Page 275 - DMGT509_RURAL MARKETING

Rural Marketing

Notes often adulterated. In rural areas, gold jewelry is not for ornamentation; it is a safety net for
emergency situations. Thus, the Tata seal of good housekeeping is taking the brand places.
“GoldPlus is an interesting example of the brand addressing the non-metro jewelry culture with
its ethnic touch with regard to its designs and retailing,” says Ramesh Kumar of IIMB.
“There is substantial scope to create products that are oriented towards non-urban sectors,”
notes Kumar. “These can be in terms of functional appeal or cultural aspects or both. Chik
shampoo created the jasmine variant [in tune with the culture of women using jasmine flowers
to style their hair in a few parts of the country]. TVS mopeds created functional value in tune
with the ‘all purpose’ vehicle culture existing in several parts of the non-metro areas. Philips is
moving forward with the creation of gas stoves and lanterns that will be useful to such markets.”
Singh of IIML talks about pricing successes: The Chik shampoo sachets sells for 2 cents, the Parle
G Tikki biscuit packs at 4 cents and the Coca-Cola 200 ml glass bottle for 10 cents. Singh notes
that successes in rural areas can be transplanted to urban areas also. “The shampoo in sachets
created a new product segment,” he says. “All shampoo manufacturers today retail in sachets,
and the demand from urban India for this category is very strong.”
The sachet is as much a packaging (product) strategy as a price strategy. But, asks Garudachar of
Voltas, have companies done enough about the core product? The shampoo sachet is a case in
point. “Villages in India have hard water,” he says. “But the shampoo that you get in sachets sold
in villages is the same that you get in towns. Manufacturers should have tailored the products to
suit the environment.”

It doesn’t apply across the board, of course, particularly as manufacturers have moved away
from the mindset that along with cutting price, you can cut quality. “Product re-engineering was
an issue five years ago,” says Bijoor. “I do not believe this is an issue at all today. The quality on
offer needs to be the same all over. One company tried to pass off inferior quality tea leaves in
rural markets and superior quality grades for urban markets under the same brand name. This
fell flat.”
But re-engineering is necessary in a different sense. According to Bijoor, “Companies are realizing
that the urban and rural want is largely the same. However, the rural person is savvier and
demands real value for money. To offer this, marketers are re-engineering products. Look at the
auto segment. The urban man wants a car as does the rural man. Both have the same amount of
money. The rural person, however, believes spending US$12,000 on a car is a sin. He wants it at
US$3,000. The Nano is a solution. Every category needs to operate on the Nano paradigm. The
needs are all the same, across rural and urban. The solutions have to be different.”

Distribution and promotional channels also need to be different for rural markets. Companies
are getting their act together here, too. Private sector companies like ITC have set up the IT-
enabled e-Choupal network, and Hindustan Unilever has project Shakti, under which women’s
self-help groups act as the last link of the retail chain. As mentioned earlier, India Post wants to
convert itself into a retail chain for a variety of products. Even fair-price shops, which form part
of the government’s rationing system, are trying to expand beyond supplying just basic foods
like rice and wheat.
In the area of promotion, television has invaded rural India. TV reaches even very small villages
through community sets. But advertising on national channels is wasteful if you are trying to
target rural areas. Garudachar of Voltas says his company is trying to sell air conditioners to the
rural rich. “Difficulties in penetration are due to the widespread and scattered nature of the
territory,” he says. “At one time, basic conservatism and diehard thrift would also have been
factors, but exposure to TV has changed all that, and created aspirations where once there was
resistance to change.”

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