RURAL MARKETING IN INDIA

QUESTION BY LUCKY LANBA - CAN ANY ONE SUGGEST HOW TO CAPTURE RURAL MARKETS

Dear Lucky Lamba,

You have not specified any product group for which you wish to have idea about "CAPTURING RURAL MARKET” but any way I will try to give you generalized information which may apply both to consumables or durable consumables. The Rural Marketing is different ball game as compared to the conventional urban marketing and has to be planned keeping in view of the target customers. Before about 10-12 years rural markets in India were targeted for Fertilizers, Pesticides, Agricultural implements, animal feeds, seeds, lower end and comparatively lower priced day to day consumables like detergents, soaps, biscuits, toothpastes, toothpowders, house wares etc. but today the rural markets are more demanding, The demand for motorbikes, cars, Jeeps, Mobile phones, Tvs, and several other appliances are finding a huge markets in rural areas.

While planning for rural marketing Consumer psychology, Spending pattern and rural consumer behavior has to be kept in the mind. Rural markets are still largely driven by the price factor and therefore most of the manufacturers introduce lower end or base versions of the products or the products which have become some what technologically outdated are selected for rural launch. The Product launches generally have to be as aggressive as urban market but only publicity media may be some what different. The product dealers or channel partners in rural markets are as important as in the case of urban markets and they are motivated by slab discounts, quantity discounts, foreign / local travels etc.

The publicity media which are predominantly effective in the rural area are Wall paintings, Hoardings, Print media, TV ads, Radio jingles, Stickers, Posters, Danglers, Local event participation and Festival melas etc. For publicity in rural areas You can not chose between one of the above but all these media are to be tried simultaneously. There has to be a bombarding of advertisements through these media at the time of the product launch. If the product is of reasonable quality in relation to the price, generally a product is able to penetrate the market with about a years high pitch publicity & concerted efforts and a proper marketing strategy. For capturing 8-10 % market share a company has to then continue for about a year or two depending on the nature of competition and other economic factors. This are just the general guidelines however for different areas different marketing strategy has to be implemented for optimum results.

CHITARANJAN NAGRECHA