Nokia’s Rural

Marketing Strategies
in India PRESENTED BY :
SMRUTI RANJAN [17BSP2782]
ANURAG TIWARI [17BSP0442]
SOUMENDU SUBHANKAR [17BSP2818]
GAURAV GUPTA [17BSP0915]
RAJAT TIWARI [17BSP2129]
Topics to be covered..

 All about the Case.

 Opportunities in rural market in India.

 Dynamics of rural market in India.

 Analyze the need for customizing according to rural market.

 Nokia Service mantra for rural market with Nokia Life Tools.

 Needs of Farmers.

 Whether Nokia Life tool was successful of not.

All about the case..
This case, set in 2008, attempts to analyse strategies to succeed at the Bottom of
the Pyramid (BOP) through the example of ‘Nokia Life Tools’, a service launched by
Nokia to tap the unmet information needs of rural farmers. Since 2000, the rural
market has emerged into a gold mine for MNCs wanting to expand their market
share. Due to rising income level, literacy rate and disposable income, the rural
consumer market has been growing at twice the rate than the urban market,
accounting for nearly 50% of the sales of many product categories like FMCG and
consumer durables. However, despite the booming opportunities, companies, with
exception to a few have not succeeded in the rural market. The case delves into
the factors that make succeeding at the BOP a challenge for marketers.

Nokia has been flourishing in rural India, by customizing its phones according to
market needs. However, how far does the Nokia Life Tools service, an SMS-based
service that would provide information on agriculture, education and
entertainment to farmers in return for a monthly subscription fit with the rural needs
and challenges? The case delves into the challenges Nokia would face in making
its new service successful in rural India.
Opportunities in Rural market in India
 Infrastructure is improving rapidly.
 In 50 years only 40% villages connected by road, in next 10 years another
30% targeted.
 More then 90% villages electrified, though only 44% rural homes have
electric connections.
 Rural telephone density has gone up by 300% in the last 10 yrs, every 1,000+
population is connected by STD.
 Social indicators have improved a lot between 1981 to 2008.
 No. of “Pucca” houses doubled from 22% to 41% and “Kuccha” houses have
halved.
 Percentage of BPL families declined from 46% to 27%.
 Rural literacy rate level improved from 36% to 59%.
 Low penetration rates in rural so there are many marketing opportunities.
Dynamics of Rural market in India
 Most of the Indian population i.e. 68.84% are still in rural areas. Which makes rural
India the biggest market for any companies who wants to do business in India.
 The rural market is growing twice as fast as the urban market.
 Rural Indians are giving more importance to value then price.
 Reaching Out to the BOP
 The lucrative potential of India’s rural market has lured many companies.
 Reasons: Urban market became saturated, more businesses are retooling
their marketing strategies to rural untouched market.
 However, to reach out to the consumers at the BOP, conventional strategies
like print and television ads are not sufficient.
 Analyze the need for customizing
according to rural markets
 Unlike 4 P’s in marketing, in rural market the companies faces challenges of AVAILABILITY,
AFFORDABILITY, ACCEPTABILITY, AWARENESS i.e. 4 A’s.

 AVAILABILITY: The first challenge is to ensure availability of the product or service.

 AFFORDABILITY: The second challenge is to ensure affordability of the product or service.

 ACCEPTABILITY: The third challenge is to gain acceptability for the product and service.

 AWARENESS: The fourth challenge is to aware the mass of the rural population about the
company’s product or service.
Nokia's service mantra for rural markets
with Nokia Life Tools
 Inform
 Nokia Life Tools was developed to help bridge the digital divide in the rural market.
 The information is customized to the farmer's location and selection of crops, and will be
delivered directly to his Nokia mobile phone.
 Involve
 Nokia Life Tools was developed in collaboration with the target users and the industry.
 More importantly, it will require a collaborative effort between Nokia, our operator
partners, industry participants and information providers across the agriculture and
education sectors as we connect the next billion mobile phone subscribers.
 Empower
 The Education service of Nokia Life Tools aims to give students a decisive advantage by
boosting their English language and local, national and international general knowledge.
 In future, the Education service will also come with information on higher education and
career guidance and tips, exam preparation, quizzes and access to exam results.
Analysis the fit of Nokia Life Tools in
rural India
Needs of Farmer

Knowledge
and
Extension

Storage, Inputs
Harvest & -Seeds
Trasporation -Fertilizers

Needs of a
Farmer

Market
Information Irrigation
and Linkage

Financing
and Risk
Insurance

http://www.tenant.res.in/publications/presentation/pdfs/agriculture-Oct06.pdf
Whether Nokia Life tool was successful or
not.
 The rural India only has about 13% penetration so far so the real growth
potential lies in the rural belt.
 The results of the test phase showed that farmers and students, in particular,
had benefited through this service.
 The farmers could access the latest information on crops, weather, market
prices of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, etc.
 The students benefited by learning the English language and gaining local,
national, and international general knowledge.
 Nokia Life Tools was developed to help bridge the Digital Divide in the
emerging markets." - Jawahar Kanjilal, global head of Emerging Market
Services at Nokia Corporation (Nokia), in November 2008.
Sources:
• http://www.creativeworld9.com/2011/03/abstract-on-rural-marketing-in-india.html?m=1
• https://www.nokia.com/en_int/news/releases/2008/11/04/inform-involve-empower-nokias-service-mantra-for-emerging-markets-with-
nokia-life-tools
• https://vdocuments.site/amp/nokia-life-tools-for-rural-markets.html