Introduction to

Rural marketing

Why GO RURAL
Census 2011, India has 6,41,000 villages and total population of
1,210 million.
Rural population is 833 million which constitutes of about 69% of
the total population.
Result of green revolution (late 1960s)

Increase in Agricultural Production

Reduction in import of food-grains
Capitalistic Farming
Ploughing back of profit
Industrial Growth
Rural Employment

Per capita income of farmers increased

Disposable income increased

Classification of farmers based on

land holdings
Five major categories of land holding
are:
marginal (below 1 ha)
small (1-2 ha)
semi-medium (2-4 ha)
medium (4-10 ha)
large (10ha and above)
1 Hectare =2.47105381Acres

Why GO RURAL
Many corporate houses like Godrej,
Birla, ITC, Reliance.
Initiative by ITC : e-Choupal
Company could directly link with rural
farmers through internet for the
procurement of products like soyabean,
coffee, wheat , prawns etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Fx4gukMYTGA

 Godrej Aadhaar: A retail venture of Godrej Agrovet Ltd, has

embarked on social initiatives to tap the potential in rural India.
It has decided to screen the popular animation movie Hanuman for
the rural population at the Godrej Aadhaars in Maharashtra and
Gujarat.
This is the first time it is being screened outside the metros, especially
in the rural areas, according to Godrej Aadhaar.
For the first time, the farmer community along with their families in the
interiors of the State would enjoy a grand theatre style screening of a
newly released movie on a 35mm projector with a 30 ft X 15 ft screen
using Dolby Digital sound.
With these initiatives, Godrej Aadhaar aims to connect with more than
1 lakh farmers and offer them a platform to enjoy, interact and be
connected.

Why GO RURAL
In urban consumers durable market for products
like TV, washing machines, refrigerators and
ACs grow annually at a rate of 7% to 10%.
Rural market is zooming ahead around 25%
annually.
MART: specialist rural marketing and rural
development consultancy has found out :
53% of FMCG sales lie in rural areas
59% of consumer durables
Of 2 million BSNL mobile connections, 50% went to
small towns and villages.

Reasons for improvement of business

in rural area
Socio-economic changes
Lifestyle, habits and tastes, economic
status
Literacy level more than 70%
Infrastructure facilities (roads,
electricity, media)

Increase in income
Increase in expectations

Rural marketing process

Rural marketing
It is the study of all activity, agency,
policy involved in the procurement of
farm inputs by the farmers and the
movement of rural products from
farmers to consumers.-G.N.Murthy

 The main task of rural business is to

deliver value to market and also to make
profit for its survival.
The value creation and delivery consists of
three parts:
Segmentation
Targeting
Positioning

The success of rural marketing is proper

planning of STP.

Types of rural goods

Industrial goods: those used for
further industrial processing. E.g.
tobacco, fiber crops like cotton, jute.
Consumer goods: for direct use like
all food grains, dairy products,
poultry products, vegetables and
fruits.

Four distinct segmentation

approaches

Mass marketing
Segment marketing
Niche marketing
Micro marketing

Criteria for market

segmentation

Geographical
Demographic
Psychographic
Behavioural

Multi variable segmentation

A marketer will not be able to decide
single variable segmentation.
Many variables contribute in different
proportions in decision making
process.

Tompson association market index

Hindustan Tompson association
limited (HTAL), MR and advt.
company in India: 1972.
Developed the overall indicator of
rural market potential in India by
taking 335 districts and 26
measurable scale variables.

Indicators of TRMI

Agricultural laborers
Gross cropped area
Gross irrigated area
Area under un food crops
Pump sets
Fertilizer consumption
Tractors
Rural credit
Rural deposits
Villages electrified

TRMI has become an useful guide in segmenting and targeting

the rural market

Government Spending in
Rural

Understanding the Characteristics

of the Rural Masses
Very intelligent and clever cannot be
easily cheat.
Daily activity is routinised

Plenty of time / No Sundays

Very conscious of value for money
Does not like to pay extra for frills he
cannot use.
Eg. Colour TV

High involvement in any product purchased

Eg. Durables (LIC)

Characterstics
Contd.
Perceptions, traditions, values
vary from state to state and in
some cases from region to
region within a state.
Divisions
based
on
caste,
community
and
other
hierarchical factors continue to
exist.

So how do we communicate with

the Rural Folks?
Rural Communication..

Keep the communication simple

No scope for gimmicks( tricks)
Take time in communicating the message
Quickies have no impact.
Think in the local language to capture the
local spirit in the communication aimed at
specific region.
Demonstration a key element for success

Shampoo Demonstration

Dalda Vanaspathi Demonstration

Rural Communication
contd..
provided your communication is not
gimmicky, suggestive and is easy to
comprehend.
Target the opinion leaders first.( Educated
village
youth as opinion leaders)

Hence
need
for
different
communication packages focused on
rural audience

Rural
communication..contd
..
Build Recognition
Rural folks understands symbols and colours better.

Pahelwan Chap MRF

Haathi Beedi
Laal Sabun Lifebuoy
Peela Powder Nirma
White paste- Colgate

This also leads to duplicates and fake products

Largely sold in the Haats (weekly markets) in
Rural India
Rs.12000 crore p.a. is the estimated loss to FMCG
sector

Contd