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rural marketing

Rural Marketing in an Underdeveloped Economy

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Well, it is not appropriate to call India an underdeveloped economy anymore. The country is shining brightly with a tremendous growth record in the last decade. It should be better called a rapidly developing economy. However, the country faces a setback because of a clear-cut difference between the India and the Bharat, i.e. the urban and rural India. There are huge differences in terms of lifestyle, facilities and infrastructure. The government is trying hard to bridge the gap between the two. It is the reason; marketing gurus in India altogether different marketing strategies to lure the rural market which has immense potential. A company cant flourish by relying on the already saturated urban market. There is a fierce competition, and it needs a great struggle to achieve a marginal increase in the market share. Rural market, on the other hand, is still unexplored. Hence, there is always a possibility of high returns on investment. Its a different ball game Experts admit that the rural marketing in a country like India is a different ball game. Only those companies who understood the pulse of rural market could make wonders in the niche. Companies such as Vritti iMedia have got the grip on the rural mentality, and it is the reason behind their overwhelming success. (i) While in the urban market, it is important to highlight aspects that differentiate your product from others; in the rural market you should connect the product to the daily life of people. The more they feel associated with the product, higher is the pull. (ii) Use of marketing channels that are close to the heart of rural people, create the maximum impact. They feel that the product is designed to fulfill their expectation, and it is not a product for classes. The overwhelming response received for marketing campaigns done at Kumbh Mela, or Audiowala Bus Stand substantiates the fact. (iii) Product price is a distinguishing factor in rural marketing. Even if it is a lifestyle product, it is critically important to keep the price band low. In a country like India where the gap between rural and urban market is distinguishable, cost of the product makes a big difference. (iv) Timings also play a vital role in rural marketing, especially in underdeveloped countries. Since the rural population is largely dependent on crops, it is important to market lifestyle products immediately after the harvest season.

With urban markets drying up, entrepreneurs must go to rural markets

rural marketing, rural promotion / By

Underestimating the strength of the rural market was a blunder by marketing gurus in last two decades. Experts say that the overemphasizing on urban areas and concentrating whole efforts of sales and marketing on lifestyle products was not a very good marketing strategy. Though it created miracles initially and everyone was lured by the overwhelming success, experts say that the recent marketing trends show signs of urban market drying up. Is it because of overexposure? Is it because of high inflation rates and reduction in the purchasing power? Is it because people have understood the difference between expense and extravagance? Well, all of the reasons contribute their respective share to the whole problem! Rural market shows a promising future After a long phase of negligence, marketing experts realize that the immense potential of the rural market opens a whole world of business opportunities. With the telecommunication revolution, you can see dish antennas in the remotest of the village. Hundreds of television channels mesmerize millions of people with glossy lifestyle products. Since there has been a big improvement in the economic condition and purchasing power of people living in the rural India, what they need is just an opportunity of buying. In a country that is second most populated one in the world, rural population itself is more than the population of a few European countries put together. Marketing experts know it very well. Hence, they are developing dedicated and relevant marketing strategies that appeal to the rural people and drag them to the product or service. So far, the most penetrated product in the rural India is Tea. Coca-Cola also covers a fair amount of the rural population. Looking at the signs of urban market shrink and dry up, it is needless to say that a major revamp in the marketing strategy (and more importantly the change in the mindset) is needed to avail the best benefits. Rural marketing efforts need humongous efforts In spite of the fact that the rural market brings a fortune for entrepreneurs, the journey is not smooth. Experts warn that there are more efforts required to create a demand in the rural market. People have to be made understood the need for the product or service first. Secondly, the product should be available to them conveniently. Hence, supply chain management is equally critical. Once these hurdles are crossed, the unlimited potential brings perpetual business growth for entrepreneurs.

Navratna Oil brand campaign wins the hearts of millions devotees at Ujjain Kumbh Mela

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Religion bonds millions of people in India. The Sinhasth Kumbh Mela of Ujjain proved it once again. It was one of the biggest religious occasions of one month where millions of devotees gathered to take a holy dip in the sacred waters of River Shipra. Navratna Oil used the opportunity to run a brand engagement camp for the flagship product. The company organized a press conference to inform about the success of the program. We took the strategic benefit of Panchkroshi Yatra during the event for building the brand identity of Navratna Oil. Since it is a foot journey in 7 days temperatures in the month of May, we followed the devotees with vans that sprinkled cold water intermittently to give them relief. We also offered chilled water during the journey. Both the activities brought a great relief from the excessive heat; people could easily associate it with the catch line of Navratna Oil, Thanda Thanda Cool Cool. In an occasion where more than 80 Million people visit, local authorities are under tremendous pressure. Apart from maintaining law and order, they have a challenge of managing missing people. We shared the burden by setting up Help Desk and Khoya-Paya (Lost&Found) centers in coordination with Madhya Pradesh Police. The centers were connected via Whatsapp round the clock. More than 300,000 people were given ID cards with their details displayed on it. In case of anybody missing, the details were displayed on the LED Screens informs the PRO of Navratna Oil. Due to the overwhelming response for Massage Parlors in the similar events earlier, we did it again with many improvements. I am delighted to announce that it was a super-duper hit this time also. The massage parlors offered free massage to more than 100,000 devotees during the entire event of 30 days which is a record. We had collaboration with hotels, dharmshalas, religious pandals and akhaadas where we offered free of charge massage to the devotees to relieve the stress and fatigue. Other than these activities, a great brand visibility achieved by setting up female changing rooms on the Ghat. Also, we offered umbrellas across the ghats during the day time to safeguard the devotees from scorching heat of 42 degrees Celsius. Simhasth Mela at Ujjain was a well-organized and disciplined event. Navratna Oil used it pretty well for achieving the brand building of their product. Apart from brand promotion, it achieved inner satisfaction by helping people.

Vritti iMedia helps brands to expanding their wings in rural market

rural marketing, rural promotion / By

Once upon a time considered trivial from the perspective of designing marketing strategies, the rural market of India emerges as the dark horse. Today, big marketing brains are busy in deriving marketing strategies that would lure the rural people. With a sizable annual spending of more than 50 Billion Dollars (2012 figures), the rural markets leave the urban counterpart far behind. The gap gets widen year after year with more people in the sector buying high-flair lifestyle products such as motorbikes, cars, and mobile phones. Marketing companies that sensed the immense potential early could reap huge profits not only for them but the clients as well. Vritti iMedia is one of the pioneers who expanded the wings in the rural segment by developing creative and innovative ideas that nobody could even think of. Lateral thinking needs the courage of facing failure. When the Team Vritti iMedia comes out with something exclusive, it beams with the confidence of winning. It thinks miles ahead of others. It is the single line success mantra of Vritti. The early bird catches the worm! It is a fact that the early movers always reap the best profits. Vritti iMedia sensed the immense potential of it quite early. It knew that the rural markets will have a giant leap in the coming years, and the growth trajectory displayed by it would be the fastest as compared to the urban market. Therefore, it started working in the direction of developing interesting and effective ideas that would draw in the rural population. After making an early entry, it used the best of the creative ideas and brought exclusive success for the clients. Ideas that touched the hearts Since Vritti iMedia always emphasized on exclusive ideas suitable for the rural segment, it set paramount of success year after year. The quest of achieving better than the best resulted in fantastic marketing campaigns that were simply remarkable and enticing. For winning the hearts of the rural population, people should feel that the campaign is exclusively for them. By using exclusive ideas like promoting products and services on bus stands, or using enormous religious gatherings like Kumbh Mela for brand promotion; Vritti iMedia captured the attention of masses. Such campaigns not only brought incredible results but build the image of being a company that understands the pulse of the rural India. Success boosts the team for raising the standards year after year.

Rural Growth is Key to Indias Success

rural marketing, rural promotion / By

When they say India lives in the villages, they are not wrong. A country where more than 80 percent of the population lives in small and middle-sized towns (a chunk of the population contributing eight to ten per cent of the total economic growth); how can one ignore it? Economists say that the key to growth lies in the rural sector, keeping in view the saturation in the urban areas. It is the time to turn back to villages A big chunk of the Indian population which lives in the rural areas was neglected for more than two decades after the economic policies took a U-turn from the traditional socialist ideology to so-called capitalist market. Everything from marketing strategy to product development and advertizing to promotions was focused on the neo-rich and upper-middle segment of the urban population. It drifted the lifestyle and habits of Indians and world-famous pizza and burger outlets marked their presence in the Indian market, promisingly and successfully. After a whooping success for more than two decades, the urban market faces a big challenge in maintaining the same growth rate. Hence, the time has come to look back a big chunk of the Indian population that shows tremendous growth potential and promising future. Though it is a challenging task, not impossible Everyone agrees that the key to growth lies in the rural market, but it is equally true that the path is full of steeps and turns, just like approach roads in the villages. In a market where round-the-clock power cut is still a reality, how can one think about marketing lifestyle products that expect uninterrupted power supply? However, the rural India is changing and with a pretty fast pace. As the government is keen to take the necessary facilities to the remotest village, good quality approach roads are being made to every village. With more emphasis on unconventional energy sources, e.g. solar energy or wind energy; villages are being made self-sufficient for power generation. It is quite clear that as these efforts would start yielding results, there will be a phenomenal change n the life of the rural people. With a significant growth of the middle class in these areas, the demand for lifestyle products will surge like anything. Companies that read the pulse of it correctly get prepared for the new challenge. Early movers would have the obvious advantage. They will not only seize the biggest chunk but maintain excellent growth as well.