rural promotion

Indian Rural Market Issues, Opportunities, and Challenges

Indian rural market opens new dimensions of success for entrepreneurs. However, they have to be aware of the issues, opportunities, and challenge in the journey. Issues The Indian rural market has totally different dynamics. Market ng managers should keep the issues in mind while deriving marketing strategies: The rural market doesn’t show consistent demand throughout the year because the economy is largely dependent on agriculture. The harvesting season typically shows a surge in the market. Poor transportation is still an issue. There has been a great improvement in recent years, though. Roads become unserviceable during the monsoon season, and connectivity becomes a big issue. Material distribution and supply chain is another challenge. Too many tiers in the distribution channels increase cost and time required to deliver the stuff. Lifestyle and mindset of the rural population are different. Hence, products and services that do not use relevant advertising in rural areas remain unnoticed. Buying decisions are usually slow in the rural market. Therefore, it takes the time to popularize a product. Personal experience is more relied than advertising. Opportunities The huge marketplace is the biggest strength of the rural market. When there are more than a billion people waiting for the opportunity of using a product or service, it is critically important to derive marketing strategies and outdoor advertising ideas that attract rural consumers. Competition is less in the rural segment. Since there are not many players contesting for the largest market share, good profitability can be achieved. There is an immense scope of reaping the benefit of launching low-cost, out-of-the-box products that are relevant to the rural people. Such products get clicked instantly and become a great success. Many companies are focusing on specialized advertisement in rural areas. Challenges Marketing gurus have several challenges while deriving effective rural promotion strategies relevant to the rural marketplace. Though it is not impossible to overcome them, they need additional efforts and resources. Deriving a uniform marketing strategy is a big challenge. Since there is a big diversity in India, a homogeneous strategy doesn’t get clicked. Therefore, marketing experts have to do immense efforts to make a product success. Cost is an inhibiting factor, especially when the product doesn’t have direct relevance to them. The rural people are reluctant to pay hefty prices for purely lifestyle products. They feel it a wasteful expenditure. Hence, there has to be relevance between product price and utility value.

10 notes keep in mind when doing rural marketing

You need half an hour to cut the tree, but you need six hours to sharpen the axe, the adage is relevant in every situation. rural marketing agency is also not an exception to it. When you derive an effective strategy for the market, it is critically important to look at some salient features. Know what the audience is interested into? Preferences of rural consumers are different from urban ones. One size doesnt fit all; rural marketing agencies in india need to work from the grass root level while designing the campaign. Dont proceed without valid data points. Gather in-depth knowledge about the market sentiments, consumer psyche, product distribution and pricing. Marketers must pay attention to the way things will be communicated to the consumers. Spend some time in making an understanding of the particular market. If the product or services are being launched for the first time, then this point is further critical. You must understand that it is a different ball game. The rules are different here. Dont treat is just another market segment. The more you get into it, better will be the result. Look at the rural marketing strategy as the whole. You should work simultaneously on market development strategy, campaign, distribution, or rural marketing events in india. The overall impact will be effective. Look at the market from a long-term perspective. There is immense potential in the rural market, and the effectiveness of your strategy will decide how successful you will be in grabbing the attention of people. If you are one of the best rural marketing companies in india, then dont forget to include the client in every stage of planning and execution. The final say has to be of your client. Prepare a checklist. It is critical for the success of the strategy. Checklist makes sure that you do not forget anything in the execution process. Dont get disheartened by the initial lukewarm response. May be you need a little bit tweaking here and there. Rural consumers take some time to appreciate a product or service, but they are highly responsive once they get an idea about it. You neednt be extravagant while deriving rural marketing strategy. It is possible to come out with flying colors by adapting a conservative approach. These points help in taking your company new heights of success in the rural market. With a sound groundwork and well-planned execution; you can be the role model for others.

3Ms of Marketing Management from the Perspective of the Rural Market

We have heard a lot about the 3Ms in the marketing management; Market, Message, and Medium. The terms are relevant in the rural marketing campaigns as well. Market Advertizing companies should look at the market, from the point of view of rural consumers while promoting products and services. The lower-middle and middle-class customers (with a handful of aspiring higher-middle class consumers) are predominantly the customers. It is important to conceptualize the campaign in such a way that it inspires and motivate the consumers and not hurt their feelings directly or indirectly. The campaign should not make them feel that the products are for the people of some other planet. If it happens, then the brand or product gets an outright rejection. Rural marketing companies in india such as Vritti iMedia understands the pulse of the market. They design campaigns that suit the market the most. Message By message, we mean the verbatim and presentation both. The message we want to convey should be totally in line with the audience (or market per se) when we decide the message for advertising in rural areas. Since the rural market is a mass market where cost is the top criteria for selection, there is no sense of using words such as exclusive, lifestyle or elegant. Words like economical, money saving, and long lasting offer a great pull. Indian rural market has increased manifold in the past two decades. Today, there are people who can spend more than urban consumers. However, they still give precedence to saving money instead of being extravagant. Marketing gurus need to keep the peculiarities while framing the message. It brings a paradigm shift in the way rural promotion is handled in India. Medium Choosing the right medium is the key to success. Studies say that an inappropriate choice loses the whole purpose of the marketing campaign. If it cant grab the maximum attention of the users, then it is not an effective medium at all. Only experienced and skill marketing managers can find out what is the best medium of promoting the product. What are the habits of the consumers and how do they behave? What are their living styles and what attracts them? Yes, a campaign is a huge success when marketing managers look at the world from the point of view of their customers. Vritti iMedia  comes out with brilliant outdoor advertising ideas to make the best use of the medium.

Rural marketing trends 2016

According to the marketing gurus, the time has come when companies need to change their perception and perspective about the rural market. The trends are changing rapidly, and rural consumer becomes more aware now. Apart from the conventional 4 P’s of marketing, today marketing gurus need to incorporate four A’s in the marketing strategy. These A’s are affordability, availability, accessibility, and awareness. Though affordability is not a constraint with the increase in spending capacity of rural buyers, they are still price cautious. Accessibility was an issue earlier because of the poor infrastructure. The situation has improved in the recent years. Product awareness can be effectively achieved by designing appropriate marketing strategies for rural promotion to grab the attention of rural consumers. Focused rural marketing strategy Think Local and Act Local is the need of the day Earlier, the rural market was considered merely a subset of the overall marketing strategy. Now, marketing managers have to exercise their minds for developing relevant product marketing strategies that meet the particular needs of the rural consumers. For example, when voltage fluctuation or low voltage prevails in the rural areas; there is no point in marketing sophisticated electrical equipment that can’t withstand voltage fluctuations. Robust and durable products can only drag the attention of the consumers. Similarly, low unit packs or economy packs are a big success in the rural market because they are perceived as cheap and affordable. Hence, they need to be targeted in accordance with the Local needs, tastes, perceptions, preferences and aspirations . Advertising in rural areas needs to be specific, direct and relevant and only such medium should be used which helps marketer achieve this. Rural retail stores are the markets of tomorrow Rural consumers have a great exposure to the lifestyle aspects nowadays. They frequently visit nearby town and cities and experience the lavishness of malls, departmental stores, and multiplexes. When similar outlets are available in their locality, they feel excited about it. The proliferation of posh retail stores is the call of the day. In fact, distribution giants such as ITC and Tata have already started exploring the possibilities by setting Chaupal Sagar and Kisan Kendras respectively. Surely, other giants like HLL and P&G will also follow the footsteps. Well-organized rural marketing events in india would help in blowing the trumpet loudly. Market research must go on Yes, the trends are rapidly changing. A company cant afford to stop the market research. Rather, more qualitative and focused study is required to read the pulse of the market proactively. Those who succeed in it will taste the fruits of success. The laggards will lose a lot of ground.

Bus Stations in Rural India are a gold mine for Captive Audiences!! Intelligent brands are already tapping it

Bus service is the lifeline for most of the rural areas because it is affordable, accessible and available. In states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka and Goa where roads and buses are distinctively better than other states; People find travelling by bus to be convenient and time saving. Also for large Pockets of rural India it is the only viable transportation mode available. A Brand today can stand out and use the bus stands for effective visibility. Why Bus stands? The potential is enormous If you consider bus stands in Maharashtra alone, then the annual foot fall in 80 prominent bus stands is more than 92 Million which is a huge figure. Bus stands have the largest number of footfall after Railway stations. Quite obviously, they are the best places to showcase products and services. Since the majority of the gentry belong to rural areas, marketing campaigns that focus on rural needs are greatly successful at the Bus Stands. Properties to target at a Bus Station consists of Audio system to play advertisements through public addressing system, LCD TV, and branding and visibility are to name a few. Audiowala Bus Station, a revolutionary concept Audiowala Bus station is pioneered from Vritti by Partnering with State Transport corporations across 5 States (MSRTC, KSRTC & NEKRTC,  PRTC, RSRTC , Kadmaba) over the course of last 8 yrs. This audio medium Audiowala Bus station is today biggest mass medium for targeting small towns and rural markets as it gives a reach of 250 Million people. Vritti iMedia has equipped the bus stands with state-of-the-art audio-visual facilities. They also made the bus stands equipped with facilities of engagement and sampling, activation and spot sale. Vritti Media sets new standards in Rural Marketing by effective use of Bus Stands Due to the immense potential of making or breaking the business strategies of a company, the rural market of India keeps marketing managers busy in deriving effective strategies specific to this mass market. Vritti iMedia is a respected name in the niche for its intelligent and effective marketing strategies that have made a significant impact. The company has brilliantly used the opportunities to grab the maximum attention. Use of bus stations to promote products and service is one of the most innovative and successful ideas so far. Brands that got immensely benefited by the campaign Marketing brains at Vritti iMedia made clever use of bus stands to promote products that had immediate appeal to the rural population. From consumer products such as Goodknight Fast Card, Parle and Cadbury to Automobiles like Honda Motors and banks such as SBI, Bank Of Maharashtra and Central Bank Of India; the spectrum is quite widespread. Promotion at Audiowala Bus Stand has been found quite instrumental in activation, sampling and playing audio and video commercials. Veerendra Jamdade CEO of Vritti says When all these bus stands get converted into Audio Wala Bus Stand, imagine the reach of products and services to the rural population. Vritti iMedia is determined to explore the potential up to the fullest extent and reaching new heights of market promotion. It is a win-win situation for clients and Vritti iMedia both.