Rural Marketing

What is Rural.Mktg.? A distinct marketing activity of attracting and serving to fulfill the needs and wants of persons, households and occupations of rural people. A function which manages all those activities involved in assessing, stimulating and converting purchasing power in to an effective demand for specific products and services and moving to the people in rural area to create satisfaction and standard of living, thereby achieve goals of org. So a combi of deve and transactional mktg.

Transactional vs. developmental

Concept-consumer orientation,mktg Role-stimulating and conversional mktg Focus-market fit Key task-product innovation and communication Nature of activity-commercial Participantscorporates,sellers Offer-products/services Target group-Buyers Goal-profit, cust- satisfaction Time frame-short, medium Motivation-profit ,buss-policy Society orientation Catalytic, transformational mktg. Social change Social innovation and communication Socio-cultural, economic Govt agencies,ngos,corporates Development schemes, projects Beneficiaries &buyers Brand and corp.-image Medium, long Ideological and public policy

 R.M. process both an outcome and also catalyst of rural development process, benefactor, beneficiary. An innovation essence of mktg.social change of traditional society, vital to narrow R & U mkt divide. Process evolutionary and not revolutionary, strategic change and commercial gain alone. R.C a beneficiary than just a buyer of products and services. Communication and distribution is vital for R.M.more cooperation and interactions between R & U mkts

Importance
U.Mkts highly competitive,saturated,brand switching behavior R.M.as a strategy for high rate economic growth R.M. as a social change,productivity,thru suitable communication,distribution,cooperatives,banks,electric ity,T.V. radio thru technology Rural consumer-different in demographic profile Media habits-folk tunes etc Mktg mix applications varies. Value addition thru unique features

Rural vs. Urban Philosophy-societal, developmental Market-low demand vs. intense competition Consumer-widely spread, seasonal buying vs. concentrated ,planned and high consistent expenditure. Products-low awareness, positioning difficult, quality preferences low vs. choosy Price-more sensitive, low price better response. Distribution-jatras vs. supermarkets Promotion-P.S. rare in R.M

R.M. opportunities and challenges

Different consumer-as ability to discriminate varies and reference points while buying as perceptions ,beliefs ,attitudes differ.

Increasing consumption in R.M so ample scope for different products and services.
Complex understanding of demographics, brand responses so getting insights needs regular mkt research for sound decisions Competitive situation and planning winning strategies difficult. Channel selection different Increasing corporate interests so discovering new markets Increasing incomes and buying power

Features of R.M. 1. Large no of consumers- 70% but states like U.P. ,M.P. ,Bihar, Rajasthan, and orissa. It ranges more from 80% to 85%,Gives large opportunity but income and purchasing power decides demand. 2. Scattered markets- over a wide geography, No of villages <200 more than 1.5 lakh,>1000 about 1 lakh and above 2000 about 40000 villages,50% villages <500.How to reach and distribute with 3 Rs thru modes and to communicate thru Media? 3. Occupation pattern-Farming as source of income for majority ,almost 80% of population depends on land.10% business, non-agro labor 8% and salaried 2%.More demand possible thru agro prosperity. 4. Literacy level-Rural literacy around 30% vs. 60% in urban, Developing any kind of awareness and diffusing technical knowledge ? Almost 16 major languages r spoken? 5. Seasonal demand-Kharip and rabi ,dry and irrigated crops, agro climatic variations deciding staggered harvest seasons related to demand besides demand during marriages and festivals.

6-Low standard of living-overall socio economic backwardness, less spend on non-food items. 7-Media reach-Print media only about 12% T.V. ,cinema and radio about 35% each. So choice of media specific to R.M. 8-Communicatin facilities-Many villages r still without telephone facility, but fast changing thru telecom revolution 9-Transport facilities-Kaccha roads unusable during rains, bullock carts still a mode for food transport 10-rural electrification-for pumps and rural living? 11-Medical- inadequate 12-Distance ear to urban more progressive so semi urban, rurban approaches. 13-rural consumer- a) cautious in buying goods and services, check recheck prices of new products, lot free time so delayed decisions b) cultural factors-shared values, beliefs and perceptions influence r.c.against more individualized in urban, different groups related to rlogion,caste ,occupation.

c) Traditional life- customs and traditions decides practices, stitched shirts r still common. d) traditional occupationchildren take up farming and also fallow same methods e) traditional belief-depend on fate, past experiences than new findings, mantras and tantra r used. f) Family valuesobligations fulfilments,Sas-bahu,joint families, g) rural incomemonsoon ,seasonal, agro. impact, h) festivals and functionsonam, pongal, diwali campaigns ,i) Low educated-media choice, demos best-result or method, J) bank influencesaving habits thru coop banks etc. Demand patterns- a) Size of market- recent story of corporate initiatives based on fast growth - b) composition of demandboth services and products-agro inputs,twowheelers, cycles, radios, cooking utensils, cosmetics,, fmcg, fmcd. C) More than urban- watches, bicycles, tailoring machines,, d) growth more than urban- Tea, washing, etc.

 Scope- 1- Favorable govt policies and increase contributions in GDP, various developmental programs, initiatives,- iadp, small and marginal farmers etc,2research and education initiatives- solar and wing energy harvest, water harvest, 3Green revolution-new seeds, drip etc, 4corporate initiatives,5- rising aspirations and life style, 6-media explosions,7-higher level of education- thru comps etc,8income growth- thru contact farming, PepsiCo-potato, macdonalds-letuce grower. Poultry, 9-SHG- impact

 Limitations-1-infrastructures, sociopolitical environment ,illiteracy, poverty, and increasing competition, 2Physical distribution, channel management, limited network of banking ,own outlets not so feasible etc,3- sales force management- language issues, local customs compatibility. ability for long journey so managing sales force is challenging,4- sales promotion nonconventional media choice,16 different languages and 850 dialects,, 5) high sensitivity to price , 6-seasonality of demand