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    PROJECT WORK

    PAPER NO. XXXVII

    (OPTION B) TERM PAPER

    UUNNDDEERRTTHHEE GGUUIIDDAANNCCEE OOFF

    MMEENNTTOORR::

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    NNAAMMEE::

    CCOOLLLLEEGGEE RROOLLLL NNOO::

    UUNNIIVVEERRSSIITTYYRROOLLLL NNOO:: HHRR--

    AACCAADDEEMMIICC SSEESSSSIIOONN::

    UUNNIIVVEERRSSIITTYYOOFF DDEELLHHII

    Rural Marketin

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    DECLARATION

    I, ., hereby declare that the project work on Rural Marketing

    Switching on in Rural India is my original piece of work. It is done according to my

    true understanding and knowledge of the subject and is not copied from any published

    source or website.

    ()

    (Name and signature of student)

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    ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

    As a student of commerce, I have gone through a vast amount of literature and materialavailable on the topic Rural Marketing Switching on in rural India. I feel indebted to

    several authors and researchers who helped me a lot in understanding various issues

    relating to my topic.

    I am also grateful to my mentor..for her guidance, support, patience and

    excellent corrections. Her experience and expert knowledge inspired me reach beyond

    my limits and capabilities. In addition, I sincerely thank my family and friends who

    provided me their support.

    () ()

    (Name and signature of Mentor) (Name and signature of student)

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    IndexDeclaration

    Acknowledgement

    Chapter Contents Page No.

    1 Introduction

    1.1 Need for study

    1.2 Objective of study

    1.3 Limitation of study

    1.4 Plan of study

    2 Rural marketing in India

    2.1 Types of rural markets

    2.2 What makes rural markets attractive

    2.3 Factors for rural market boom

    3 Rural Market - A World of Opportunity

    3.1 Characteristics of Rural marketing environment

    3.2 Opportunities

    4 Does the Rural Market like it hot or cold?

    5 Selling in rural India

    5.1 The 4A approach

    5.2 Developing marketing mix for rural markets

    5.3 People power

    6 Case Study(ITCs E-choupal)

    7 Problems relating to marketing in rural area

    8 Suggestions

    9 Conclusion

    References

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    Chapter-1

    INTRODUCTION

    Rural Markets constitute an important segment of overall economy. Typically, a rural

    market will represent a community in a rural area with a population of 2500 to 3000

    people.

    Rural marketing is as old as the civilization. Surplus of agro - products are

    exchanged in earlier days in the barter system. The introduction ofcurrency, transport,

    and communication has increased the scope of rural market. Here well discuss the

    present scenario of rural marketing especially rural produce, and its importance, current

    trends, and highlights certain problems related to rural marketing. Further the

    improvements which make the rural marketing system most effective.Marketing of agricultural production has received adequate attention of researchers,

    policy makers, and central and state governments. This has resulted in establishment of

    regulated markets with an aim to see that the agricultural produce get better price. The

    advent of commercial and market oriented farming, with the help of modern agricultural

    technology, necessitated the use of manufactured inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, high

    yielding varieties of seeds to improve rural produce.

    .

    Need for study

    The rural market has changed drastically in the past one decade. A decade ago, the

    rural market was more unstructured and was not a prioritized target location for

    corporate. Very few companies, mainly the agro-based ones, were concentrating in

    these markets. There were no innovative strategies and promotional campaigns. A

    distribution system did exist, but was feeble. Illiteracy and lack of technology were the

    other factors leading to the poor reach of products and lower level of awareness

    amongst villagers.

    Gradually, corporate realized that there was saturation, stiff competition and clutter in

    the urban market, and a demand was building up in rural areas. Seeing the vast

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    potential of 75 per cent Indians living in rural areas, they started focusing on these

    unexplored, high-potential areas.

    Companies came up with special rural products, like Chic Shampoo sachets @ Re 1,

    Parle G Tikki Packs @ Rs 2, customized TVs by LG, Shanti Amla oil by Marico. All

    these brought positive results for them.

    Also, campaigns like Project Bharat by Hindustan UniLever, where trials were

    generated across India in 1999. In the first phase, they covered 11.5 million rural

    households and increased awareness by 41 per cent.

    Project Jagruti in the second phase by Colgate Palmolive India was a village consumer

    contact programme in 2001. It increased penetration of Colgate Dental Cream by

    doubling the villages from 33,000 to 55,000, reaching to a million houses. Such projects

    lead to increased penetration of products in rural areas.

    As a result, retail outlets have sprung up in practically all the villages that store products

    of various brands and categories. Also, high congregation areas, like fairs, haats,

    markets etc. are proving to be an important marketing tool since clusters of target

    audience can be tapped at the same time and place.

    Rural Marketing - The Future of Indian Industry.

    Indian agricultural industry has been growing at a tremendous pace in the last few

    decades. The rural areas are consuming a large number of industrial and urban

    manufactured products. The rural agricultural production and consumption process

    plays a predominant role in developing the Indian economy. This has designed a new

    way for understanding a new process called Rural Marketing. The concept of rural

    marketing has to be distinguished from Agricultural marketing.

    Marketing is the process of identifying and satisfying customers needs and providing

    them with adequate after sales service. Rural marketing is different from agricultural

    marketing, which signifies marketing of rural products to the urban consumer or

    institutional markets. Rural marketing basically deals with delivering manufactured or

    processed inputs or services to rural producers, the demand for which is basically a

    derived outcome. Rural marketing scientists also term it as developmental marketing, as

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    the process of rural marketing involves an urban to rural activity, which in turn is

    characterized by various peculiarities in terms of nature of market, products and

    processes.

    The importance of rural marketing can be understood from the fact that today modern

    inputs i.e. diesel, electricity, fertilizers, pesticides, seeds account for as much as 70% of

    the total cash costs and 23% of the total costs incurred by the farmers in the Green

    Revolution areas. Further the percentages were higher at 81% and 38% for small;

    farmers owning 1.85 hectares of land.

    Objective of study

    The main objective of study is to analyze and present marketing of consumer products

    in rural areas. To set direction for the study, the following objectives have been set forth.

    They are to:-

    1. present a rural market perspective,

    2. present a profile of rural market,

    3. study and analyze consumer behaviour in rural areas

    4. examine the product and brand penetration in rural markets,

    5. analyze marketing of consumer products in rural markets, and

    6. Present strategic framework for marketing consumer products in rural areas.

    Limitation of study

    Due to time constraint, in depth study on the topic could not be done.

    The main source of this project is relevant books, newspapers and internet.

    More statistical data or graphs could have been provided.

    Main focus is on the recent trends in rural marketing but initial researches are not

    been properly studied.

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    Plan of study

    In the very first chapter, an introduction about the scope of rural marketing

    is given. Since urban market is saturated and there are plenty of

    opportunities of marketing in rural areas, they should start focusing on rural

    areas and try to make profits by fulfilling their needs.

    Second chapter talks about scope of rural marketing in India.

    Third chapter discusses the various characteristics and opportunities

    provided byrural market.

    Fourth chapter talks about the views of Marshall McLuhan and Harold

    McInnis. They characterised all advertising media into 2 categories Hot

    (print media) and Cool (television).

    Fifth chapter contains the marketing mix to be used in rural India, and the

    4A Approach.

    Sixth chapter discusses the most famous case study of ITCs E-Choupal.

    Problems relating to rural marketing have been discussed in Seventhchapter.

    Some suggestions have been given in chapter Eight to improve the rural

    marketing structure in India.

    Chapter nine contains the conclusion.

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    Chapter-2

    RURAL MARKETING IN INDIA

    Rural markets, as part of any economy, have untapped potential. There are several

    difficulties confronting the effort to fully explore rural markets. The concept of rural

    markets in India, as also in several other countries, like China, is still in evolving shape,

    and the sector poses a variety of challenges, including understanding the dynamics of

    the rural markets and strategies to supply and satisfy the rural consumers.

    In recent years, rural markets have acquired significance, as the overall growth of the

    economy has resulted into substantial increase in the purchasing power of the rural

    communities.

    On account of green revolution, the rural areas are consuming a large quantity of

    industrial and urban manufactured products. In this context, a special marketing

    strategy, namely, rural marketing has emerged. But often, rural marketing is confused

    with agricultural marketing - the latter denotes marketing of produce of the rural areas

    to the urban consumers or industrial consumers, whereas rural marketing involves

    delivering manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural producers or

    consumers.

    Urban markets have reached a saturation level and further tapping them with high profit

    margin is difficult. Competition is tough & many firms have to incur heavy promotional

    expenditure. Also the awareness level of consumers is high and therefore product

    features have to be changed often.

    On the contrary, the rural markets are Green pastures for any marketer provided his

    marketing plans are attuned to specialties of rural markets. The rural market is growing

    fastly as compared to the urban markets. Being a new market, it could be easily

    mended. The potentiality of rural markets is said to be is like a WOKEN UP SLEEPINGGIANT.

    Types of Rural Markets

    HAATS /SANDIES (mostly for weekly market for all commodities)

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    MANDIS (mostly for all types of grains)

    Commodity Specialized Markets

    Nasik for onions and Grapes market, Nagpur for Orange market, Kashmir for Apples

    market, Farkka market for potato market and Assam for tea market.

    What Makes Rural Markets Attractive?

    Rural market has following attributes and the following facts substantiate this: -

    742 million people

    FMCG Rs. 65,000 Crore

    Durables Rs. 5,000 Crore

    Agri-Inputs (including tractors) Rs. 45,000 Crore

    2 / 4 Wheelers Rs. 8,000 Crore

    Source: - Rural marketing in India

    Ruchika Ramakrishnan

    In 2001-02, LIC sold 55% of its policies in rural India.

    Of two million BSNL mobile connections, 50% are in small towns / villages.

    Of the 6.0 lakh villages, 5.22 lakh have a Village Public Telephone (VPT).

    41 million Kisan Credit Cards have been issued (against 22 million credit-plus-

    debit cards in urban), with cumulative credit of Rs. 977 billion resulting in

    tremendous liquidity.

    Of the 20 million Rediffmail sign-ups, 60% are from small towns. 50% of

    transactions from these towns are on Rediff online shopping site.

    42 million rural households (HHs) are availing banking services in comparison to27 million urban HHs.

    Investment in formal savings instruments is 6.6 million HHs in rural and 6.7

    million HHs in urban

    Rural population has been increased about 74% of the total population ; the

    demand for products and services has increased a lot in rural areas. Green revolution

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    in the North and white revolution in the West has brought about a new prosperity in

    the lives of rural people. Government emphasis on rural development has caused

    significant changes in the rural scenario. Moreover, the special attention given for

    infrastructure development through the successive Five-year plans has improved the

    buying and consumption pattern of rural people.

    Factors for Rural Market Boom

    1. Increase in population and hence increase in demand. The rural population in

    1971 was 43.8 crores which increased to 52.5 crores in 1981 to 61.1 crores in

    1991 & to 73.6 crores in 2001.

    2. A marked increase in rural income due to agrarian prosperity.3. Large inflow of investment for rural development programmes from government

    and other sources.

    4. Increased contact of rural people with their urban counterparts due to

    development of transport and communication network.

    5. Increase in literacy and education level and resultant inclination to sophisticated

    living.

    6. Inflow of foreign remittances and foreign made goods to rural areas.

    7. Change in the land tenure system causing a structural change in the ownership

    patterns and consequent changes in the buying behavior.

    The general rise in the level of prosperity has resulted in two dominant shifts in the rural

    consuming system:-

    1. The conscious consumption of consumer durables.

    2. The preference for branded goods.

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    Chapter-3

    RURAL MARKET - A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY

    GONE ARE the days when a rural consumer went to a nearby city to buy

    branded products and services. Time has gone when only a select household

    consumed branded goods, be it tea or jeans. There were days when only big

    companies flocked to rural markets to establish their brands. Today, rural markets are

    critical for every marketer - be it for a branded shampoo or an automobile. Time was

    when marketers thought van campaigns, cinema commercials and a few wall paintings

    would suffice to entice rural folks under their folds. Thanks to television, today a

    customer in a rural area is quite literate about myriad products that are on offer in the

    market place.

    Trends indicate that the rural markets are coming up in a big way and growing twice as

    fast as the urban, witnessing a rise in sales of typical urban kitchen gadgets such as

    refrigerators, mixer-grinders and pressure cookers. According to a National Council

    for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) study, there are as many 'middle income and

    above' households in the rural areas as there are in the urban areas. There are almost

    twiceas many 'lower middle income' households in rural areas as in the urban areas.

    At the highest income level there are 2.3 million urban households as against 1.6

    million households in rural areas. According to Mr. D. Shiva Kumar, Business Head

    (Hair), Personal Products Division, Hindustan UniLever Limited, the money available to

    spend on FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) products by urban India is Rs. 49,500

    crores as against is Rs. 63,500 crores in rural India.

    The study of ownership of goods indicates some trend. It segments durables under 3

    groups:-

    1. Necessary Products:- Transistors, Wrist watch, Bicycle

    2. Emerging Products:- Black & White T.V. and Cassette recorder

    3. Lifecycle Products:- Colour T.V. and Refrigerator

    Marketers have to depend on rural India for the first two categories for growth and size.

    Even in lifestyle products, rural India will be significant over next five years.

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    At a recent seminar in Chennai on 'rural marketing for competitive advantage in

    globalize India', organized by Anugrah Madison Advertising Pvt Limited, marketing

    pundits have echoed that a sound network and a thorough understanding of the rural

    market is a must for making inroads into rural markets. The price-sensitivity of a

    consumer in a village is something the marketers should be alive to. Rural income

    levels are largely determined by the vagaries of monsoon and, hence, the demand there

    is not an easy horse to ride on. Apart from increasing the geographical width of their

    product distribution, the focus of corporate should be on the introduction of brands and

    develop strategies specific to rural consumers. Britannia Industries launched Tiger

    Biscuits especially for the rural market. It clearly paid dividend. Its share of the

    glucose biscuit market has increased from 7 per cent to 15 per cent. Similarly,

    Hindustan Unilever limited (HUL) has successfully influenced the rural market for its

    shampoos in sachets. The sachet strategy has proved so successful that, according to

    an ORG-MARG data, 95% of total shampoo sales in rural India by sachets.

    Characteristics of Rural marketing environment

    Rural markets are virgin markets and their size is compelling and attractive. The rural

    marketing environment reveals that there are opportunities as well as problems.

    While size is an advantage, the problems are scattered markets, poor standard of living

    and socio-economic and cultural backwardness because of which special marketing

    strategies are needed.

    Opportunities

    Infrastructure is improving rapidly -

    In 50 years only, 40% villages have been connected by road, in next 10 years

    another 30 % would be connected.

    More than 90% villages are electrified, though only 44% rural homes haveelectric connections.

    Rural telephone density has gone up by 300% in the last 10 years; every 1000+

    pop is connected by STD.

    Social Indicators have improved a Lot Between 1981 and 2001 -

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    Number of "pucca" houses doubled from 22% to 41% and "kuccha" houses

    halved (41% to 23%).

    Rural literacy level improved from 36% to 59%.

    Low penetration rates in rural areas, so there are many marketing opportunities-

    Durables Urban Rural Total (% of Rural HH)

    CTV 30.4 4.8 12.1

    Refrigerator 33.5 3.5 12.0

    FMCGs Urban Rural Total (% of Rural HH)

    Shampoo 66.3 35.2 44.2

    Toothpaste 82.2 44.9 55.6

    Marketers can make effective use of the large available infrastructure

    Post Offices 1,38,000

    Haats (periodic markets) 42,000

    Melas (exhibitions) 25,000

    Mandis (agri markets) 7,000

    Public Distribution Shops 3,80,000

    Bank Branches 32,000

    Source: - Rural marketing in India

    Ruchika Ramakrishnan

    Proliferation of large format Rural Retail Stores, which have been successful also

    DSCL Haryali Stores

    M & M Shubh Labh Stores

    TATA / Rallis Kisan Kendras

    Escorts Rural Stores

    Warnabazaar, Maharashtra (Annual Sale Rs. 40 crore)

    Dynamics of rural markets differ from other market types, and similarly, rural

    marketing strategies are also significantly different from the marketing strategies aimed

    at an urban or industrial consumer.

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    Chapter-4

    DOES THE RURAL MARKET LIKE IT HOT OR COLD?

    It is a well-known fact that traditional marketing research tools and techniques used inurban areas are not applicable in the rural context. The reasons for that can be

    explained using theories on media and culture of Marshall McLuhan and Harold

    McInnis.

    In an urban individualistic society, literacy rates are higher due to the rapid

    industrialization provided by mechanized means. The Urban Man is therefore passive,

    individualistic in nature, being brought up on technology, primarily print, i.e., books. In

    an illiterate collectivistic culture, affiliation needs are stronger; therefore, a villager's

    highest priority is to identify himself with his tribe. There is a feeling of collective identity

    felt by the villager. The rural culture is by nature, non-linear, collectivistic and irrational

    unlike a linear, sequential and rational urban culture.

    Traditional research tools are ineffective owing to reasons stated in the above. It is

    therefore, imperative for the marketer to develop appropriate research tools so as

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    to capture rural consumer information and insights. Here, I would like to identify

    what kind of tools may be used based on the interaction between a medium/technology

    and a cultural set-up.

    According to McLuhan, any form of media creates an extension of the senses, i.e., it

    may extend one sense's definition or amplify it, while numbing other senses. McLuhan

    distinguishes all media as Hot/Cool based on their effects on the senses. Hot

    media such as print media emphasis the use of one dominant sense, namely visual

    sight. Hot media is exclusive since the dominant visual sense numbs the rest. Further,

    hot media contain high information content, which means that the recipient has no

    participatory role in the interaction.

    Cool media, such as television, are inclusive in nature; encouraging interplay of all the

    five senses, i.e., television encourages participatory nature of all the five senses. The

    above is due to the fact that cool media contain low information content, based on which

    the recipient plays an active role in the interaction process.

    There is an important observation at this moment. Literacy campaigns may not be

    effective when television penetration in the rural areas increases. The reason is simple.

    The rural child `looks' at the entire image on television and does not `r-e-a-d' the image.

    Therefore, when the rural child, well exposed to television, is made to read a book,

    which is linear and sequential in nature, the child is not well equipped to comprehend

    the alphabet.

    Following are some of the informal or Rural specific media:-

    1. Audio visual vans

    2. Stage shows, plays, puppet shows performed at village melas and temple

    festivals

    3. Demonstrations

    4. Study classes

    5. Mike announcements and processions

    6. A photograph/painting is highly visual and supplies more information than that

    can be processed by the rural consumer (hot media). In their place, cartoons or

    caricatures, which lack information, are cool media sources which provide a

    participatory role of all the five senses.

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    7. Decorated bullock carts and caparisoned elephants carrying advertisement

    panels

    8. Music records

    9. House to house campaigns

    10. Information centers on companys products

    11. Games can be used as effective marketing research tools, which involve

    collective participation of the tribe.

    Studying rural consumers in their natural environments is a better research technique

    that may be employed instead of using CLTs (central location tests), which are non-

    indicative of their natural surroundings.

    Care needs to be taken so as to respect the hierarchical, rigid, social class structure of

    the rural village owing to their time and tradition-rooted culture. A deep understanding

    of how media affects a cultural set-up can help develop the relevant market

    research tools to understand that particular set of people sharing the same

    beliefs and norms.

    Before gamboling into issues like where the Indian rural market stands and the

    opportunities for corporate to explore there... let's look at the definition of urban and rural

    India.

    The Census defined urban India as - "All the places that fall within the administrative limits

    of a municipal corporation, municipality, cantonment board etc or have a population of at

    least 5,000 and have at least 75 per cent male working population in outside the primary

    sector and have a population density of at least 400 per square kilometer. Rural India, on

    the other hand, comprises all places that are not urban".

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    Now some facts and figures. The Indian rural market today accounts for only about Rs 8

    billion (53 per cent - FMCG sector, 59 per cent durables sale, 100 per cent agricultural

    products) of the total ad pie of Rs 120 billion, thus claiming 6.6 per cent of the total share.

    So clearly there seems to be a long way ahead.

    Today Market practitioners have realized the potential of the rural market. But when one

    zeroes in on the companies that focus on the rural market, a mere handful names come to

    mind. Hindustan UniLever Limited (HUL) is top of the mind with their successful rural

    marketing projects like 'Project Shakti' and 'Operation Bharat'. Amul is another case in point

    of aggressive rural marketing. Some of the other corporate that are slowly making headway

    in this area are Coca Cola India, Colgate, Eveready Batteries, LG Electronics, Philips,

    BSNL, Life Insurance Corporation, Cavin Kare, Britannia and Hero Honda to name a few.

    Khaitan fans' ad on a horse cart Wheel's wall painting

    We can safely say that until some years ago, the rural market was being given a step-

    motherly treatment by many companies and advertising to rural consumers was usually a

    hit and miss affair. More often than not, the agenda is to take a short-cut route by pushing

    urban communication to the rural market by merely transliterating the ad copy. Hence

    advertising that is rooted in urban sensitivities didn't touch the hearts and minds of the rural

    consumer. While, this is definitely changing, the process is slow. The greatest challenge for

    advertisers and marketers continues to be in finding the right mix that will have a pan-Indian

    rural appeal. Coca Cola, with their Aamir Khan ad campaign succeeded in providing just

    that.

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    Corporates are still apprehensive to "Go Rural." A few agencies

    that are trying to create awareness about the rural market and

    its importance are Anugrah Madison, Sampark Marketing and

    Advertising Solutions Pvt Ltd, MART, Rural Relations, O&M

    Outreach, Linterland and RC&M. Also, the first four agencies

    mentioned above have come together to form The Rural

    Network. The paramount objective of the Network is to get

    clients who are looking for a national strategy in rural marketing

    and help them in executing it across different regions.

    Interestingly, the rural market is growing at a far greater speed

    than its urban counterpart. "All the data provided by various

    agencies like National council of Applied Economic research

    (NCAER), Francis Kanoi etc reiterates this fact.

    "Yaara da Tashan..." McCann Erickson's ads with Aamir Khan created universal

    appeal for Coca Cola

    Coca-Cola India tapped the rural market in a big way when it introduced bottles priced at Rs

    5 and backed it with the Aamir Khan ads.

    Clearly the main challenge that one faces while dealing with rural marketing is the

    basic understanding of the rural consumer who is very different from his urban counterpart.

    Also distribution remains to be the single largest problem marketers face today when it

    comes to going rural. "Reaching your product to remote locations spread over 600,000

    villages and poor infrastructure - roads, telecommunication etc and lower levels of literacy

    are a few hinges that come in the way of marketers to reach the rural market," says MART

    Lifebuoy's wall painting

    in rural India

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    managing director Pradeep Kashyap.

    Citing other challenges in rural marketing, Patankar says, "Campaigns have to be tailor

    made for each product category and each of the regions where the campaign is to be

    executed. Therefore a thorough knowledge of the nuances of language, dialects and

    familiarity with prevailing customs in the regions that you want to work for is essential. The

    other challenge is the reach and the available means of reaching out to these markets,

    hence the video van is one of the very effective means of reaching out physically to the

    rural consumers."

    The fact of the matter remains that when compared to the Indian urban society, which is

    turning into a consumerism society; the rural consumer will always remain driven by his

    needs first and will therefore be cost conscious and thrifty in his spending habits. "Decision-

    making is still conscious and deliberated among the rural community. But nevertheless, the

    future no doubt lies in the rural markets, since the size of the rural market is growing at a

    good pace. There was a time when market predictions were made on the basis of the state

    of the monsoon but this trend has changed over the years; there is a large non farming

    sector, which generates almost 40 per cent of the rural wealth.

    "Although the melting of the urban - rural divide will take a while, this is not for want of the

    availability of the means but for want of the rural consumer's mindset to change; which has

    its own logic, which is driven by tradition, custom and values that are difficult to shed," he

    points out.

    Fulcrum's Gowthaman says, "The biggest

    impending factor or deterrent on rural

    monies going up is that there is a general

    sense of trying to benchmark cost per

    contact (CPC). The television CPC is

    going to anyways be cheaper to rural

    CPC and unless and until the volume -

    value equation turns the other way round,

    you will not be able to spend

    disproportionate monies in the rural

    market."

    Satellite dish antennas reach rural India

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    For HLL, a one rupee or a five rupee sachet or the

    Kutti Hamam (the small Hamam) helps in giving the

    consumers a trial opportunity. While it does help in

    generate volume but not in terms of values. "Till the

    time that volume - value equation is managed

    better, the CPC is preventing anybody to look at

    rural at a large scale activation programme,"

    reiterates Gowthaman.

    Ultimately, the ball lies in the court of rural

    marketers. It's all about how one approaches the

    market, takes up the challenge of selling products

    and concepts through innovative media design and

    more importantly interactivity.

    Anugrah Madison's chairman and managing director RV Rajan sums up, "There is better

    scope for language writers who understands the rural and regional pulse better. I also see

    great scope for regional specialists in the areas of rural marketing - specialists like Event

    Managers, Wall painters, folk artists, audio visual production houses. In fact all those

    people who have specialized knowledge of a region are bound to do well, thanks to the

    demands of the rural marketers."

    So the fact remains that the rural market in India has great

    potential, which is just waiting to be tapped. Progress has

    been made in this area by some, but there seems to be a

    long way for marketers to go in order to derive and reap

    maximum benefits. Moreover, rural India is not as poor as it

    used to be a decade or so back. Things are sure a changing!

    Typical shop in rural India stocked

    with sachets, etc

    It's a twin-pronged strategy that has worked brilliantly for LG Electronics, India. Two

    years ago the company's top brass was debating how to reach out to rural India.

    At one level, the company figured it needed new cheaper products to lure the rural

    buyer. At another level, it figured that more offices in smaller towns and cities were the

    need of the hour.

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    LG moved quickly on both fronts. At one level, it has introduced cheaper products like it

    Sampoorna television range. At another it has gone on an office-opening spree in

    India's smaller towns. Currently, it has 40 branch offices. That will climb to 150 by year

    end.

    Says Anil Arora, head, marketing, LG India: "A chunk of our revenue was coming from

    that segment and there was potential to grow it even further. Greater penetration has

    meant greater focus."

    But LG isn't the only white goods manufacturer that is striking deep into rural India.

    There's also Mirc Electronics which late last year launched its Operation Vistaar

    (meaning expansion).

    Mirc is already selling a second-string brand Igo which is slightly cheaper than its Onida

    range. Mirc says that both Igo and Onida are selling in the rural areas. Recently the

    company has hired another 100 people for its Igo team.

    The reasons for heading into the rural areas are fairly clear. The urban consumer

    durable market for products like colour TVs, washing machines, refrigerators and air

    conditioners is growing annually at between 7 per cent and 10 per cent.

    By comparison, the rural market is zooming ahead at around 25 per cent annually. "The

    rural market is growing faster than urban India now," says Venugopal Dhoot, chairman

    of Videocon Appliances.

    Leading the way is LG. In 2002, 60 per cent of its turnover came from the urban market.

    Today, that's down to 40 per cent. The majority of LG's revenues are now coming from

    smaller towns like Hapur, Trichy, Jorhat and Asansol.

    Videocon, which sells about 40 per cent of its products in the rural areas, has just begun

    a fresh thrust to boost sales outside the metros. It's hoping that by year end about 55

    per cent of total sales will come from the rural areas. But it isn't designing new products

    for rural customers.

    Some companies are playing the game slightly differently. Samsung, for instance,

    insists that it's a high end technology driven player. That's why the urban areas are still

    a focus area for it and only 30 per cent of revenue comes from rural and semi-urban

    India. "We have always been a hi-end technology driven player and want to keep that

    equity," says Zutshi.

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    Nevertheless, in the last two years, Samsung has looked at increasing awareness and

    penetration of its products in second rung cities like Bhuj, Porbandar and Jalandhar.

    The Samsung Dream Home road shows across the length and breadth of the country

    have been a step in this direction. "We don't have a rural model or different pricing

    strategy. But the products are focused on semi-urban or urban markets," says Zutshi.

    Similarly, Mirc says it had to be careful about diluting the Onida brand. Igo, at Rs 5,000

    for a 14-inch TV is priced Rs 500 to Rs 700 lower than the national brands.

    At another level, there's Godrej Appliances that has learnt its rural lessons through trial

    and error. Today, it is present in 900 towns of which 450 have a population above

    100,000. Another 250 are towns with less than 100,000 residents.

    Says Soumitra Ghatak, executive vice president, Godrej Appliances, "There is money

    today in the rural household. So clearly we're looking at dropping anchor. The fear is not

    being on their radar."

    To match its new aims, for the first time, Godrej will be advertising on Doordarshan. Till

    now the company has always advertised on cable television. The company has also

    redefined its target group from SEC A, B and C to SEC D as well. Godrej's direct cool

    refrigerator range starts at Rs 6,500.

    Godrej admits that it fumbled on the way when it tried to sell cheaper products. Two

    years ago it tried to sell a stripped- down fridge called Champion with only half a

    freezer.

    However, sales did not pick up so it had to be resigned and relaunched with a full

    freezer. "Product features are important, rural customers are just as aware as the

    urban," says Ghatak.

    But LG's example shows that revenues can rise quickly if you get the mix right. The

    company says that earlier a single branch office catered to Chandigarh, Jammu &

    Kashmir, Punjab and generated Rs 18 crore (Rs 180 million) per month.

    Now with more branches, revenue in the same area has gone up to Rs 50 crore (Rs

    500 million) per month. Similarly other states like Rajasthan now have two branches --

    Jodhpur and Jaipur -- instead of one.

    The company has also taken other initiatives like 65 Remote Area Offices under the

    branch offices that are empowered to directly link to the central billing system for orders,

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    230 service centers and 2,600 mobile authorized service personnel for villages having

    below 10,000 residents. All these moves are part of LG's efforts to push turnover to a

    whopping Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) by year-end.

    A city dealer will today sell a CTV by cutting into his margin, closer to the dealer price

    rather than the marked retail price. So while he makes 5 percent to 7 percent, rural

    dealers make 7 percent to 10 percent on a sale. "Volume makes up in the city whereas

    value makes up in the rural area," says an industry observer.

    Also, the increased rural focus doesn't mean the urban market will suffer. Samsung,

    Onida and even LG are aggressively looking at the urban replacement market for their

    hi-end premium product range.

    "Cracking the rural market is easier said than done," says Godrej's Ghatak. Adds an

    industry observer, "The rural market will not be about pricing but about how the

    customer is serviced and treated. If one consumer is not happy, the entire village will

    know and the company can then kiss that market goodbye."

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    Chapter-5

    SELLING IN RURAL INDIA

    OpportunityThe Indian rural market with its vast size and demand base offers a huge opportunity

    that MNCs cant afford to ignore. With 128 million households, the rural population is

    nearly 3 times the urban.

    As a result of the growing affluence, fueled by good monsoon and the increase in

    agricultural output, rural India has a large consuming class with 41% of Indias middle

    class and 58% of total disposable income.

    The rural market accounts for close to 70% of toilet -soap users and 38% of two-

    wheeler purchased. It also accounts for half the total market for TV. Sets, fans, pressure

    cookers, bicycles, washing soap, blades, tea, salt and toothpowder. This emphasizes

    the importance of rural market for some FMCGs.

    The 4A Approach

    The rural market may be alluring but it is not without its problems such as low per capita

    disposable income; large number of daily wage earners; acute dependence on vagaries

    of monsoon; seasonal consumption linked to harvests and festivals and special

    occasions; poor roads; power problems; and inaccessibility to conventional advertising

    media.

    However, the rural consumer is not unlike his urban counterpart in many ways.

    The more daring MNCs are meeting the consequent challenges of availability, affordability,

    acceptability and awareness (the so-called 4 As)

    1. Availability

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

    HUL has built a strong distribution system which helps its brands to reach the interiors

    of the rural market. To service remote village, stockiest use auto rickshaws, bullock-

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    carts and even boats in the backwaters of kerala. Coca cola, which considers rural

    India as a future growth driver, has evolved a hub and spoke distribution model to reach

    the villages. LG Electronics define all cities and towns other than the metro cities as

    rural and semi-urban markets. To tap these unexplored markets, LG has set u 45 area

    offices and 59 rural area offices.

    2. Affordability

    The second challenge is to ensure affordability of the product or service. With low

    disposable incomes, products need to be affordable to the rural consumer, most of who

    are on daily wages. Some companies have addressed the affordability problem by

    introducing small unit packs.

    Godrej recently introduced 3 brands of Cinthol, Fair glow, and Godrej in 50 grams

    packs, priced at Rs.4-5. HUL has launched a variant of Lifebuoy at Rs.2 for 50 grams.

    Coca cola has addressed the affordability issue by introducing the returnable 200 ml

    glass bottle priced at Rs.5

    3. Acceptability

    The third challenge is to gain acceptability for the product or service. Therefore, there is

    a need to offer products that suit the rural market. In 1998, LG electronics develop acustomized T.V. for the rural market and christened it Sampoorna. It was a runway hit

    selling 1,00,000 sets in very first year. Because of the lack of electricity and refrigerators

    in the rural areas, Coca cola provides low cost ice boxes - a tin box for new outlets and

    thermocol box for seasonal outlets. The insurance companies that have made tailor

    made products for the rural market have performed well. HDFC standard LIFE topped

    private insurers by selling policies worth Rs.3.5 crore in total premia.

    4. Awareness

    With large parts of rural India inaccessible to conventional advertising media only 41%

    rural households have access to T.V. building awareness is another challenge.

    Fortunately, the rural consumer has the same likes as the urban consumer movies

    and music. However, the rural consumer expressions differ from his urban counterpart.

    Outing for the former is confined to local fairs and festivals and T.V. viewing is confined

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    to the state owned Doordarshan. Consumption of branded products is treated as a

    special treat or indulgence.

    HUL relies heavily on its own company organized media. These are promotional events

    organized by stockiest. Godrej consumer products use radio to reach the local people

    in their language. Coca cola uses a combination of T.V., Cinema and radio to reach

    53.6% of rural households. It has also used banners, posters and tapped all the local

    forms of entertainment. LG electronics uses vans and road shows to reach rural

    customers. The company uses local level advertising. Philips India uses wall writing

    and radio advertising to drive its growth in rural areas.

    Developing Marketing Mix for Rural markets

    I. Identifying and selecting target markets

    This is the toughest task for a marketer who has to deal with rural markets. What

    exactly are rural markets? The criteria for Rural-Urban differentiation should be

    analyzed to have a clear perception on the dominant factors that influence rural

    consumer behavior. The factors to be considered are:-

    1. Occupation

    2. Environment

    3. Size of community

    4. Density of population

    5. Heterogeneity and homogeneity of the population

    6. Social differentiation and stratifications

    7. Mobility

    8. System of interaction

    The marketer has to adopt a totally different approach in locating and identifying the

    target market and relevant market segments for his products.

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    II. The Product Mix

    The basic question is whether the products intended for urban elite class can be

    marketed to rural consumers or product mix modifications are needed to suit the per

    capita income, the product utility values, the habits and attitudes of rural people, etc.

    Basically the product should be made available in small packaging, and should be

    cheap also to suit the pocket of rural consumers. For example:-tea, cigarettes, PVC

    chappals etc.

    There can be following product strategies:-

    i) Straight extension strategy

    Same product with minimum modifications. E.g. only in packaging.

    ii) Product adoption strategy

    Products modified to suit the specific need. E.g. detergent powder in urban markets &

    detergent cakes in rural markets.

    iii) Backward invention strategy

    Selling less complex products. E.g. electric sewing machine in urban markets &

    manually operating machines in rural markets.

    iv) Forward invention strategy

    Developing entirely new products. E.g. tractor.

    III. The Price Mix

    Re-designing of product should be strictly in consonance with maintaining a low cost for

    the products. E.g. Companies like Cavin Kare (Chik Shampoo, Meera Herbal Powder,

    Fairever Cream and so on), Anchor (100 per cent vegetarian toothpaste), Ghadi

    detergent powder and Power soap are proof that regional brands can become brands to

    reckon with. And don't forget Nirma, the most enduring example of a brand that began

    as a regional player and is now a giant. The price strategy should suit the quantum and

    frequency of income receipt of rural people. However, low price should not be anyway

    affecting the quality of products.

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    IV. The Distribution Mix

    Rural marketing problem is essentially a distribution problem. Though rural consumers

    are aware of substitutes, they are compelled to accept the product available in the retail

    outlets. Thus the producers may have a tie-up arrangement with the cooperative

    institutions which are deep rooted in the villages to ensure regular supply of their

    products. E.g. Ujala-blue is being regularly supplied & is available in all the retail outlets.

    More and more companies turn to the local haats to sell their products. While haats

    offer opportunities to target consumers from several villages at one place, and to that

    extent make your effort cost-effective, ensure that the people who patronize these haats

    are the kind who will buy your brand.

    Studies also indicate that rural consumers prefer to shop for durables such as

    televisions, automobiles and appliances in the nearest big town or city. So, if your

    products are in towns with populations of 50,000, you're closer to the rural consumer

    than you would have thought.

    V. The Promotion Mix

    The technological advancement in the field of T.V. has made it a powerful medium to

    expose products to rural people. Radio continues to be the common medium to reach

    them. Low literacy level does not warrant heavy advertisement in the print media.

    Publicity through special shows, films, mobile vans painted walls and participation in

    village haatsand melasare good methods of promotion. Festival season is an apt

    occasion for introducing new product.

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    People Power

    Rural marketing efforts need special mindsets, which many of the urban-oriented

    management graduates who are at the helm of affairs at most organizations do notpossess.

    A separate marketing and sales vertical headed by people with passion and

    commitment to rural marketing and supported by a field team that can face the rough

    and tough of the vast country-side with courage and conviction is a must.

    The best bet is to recruit students from specialized institutes such as the Indian Institute

    of Rural Management, or at least, management graduates who have studied the subject

    as an elective.

    Many of these are students from small towns, people with fire in their bellies who want

    to prove themselves in big companies and have no issues about working in smaller

    markets. Pay them well - remember, you pay peanuts, you get only monkeys - and

    discuss the path their careers are likely to take in the organization. And send them out

    in the field only after thorough training.

    Ensure the consistency of the team involved in any project, until the completion of a

    specific task.

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    Chapter-6

    CASE STUDY

    ITCS E-CHOUPAL

    In 2000, ITC took an initiative to develop direct contact with farmers who lived in

    far-flung villages in Madhya Pradesh. ITC's E-choupal was the result of this

    initiative.

    EChoupal is an initiative ofITC Limited (a large agricultural processing company in

    India) to link directly with rural farmers for the procurement of agricultural/aquaculture

    produce like soya, coffee, and prawns. E-Choupal was conceived to tackle the

    challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture, characterized by

    fragmented farms, weak infrastructure and the involvement of numerous intermediaries.

    Traditionally, these commodities were procured in 'mandis' (major agricultural marketing

    centers in rural areas of India), where the middleman used to make the most of the

    profit. These Middlemen used unscientific means to judge the quality of the product,

    used to set the price, difference in the payout for good quality and inferior quality was

    less and hence no incentive for the farmers to produce good quality yield. With e-

    choupal role of the middleman is eliminated.

    ITC Limited has now established computers and Internet access in key rural areas

    where the farmers can directly negotiate the sale of their produce with ITC Limited. The

    PCs and Internet access at these centers enable the farmers to obtain information on

    mandi prices, good farming practices and place orders for agricultural inputs like seeds

    and fertilizers. This helps farmers in improving the quality of produce, and also helps in

    realizing a better price. Each ITC Limited kiosk having an access to Internet is run by a

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limited
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    sanchalaka trained farmer. The computer housed in a farmers house is linked to the

    Internet via phone lines or by a VSAT connection and serves an average of 600 farmers

    in 10 surrounding villages within about a 5 km radius. The sanchalak bears some

    operating cost but in return gets commissions for the e-transactions done through his E-

    Choupal. The warehouse hub is managed by the middle-men called samyojaks. The

    samyojak acts as a local commission agent forITC Limited.

    Due to the E-Choupal services, farmers have seen a rise in their income levels because

    of rise in yields, improvement in quality of output and a fall in transaction costs. Even

    small farmers have gained too. Customized knowledge is offered to the farmers despite

    heterogeneity. Farmers can get real time information despite their physical distance

    from the mandis. The system saves procurement costs for ITC Limited. The E-Choupal

    model is quite different from the other models, as the farmers do not pay for the

    information and knowledge they get from E-Choupals. The E-Choupal model runs

    without any subsidy. There is no government money involved in this project.

    TC Limited has extracted value in four steps: (a) elimination of non-value adding

    activities; (b)differentiating product through identity preservation; (c) value added

    products traceable to farm practices; (d) e-market place and support services to future

    exchange. One of the success factors is ITC Limiteds managerial competence to

    execute a complex project and manage cost. The ITC Limited bottom line isroll out, fix

    it, and scale it up. The principle of the E-Choupals is to inform, empower and compete.

    ITC Limited is adding 7 new E-Choupals a day and plans to scale up to 20,000 E-

    Choupals by 2010 covering 100,000 villages in 15 states, servicing 25 million farmers.

    Transactions through these E-Choupals may rise to about US $ 2.5 billion by 2010.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Limited
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    Chapter-7

    PROBLEMS RELATING TO MARKETING IN RURAL AREA

    The rural market offers a vast untapped potential; it should also be recognizedthat it is not that easy to operate in rural market because of several problems. Rural

    marketing is thus a time consuming affair and requires considerable investments in

    terms of evolving appropriate strategies with a view to tackle the problems. The

    problems are of fourtypes:-

    1. Physical distribution

    2. Channel management

    3. Sales force management

    4. Promotion and marketing communication

    1. Managing physical distribution in rural markets

    The problems relate to:-

    a) Transportation

    b) Warehousing

    c) Communication

    a)Transportation

    Many parts of the rural India remain outside the rail network. Nearly 50% of the

    5,76,000 villages are not connected by road at all. Many parts have only kucha roads

    and are not connected with any mundi-level town. The most common mode is animal

    drawn cart. Because of these problems in accessibility, delivery of products and

    services is difficult in rural areas.

    b) Warehousing problems

    There is no public warehousing agency in the interiors of rural India. None of the central

    warehousing corporations (CWC), state warehousing corporations (SWC), warehouses

    at the mundi levels or rural godown functions as public warehousing agencies. They

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    provide the warehousing service only to their members. In such cases the commercial

    advantages of operating through a public warehousing agency are lost to the firm.

    c) Communication problems

    Communication infrastructure consisting of posts and telegraphs and telephones is

    quite inadequate in rural areas and therefore poses difficulty in physical distribution.

    2. Channel management in rural areas

    The problems with respect to this are:-

    a) At the minimum, the distribution channels in the rural context need the village

    level shopkeeper, the mundi-level distributor, and the wholesaler or stockiest in

    the town and on top the manufacturers own warehouses or branch office

    operations. Such multiple tiers and scattered outfits push up costs and make

    channel management a major problem area.

    b) Scope for manufacturers own outlet such as showroom is limited as its

    expensive as well as unmanageable and therefore greater dependence on

    dealers or intermediaries. Controlling such a vast network of intermediaries is a

    difficult task.

    c) Non availability of dealers: - many firms find that availability of suitable dealers islimited.

    d) Poor viability of retail outlets: - sales outlets in the rural market at the retail level

    suffer from poor viability, i.e., the business is unremunerative to them.

    e) Inadequate bank facilities: - distribution in rural markets is handicapped due to

    lack of adequate banking and credit facilities. It is estimated that there is only one

    bank branch for every 50 villages. The rural outlets are unable to carry adequate

    stocks due to lack of credit facilities and they are unable to extend credit to their

    customers.

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    3. Sales force management in rural markets

    These can be divided into the following:-

    a) Rural marketing calls for some unique traits on the part of salesman. While

    the basic traits such as empathy, enthusiasm, communication skills and

    knowledge of selling techniques are required, additional traits and capabilities

    matching the peculiar conditions of rural market are also required. They are:-

    i) Willingness to get located in rural areas: - only those who are genuinely

    happy in living and working in the villages can become good rural salesman.

    Salesmen are generally reluctant to work in rural areas because of lack of

    modern amenities. Some firms locate their salesmen in towns while

    successful rural marketing firms locate their rural salesmen in the midst of the

    rural market to be covered. For instance, Lipton India.

    ii) Cultural congruence: - The cultural pattern of rural life differs from one area to

    another. The salesmen must have proper acquaintance with it. Urban markets

    in contrast present a cultural convergence.

    iii) Attitude factors: - more patience and perseverance is required.

    iv) Knowledge of the local language.

    v) Capacity to handle a large number of product lines: - The rural salesmen are

    often required to handle a much larger number of product lines compared withtheir urban counterparts. The rural salesmen are not able to generate

    economic volume of business if they handle just a few products. They are

    compelled to handle a large variety of items and quite often the items differ

    widely from one another, i.e. they are required to become jack of all trades.

    vi) Travel: -The rural salesmen are required to travel more as compared to their

    urban counterparts. While the urban salesmen move in highly concentrated

    and compact market segments, the rural salesmen has to be a carrier of a

    developmental message to the less privileged rural community.

    b) Managing the rural sales force

    The HULs rural salesmen have to cover 70,000 rural locations. Administrating such

    a large and scattered sales force, supervising them, motivating them, giving them

    orientation about the rural marketing environment and training in non-conventional

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    means of market promotion, supporting them in sales, coaching them on the jobs

    and attending to their official and personal problems is really a tiresome job for the

    sales manager.

    4. Promotion and marketing communication in rural markets

    There are many constraints emanating from the profile of the audience and

    availability of media.

    a) Problems relating to audience: - low literacy rate (printed words has little use),

    tradition bound nature, cultural barriers, overall economic backwardness and

    linguistic diversity.

    b) Problems related to media: - All organized media put together can reach only

    30% of the rural population of India. The print media reaches only 18% of the

    rural population. Even in areas reached, the circulation is limited. Cinema is

    relatively more accessible and nearly 33% of the total cinema earnings in the

    country come from rural India. Rural communication is also expensive because

    to be effective repeat exposures are must. Rural communication has to go

    through creating awareness, altering attitudes and changing behavior. In

    addition, it also has to work against deep rooted behavior patterns.

    The crux of marketing communication in the rural context is finding a media mix thatwill deliver the required message in a cost effective manner to the illiterate target

    audience.

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    Chapter-8

    SUGGESTIONS

    1 Suitable structure of support prices for various farm commodities adjusted from

    time to time.

    2. The government has to take the lead in the establishment of modern

    infrastructure facilities.

    3. Regulated infrastructure of markets and warehouses which ensure fair prices

    4. Rural roads must be compliment and coordinate with railways, nearest

    waterways (ports), and airports if possible.

    5. The power of General Insurance must be given to cooperatives.

    6. The development of communication systems appropriates to rural market, infocells needed for rural communication.

    7. Public weighing machines one in each rural market to ensure correct weighting

    both for farm and non-farm arrivals.

    8. For storage facilities the government should not depend on private agencies to

    store food grains (National commission on Agriculture recommended).

    9. Rural market need more number of godowns and ancillary platforms for

    packaging and market office cum information cell, bank and post office also

    required.

    10. Agricultural technology must reach all over the country, irrespective of size of

    land holding.

    11. Rural communication must be in regional language and dialects.

    12. The existing marketing staff must be increased and adequate training must be

    given.

    13. Extending financial support for modernization of the agro-processing units is also

    needed.14. Processing units should utilize fully capacity.

    15. There is need to find out markets for agro-processed products within and out side

    of the country.

    16. The proper packaging technology must be improved.

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    Chapter-9

    CONCLUSION

    Thus, looking at the challenges and the opportunities, which rural markets offer to the

    marketers, it can be said that the future is very promising for those who can understand

    the dynamics of rural markets and exploit them to their best advantage. A radical

    change in attitudes of marketers towards the vibrant and burgeoning rural markets is

    called for, so they can successfully impress on the 230 million rural consumers spread

    over approximately 600 thousand villages in rural India.

    Considering the emerging issues and challenges, government support is necessary for

    the development of marketing of agricultural produce. The government may adjust

    suitable budget allocations to rural infrastructure plans, and proper supervision foreffective plan implementation. The core areas like transport, communication, roads,

    credit institutions, crop insurance for better utilization of land and water at appropriate

    level. The rural people and markets will definitely develop rural income and reduce

    poverty. On the whole countrys economy will boost at an expected level.

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    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_markets

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    Ruchika Ramakrishnan, Rural Marketing In India, New century Publication.

    C.B.Gupta and N.Rajan Nair , Marketing Management

    Saxena Rajan, Marketing Management, 3rd Edition, Tata McGrawHill publishing

    co. ltd, chapter30.

    Gopalaswamy, T.P., Rural Marketing: Environment problems and strategies; First

    edition;(New Delhi:Wheeler publishing 1997), chapters 4,6,8, case B,C.

    Rao, G.S., Rural Marketing In India, (New Delhi,Anmol,2002)

    Singh, Sukhpal, Rural Marketing Management;(New Delhi:vikas)

    Vilayudhan, S.k., Rural Marketing Targeting the non-urban consumer, (New

    Delhi:Response,2002)

    gopalkrishnan.blogspot.com/2005/07/future-of-rural-markets.html

    http://www.financialexpress.com/old/fe_full_story.php?content_id=61535

    http://www.manage.gov.in/managelib/faculty/vkrao.htmhttp://www.thehindubusinessline.com/bline/2004/02/16/stories/2004021600160900.htmhttp://www.financialexpress.com/old/fe_full_story.php?content_id=61535http://www.financialexpress.com/old/fe_full_story.php?content_id=61535http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/bline/2004/02/16/stories/2004021600160900.htmhttp://www.manage.gov.in/managelib/faculty/vkrao.htm