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‡ Rural and Urban Areas

² The conceptual unit for urban areas is a 'town', whereas for the rural
areas it is a 'village.' The classification of an area as an urban unit in
Census of India 2001 is based on the following definition:

‡ All places declared by the state government under a statute as a municipality,

corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee, etc.
‡ All other places which simultaneously satisfy or are expected to satisfy the
following criteria:
² A minimum population of 5,000;
² At least 75 per cent of the male working population engaged in non-agricultural
economic pursuits: and
² A density of population of at least 400 per square kilometer (1,000 per square mile)

² Any area, which is not covered by the definition of urban, is rural.

   
 0
The Rural Consumer
„
  1
•
 

 /
‡ Rural consumers constitute about 72% of India·s population
¬ 
  
 
‡ Marketers have, so far, concentrated on the top-end consumer

‡ Therefore, this segment is largely dominated by proxy products and

local/regional/duplicate/fake brands
„       1
!

 
‡ Largely working as farmers or agricultural workers

‡ Have limited education, may well be illiterate

² This leads to linear and simple thinking, abstract logic tends to go over
their heads

‡ Either live in joint (extended) families or have only recently formed

nuclear families
—


   
‡ Buy small quantities - more frequently
² Unit price is critical, particularly as many of them are daily-wage earners

‡ Look for ¶acceptable performance·/ functional benefits / paisa vasool

paradigm (good in relation to current product) at a reasonable price

‡ ´Transcreationµ of packaging critical

‡ Flash price of pack wherever feasible

‡ In their own way, good at arriving at a cost per dose (or cost per
month) equation: even if not expressed mathematically
² More sensitive and alert to ¶value·

‡ Make high-volume purchases at weekly village markets

² Haats
—


   
‡ Build personal acquaintance with neighbourhood retailer

² Often trust the retailer who does influence brand choice

² Frequently get ¶credit· from the retailer
—


   
‡ Word-of-mouth, very important and credible

‡ Mass driven
² Buy products that are perceived to be popular: the ¶bandwagon· effect

‡ Try to minimise their risk: tend to be stronger creatures of habit

‡ High awareness of range of consumer brands - but propensity to

actually purchase premium performance brands is low

‡ Still influenced by popular idols/role models such as movie stars,

famous sportsmen, etc
   
|


 
 

‡ Adhere to prevailing social norms: the community they live in is very
important and their behaviour is usually consistent with the
community·s shared beliefs and norms

‡ Enjoy social gatherings: women·s associations, celebrations, events, etc

‡ Spend a lot of their free time chatting and gossiping with neighbours:
both as a source of entertainment and information

‡ Tend to be suspicious about people outside the community

‡ Follow opinion leaders: school teachers, priests, religious leaders,

urbanised relatives, local politicians, the village head
±

    2  
‡ Housewives manage the household and decide on its needs
² Largely determine brand choice for low-cost household products
² But in rural India, males play that role too

‡ Males are still dominant; largely a patriarchal society

² Yet, housewife establishes her ¶territory·

‡ High ¶power gaps·: less powerful members of the family accept and
expect that power is unequally distributed

‡ Family is at the core of their existence - and the ¶self· is considered

less important
² Children are the centre of the housewife·s life
±

    2  
‡ Housewife is often frustrated in her own ambitions, but wishes to see
these aspirations fulfilled vicariously through her children, daughter
included
² Aims for children to achieve academic excellence

‡ Housewife craves for an identity outside the home

‡ Believe in having many children: future providers

Õ   
‡ Strong belief in ¶fate· and ¶luck·, religion and God

‡ Active participation in religious activities

‡ ´Cleanliness is next to Godlinessµ

— 
 
  
  
    
‡ When she can stand up to her mother-in-law without being
disrespectful

‡ When the children excel in their studies/school activities

‡ When the son sends money from the city to the village

‡ When she exercises her own choice in brands, occasionally allows

herself a minor extravagance or indulgence

‡ When a prestigious consumer durable in brought home: the arrival of

a 2-wheeler, a TV-set or a refrigerator is a proud event in itself
@  

Myths & Reality


‡ Rural consumers aren't worth bothering about since they buy loose,
unbranded products rather than the branded variety. In branded they
buy only inexpensive brands.
@

‡ The ORG study shows a high preference for branded products. In 18
categories, branded consumption accounts for 80% of sales. These
include: toilet soaps, washing powders, analgesics, safety razor blades,
toothpastes, shampoos, batteries, rubs and balms, skin creams,
toothpowders, toothbrushes, antiseptic creams, antiseptic liquids,
digestives, mosquito repellants, shaving preparations, tubelights.
@

‡ Penetration of premium products is being reported, even to the lowest
socio-economic classification. Although the percentages may be very
small, given the large universe, the actual figures may be quite
significant.


‡ One family, one brand - there's one brand for the whole household.
@

‡ In many categories, multiple-brand usage is a fact. Rural households
are not completely homogeneous.
 

      


‡ Continued existence of an oppressive and rigid caste system,
particularly in rural areas
² The rural consumer normally hails from the lower castes, and therefore any
depiction of him/her on an equal footing with the higher castes would be
seen as aspirational

‡ High illiteracy levels: often incapable of reading or pronouncing a brand

name
² E.g. Lifebuoy is referred to as ¶the red soap·



   

   1


   /
‡ Highlight multiple uses from the same product
² Dettol liquid for cuts, gargle for bad throat, washing clothes as a
disinfectant , dandruff etc
² Jet mosquito coil for mosquito repellent and room freshner
‡ Advertise small packs with a low unit price
² Tiger biscuits tikki pack
² Cavin Kare - Chik shampoo
² Chota Pepsi 5 rupiya mein
‡ Why pay more?
² Nirma Super ´Jab vohi manghe damo vali quality kam dam mein mile to koi
vo kuye leµ
‡ A little (of the product) goes a long way
² Rin detergent bar claims that with just a little Rin, you can get a whole lot
of wash


   /
‡ Using price itself as an indicator of value has some risks attached to it;
if used indiscriminately, it can:
² Down-grade the perceived quality of the product
² Permanently position the product at that price point making it difficult to
effect price increases in the future
‡ The rural consumer is sensitive about being portrayed as poor
² Don·t do it!
² Play on their aspirations instead
‡ Fantasy, Song & Dance, Idiom of the cinema
² Nirma detergent powder employs song and dance, up-market models and a
vibrant jingle
² Navrattan hair oil - Govinda in a dance sequence with ´Chandramukhiµ
‡ Use catch-phrases accompanied by matching signature visuals
² Surf Ultra detergent powder used the hugely evocative phrase - ´!


 
µ along with the characteristic twirl of the finger
² Rin detergent bar used the phrase ´
  Rinµ along with the
characteristic flick of the finger


   /
‡ Use opinion leaders
² If they are credible, they work
² Sunlight detergent powder employs a doctor to endorse the brand
² Colgate dental cream endorsed by a doctor
² Sarpanch - Anti Leprosy
‡ Leverage the rural consumer·s belief in folklore and natural ingredients
² Ganga soap claims that it contains milk and is made from the water of
Ganga, a river revered as holy by the majority of India·s Hindu population.
² Dabur Amla hair oil with ´Anvlaµ, Lal Dant Manjan with ´lavngµ
‡ Depict characters and families that are aspirational yet real
² It is advisable to use characters that are aspirational and yet middle-of-
the-road i.e. not beyond the perceived reach of the rural consumer
‡ avoid being too freaky or too Westernised i.e. jeans are OK but torn ones may not
be


   /
‡ Exploit the warmth of emotion among family members
² VIP Alpha luggage - man wants to take back the wife when he goes to town
to work again
‡ Consider leveraging the appeal of mass sports
² Lifebuoy soap has consistently used mass sports like football
‡ Understand and leverage your local culture, beliefs and customs
² Fair and Lovely skin lightening lotion makes use of people·s belief in
palmist
² Bajaj scooters uses typical vignettes from Indian life to establish an
emotional bond with the consumer


   /
‡ Make promotions relevant and ¶aspirational·
² Upbeat promotions that promise the possibility of winning a dream prize
such as a house, gold ornaments etc alternatively look at instant redemptions
‡ Use radio effectively
² Radio often has a much higher reach than TV or any other medium among
the rural consumer - and must therefore be considered as a mainline medium
‡ Sampling
² The importance of sampling cannot be underestimated as it provides a low-
risk opportunity to try the product


   /
‡ Pack
² Pack is sometimes the only communication medium
² Due to low literacy levels, particularly in India, recognition of the brand
name is mainly through its distinct logo and visual pack properties
² For this very reason, it is usually inadvisable to make drastic changes in
packaging design and/or pack colours while re-launching the brand

‡ Brand recognition signals

² Distinctive colours: use lively, bright colours
² Strong and bright colours usually imply a health proposition, whereas
pastels and shades have a cosmetic or beauty connotation
² For toothpaste, avoid using pack colours that have negative connotations -
like yellow which connotes dirty teeth
² Synergy across media


   /
‡ As the rural consumer tend to come to the shop frequently, POS
materials act as a constant reminder of brand presence and advantage
² Branding must be done through colour, brand name and symbols: strong
visuals are important
² POS material should be
‡ Durable: tinplates, plastic, sun-resistant inks
‡ Functional and reusable: calendars, mirrors, stands
‡ Space-efficient
‡ Decorative
‡ Location is key: need to be placed strategically
² Billboards, wall paintings, banners
‡ Special events which are entertaining are very popular
² Folk-song concerts
² Road shows
² Travelling cinemas
² Video parlours
•      
/
 @       

Framework for selection and evaluation of relevant rural advertising options
for a given communication task
   
‡ Outline media possibilities for various marketing situations
‡ Construct an evaluation system for various rural options
‡ Modify it for relevant state as per regional variations
‡ Outline execution pointers
‡ Outline costs
 
—  
‡ Build penetration
² launch in newer popstrata

‡ Test market
² Test acceptability of new product/mix

‡ Pressure Test
² vary advertising weights to gauge response

‡ Promotion

‡ Maintenance
 

      3 4

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@  ±3 
1
‡ Depends on launch period in villages

‡ If recently launched, <3 years, compromise reach to provide

additional visibility in key markets

‡ If established, compromise on frequency, increase reach

 @ 5 ±3 

 
Learnings from projects executed by Linterland
 
 

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