs through a programme of concept selling meetings and interviews. MART also provided the selected candidates with training on entrepreneurship and salesmanship skills, arranged additional finance through local banks, linked women to HLL dealers for procuring supplies, finalisation of orders, etc. The project helped build a network of 25,000 women dealers, or Shakti Ammas in 12 states. It has emerged as a win-win model for all the company has penetrated deeper into

smaller village markets generating hundreds of crores of rupees of additional sales revenue annually while the women earn a monthly profit of around Rs 1,000 on a regular basis and are today more empowered. The project has also enabled the government to provide more employment opportunities and banks are able to disburse more funds under priority sector lending.

Tata Shaktee GI corrugated roofing sheets is the category leader. However, the awareness of the brand and its sales in rural markets left much to be desired. The company had been primarily using electronic and print media to promote the brand and these had limited rural reach. Tata Steel approached MART to increase brand awareness and recall. We suggested a direct customer-reach haat and mandi campaign as these marketing platforms are extremely relevant for rural people and visited by thousands of buyers. A branded modular stall was set up at each location, a public address system used to attract visitors, games organised for visitors to increase brand recall and prizes offered. MART has participated in over 5,000 haats from 2004 to 2007 and communicated with over 5 million potential consumers on a one-on-one basis. This targeted consumer approach, touch and feel experience, communication in the local language and enhanced brand recall has resulted in 40% increase in sale of Tata Shaktee GI sheets. 360 degree marketing model MART has addressed the challenge of creating a low cost and self sustaining last mile distribution and promotion system. The model involves identifying and selecting unemployed rural youth belonging to village youth clubs in the 18 35 years age group, with a school education, to promote and sell company brands in rural areas. These selfemployed entrepreneurs are given rigorous classroom and infield training in salesmanship. Each promoter is equipped with branded bicycles, umbrellas, storage boxes, Tshirts and caps. The promoter invests small amounts in buying stock from the nearest company authorised channel partner and sells the same at nearby haats and village shops on the way, averaging sales of Rs 700 800 per day. His permanent journey plan is carefully prepared keeping in mind the days on which the Haats are held and including target population strata villages in the coverage.

Since these promoters, hail from one of the neighbouring villages and speak the same language, they enjoy high credibility among customers. MART has partnered with Colgate, Eveready, Heinz, Goodknight and other brands in rolling out this model in U.P., A.P., Maharashtra and West Bengal.

Development sector

We offer end-to-end solutions through a range of comprehensive services, including research, strategy, pilot implementation and capacity building. In each of these we provide the following services to clients: Research Opportunity Assessment Market Dynamicss Sub sector and Value Chain Analysis Feasibility Impact Assessment Strategy Formulation Livelihood Promotion Market Development Public Private Partnership --Pilot Implementation Micro enterprise promotion Haat development Marketing linkages --Capacity Building Opportunity assessment through 3M Approach Rural Marketing Collective marketing Haat Development Customized training on livelihoods and marketing

Competitiors Anuragh Madison Broadmind Mediacom

ANURAGH MADISON

Established in 1986 as Anugrah Marketing & Advertising Services (P) Ltd., with headquarters in Chennai, we have been operating as a fully accredited Advertising Agency catering to the communication needs of a variety of clients ranging from Agri-inputs, Consumer Durables, FMCG to Services. Our rich experience over the years in communicating with the semi-urban and rural consumer resulted in a tie-up with MADISON COMMUNICATIONS in 1998 as their Rural Division. ANUGRAH MADISON ADVERTISING PVT. LTD., is today a part of Madison World with 20 Units across 9 specialized functions in Advertising, Media, Out of Home, PR, Rural, Retail, Entertainment, Mobile, Events and Sports employing over 800 communication professionals across cities in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Airtel

Client Airtel Product Mobile Service Brand

Task for the Agency To promote the mobile service facilities of Airtel in the rural tower areas in

less than 10k pop villages in Karnataka Activity: Qualitative study was done in the tower town and town coverage villages to get insight of the rural consumer towards mobile telephony

Target segments were clearly defined based on Population, Proximity, Progress, Prosperity and Priority. The potential early adopter segment was targeted by conducting special consumer meets at tower towns where detailed product briefing was done. Sale of special numbers on the spot was done to connect the consumers to the local retailer. Branded van was used to create awareness in the tower coverage areas and collect database of potential customers A special dart game was devised to draw attention of the public to the 10 new tower towns as

one of the elements of the campaign Target segments were clearly defined based on Population, Proximity, Progress, Prosperity and Priority.

Shriram Transport Finance

Client Shriram Transport Finance Product Commercial Vehicle Finance Brand Shiram
Task for the Agency Organised Transporters Meet consisting of small fleet operators in the major towns across the four southern states and later extended to the rest of the country. A special video package consisting of the details of the finance schemes, a motivational song and testimonials were

produced and delivered at these meets. Each programme anchored by a well known TV celebrity attracted thousands of small fleet operators providing the company with valuable database for follow up.

Later the drivers were targeted at dhabas to convince them to become truck owners with Shriram schemes.

Marico

Client Marico Product Coconut Oil Brand Parachute

Task for the Agency Create awareness for Parachute Coconut Oil Pouch in towns with less than 20000 population in Tamil Nadu

Colgate Palmolive ITC Limited Marico Cavin Kare

Convert loose oil buyers into Parachute pouch customers, by highlighting the advantages of the Parachute brand Convince them to pay a small premium for the brand.
Communication Strategy The Van Campaign aimed exclusively for women and for the first time conducted by women Get the women folk out of their homes and participate in a van campaign which usually is dominated by men and children Make them stay through the van programme and ensure their active involvement Result

According to Marico, substantial increase in sales reported from the campaign areas A study by Marico showed a 25% conversion from loose coconut oil usage to Parachute Pouch Pack, Post Van Campaign The success of the campaign motivated Marico to repeat the campaign the following year even in towns with 1 lakh + population, with excellent results

ITC Limited

Client ITC Limited Product Soap Brand Vivel

The Product

ITC launched its mid range soap brand Vivel with 4 variants Young Glow, Sandal, Satin Soft and Ayurveda. Task for the Agency To create brand awareness and do limited product sampling in the target markets. Engage the local distributor in the activity. Task for the Agency

Potential markets of Thiruvallur, Arakonam, Arani, Vellore, Gudiyattam, Vaniambadi and Thirupathur (towns below 1 Lac Pop) in Tamilnadu.

Communication Strategy

Delivered through a well planned van campaign which included Brand awareness, edutainment, product placement, sampling and sales with interactive games communicating the key product message. The Local dealer/distributor was involved through out the activity with a dealer representative carrying out sales with special offer in a kiosk. Along with merchandising of retailers a survey was conducted to check stock availability in the activity location.

Result

Created brand awareness among the masses through direct contact programme and through mass miking. Free sampling and spot sales were carried out which subsidized the cost of the campaign. A total of 1050 retailers were merchandised and surveyed. Day to day survey reports helped the dealer to stock retailers where the stocks were not available which accounted for 50% of the total shops visited.

Cavin Kare

Client Cavin Kare Product Shikakai Shampoo Brand Karthika

Task for the Agency Create awareness on the ground and engage the consumer with the brand and its key attribute of Long

and mesmerising hair. Campaign Delivery

A branded vehicle (Karthika Express) with a crew of women promoters and male helpers with audio software and collaterals to engage the TG in various interactive events/games designed exclusively for them. Women were invited to the activity by means of an invitation delivered to them door to door by the women promoters. The final winner was crowned as Karthika Neelaveni Maharani (literal translation Karthika Long Hair Queen) Merchandising at retail outlets for post campaign local visibility and residual impact. General awareness about the product was done through miking activity in and around the target markets.

Colgate Palmolive

Client Colgate Palmolive Product Toothpaste Brand Cibaca

Task for the Agency Cibaca a low-priced brand in the Colgate stable.

Well accepted in the rest of the country, except Karnataka. Ajantha a direct competitor making in-roads Need to create awareness in small towns and villages and generate trials.

Campaign Theme

Why buy any low-priced toothpaste when you can get an international quality toothpaste from the house of Colgate, at the same price point.

Campaign Delivery

Delivered through a well planned van campaign which included product placement, sampling and sales and interactive product oriented games. A video film using well-known TV stars of Karnataka to drive home the product story.

Result

Awareness for the brand increased multifold and reflected in spontaneous increase in sales.

ACC

Client ACC Product Cement Brand ACC Limited

Task for the Agency A grand week-end exhibition of building and construction related products in the major cities of Karnataka.

Leading dealers of other building material products were invited to put up stalls provided by the company to offer people building their homes the entire range of products under one roof.

The shows were promoted using local press, audio vans, banners, posters etc. The entire event was packaged with entertaining games, magic shows and screening of the ACC customer video film in a

specially created mini-theatre at the venue.

Thousands of families from within and outside the town turned up to witness the event also generating valuable database of potential customers through an interesting guess and win contest. These were later extended to other smaller towns as Mini-Gruha Pradarshana.
Titan Industries Ltd

Client Titan Industries Ltd. Product Watches Brand Sonata

Campaign for low-priced Sonata Watches in 5K population villages Pilot in Tirunelveli District Ground Realities

Less than 30% penetration of watches Concept of time in villages is still associated with the arrival of the local bus, train, ringing of temple or school bell, etc. Need for a watch is not strongly felt.

Campaign Objective

An exercise in category / brand penetration To get non-users of watches to think of Sonata as a must-have for success of their family and children

Communication Delivery A unique Hub & Spoke model

A branded TATA 407 covering hub villages of 5K population fully equipped with AV equipment and four promoters Two live skit artists also accompany the van Van carried 3 branded bicycle promoters equipped with audio and a flip chart illustrated story on the importance of a watch, with a hand held mega phone to attract the villagers A collapsible display cum sale counter carried in the van for spot sales Hub Village Activity 3 promoters branch off on their bicycles to cover smaller spoke villages within a 3 to 4 km radius The TATA 407 branded van with the rest of the crew goes around the hub village making announcements, playing the audio software, conducting interesting product related interactive games, giving away spot prizes to winners, offering the watches on sale, etc.

Hub Village Activity

An invitation for a show in the evening at a local venue like the community hall or school hall is distributed door to door by the promoters and the skit crew.

In the evening at around 6.00 pm when an audience of around 200 nos. gathered at the venue, a pre-formatted show consisting of a specially produced edutainment film on the importance of a watch and a humorous live skit on the same subject is presented to the audience. To assess comprehension, specific questions on the film by lucky draw are asked and those who answer right are given away prizes on the spot.

Spoke Village Activity

The branded cycle promoters go around the smaller villages from street to street, making announcement on their mega phone, urging the local residents to come out and participate in the interactive games and win prizes. When a small group of residents gather around the cycle, the promoter unveils a story on a flip chart with an audio playing simultaneously narrating a story on the importance of a watch. At the end a quiz on the story is conducted and winners given away prizes Product message related simple interactive games are also performed and the winners given away prizes.

Campaign Results

This campaign undertaken in the Tirunelveli district of TN created tremendous hype for the brand. A simultaneous media campaign was also undertaken by the company covering the local radio channel, theatre branding, bus panels, hoardings etc. According to the feedback received from Titan officials, the campaign generated considerable enquiries for the Sonata brand at the local dealer counters resulting in incremental sales for the brand.