ADVERTISING IN RURAL AREAS Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 1

Two-third of the country’s consumers( more than 700 millions ) live in rural areas and almost 26% of the national income is generated there. And 10 consecutive good monsoon have lead to improved returns from agriculture ( which is India’s largest economic sector and accounts for 26% of GDP), increasing the spending power in India’s rural area. India is divided in to 597 districts and has 638,667 villages of which 32% can be reached and are connected by pucca roads. However, 68% of the rural market lies untapped due to various reasons ranging from inaccessibility to lack of awareness. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 2

India Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 3

India Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 4

Shopping behaviour Word-of-mouth, very important and credible Mass driven Buy products that are perceived to be popular: the ‘bandwagon’ effect Try to minimise their risk: tend to be stronger creatures of habit High awareness of range of consumer brands - but propensity to actually purchase premium performance brands is low Still influenced by popular idols/role models such as movie stars, famous sportsmen, etc Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 5

India has population of over 1.2 billion, 70% of which lives in rural areas. 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. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 6

In 1949 Asian Paints was the first company to enter rural markets. In the 1960’s Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) saw rural markets as an opportunity and entered with Lifebuoy soap. Today HLL dominates rural markets and has a presence in more than one lakh villages. Major players like Colgate, Dabur, etc followed suit. In the 1980s. young companies like Nirma, Cavin Kare and Marico entered rural markets. MNCs like Proctor & Gamble also started rural marketing Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 7

Today around 70 percent of the population lives in rural India (more than 700 million). A one percent increase in their purchasing power would lead to an increase of Rs 10,000crore in government revenues. Companies are launching a plethora of products to cater to changing lifestyles in rural India. MNCs like LG, Samsung and Revlon, and insurance biggies like Birla Sun life, Max New York life and Prulife are entering the rural market in a big way; currently, however, these companies have tapped only one lakh of the 6 lakh-odd villages Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 8

"Yaara da Tashan..." 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. The company, on its behalf, has also been investing steadily to build their infrastructure to meet the growing needs of the rural market, which reiterates the fact that this multinational has realised the potential of the rural market is going strength to strength to tap the same. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 9

"Yaara da Tashan...” ads with Aamir Khan created universal appeal for Coca Cola Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 10

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. 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. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 11

Amul is another case in point of aggressive rural marketing. Some of the other corporates 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. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 12

Rural Promotion Promotion is the process of marketing communication to inform, persuade, remind and influence consumers or users in favour of your products and service. Radio: Radio reach is highest in Kerla (62%) followed by Tamil Nadu (35%) and Karnataka (32%). Example : Colgate, Jyoti Labs, Zandu Balm are some of the company using radio communication programme. A ten second spot in Regional station would cost only about Rs. 2000/- Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 13

Cinema : 1. Films on products like Vicks, Lifebuoy, Colgate and Shampoos are shown in rural cinemas halls. 2.LIC and Private insurance companies have been showing short movies in rural theatres to create awareness about life insurance Outdoor Advertisement Form of media which includes signboard, wall painting, hoarding tree boards bus boards etc. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 14

The Promotion Media Newspaper : Eenadu(A.P), Dina Thanthi ( Tamil Nadu), Punjab Kesari (North), Loksatta (Maharashtra), Anand Bazaar Patrica (West Bengal), Daink Baskar (North) Television: Sun TV (Tamilnadu), Asianet (Kerla), Eenadu( AP), Aplha Punjabi (North), Aplha Mararthi (Maharashtra). Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 15

Opinion Leaders Asian Paints promoted its Utasv brand of paint by painting the village Sarpanch’s house a few months prior to the launch to demonstrate that the paint does not peel off and is an ideal replacement of chuna. The health development assistant of HUl regularly meets school teachers to promote Lifeboy soap in Villages. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 16

Haats ( On certain days of the week, both the sellers and buyers meet in the villager to buy and sell goods and services). Parachute Oil, Nirma washing powder and tiger brand biscuits have been promoted through haats. About 40,000 Haats are held in rural areas in our country, highest number haats in U.P (10,000). Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 17

Audio Visual Van ( The van is a mobile promotion station having facilities for screening films, slides and mike publicity. Nippo promotes batteries through specially designed vans called melavans. The van are equipped with TV/VCR for showing products awareness films. Colgate India makes extensive use of VANs. ITS’s mobile Vans take the message of e-choupal to new village. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 18

Satellite dish antennas reach rural India Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 19

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. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 20

Typical shop in rural India stocked with sachets, etc Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 21

Highlight multiple uses from the same product Dettol liquid for cuts, gargle for bad throat, washing clothes as a disinfectant, dandruff etc Jet mosquito coil for mosquito repellent and room freshner Advertise small packs with a low unit price Tiger biscuits tikki pack Cavin Kare - Chik shampoo Chota Pepsi 5 rupiya mein Why pay more? Nirma Super “Jab vohi manghe damo vali quality kam dam mein mile to koi vo kuye le” A little (of the product) goes a long way Rin detergent bar claims that with just a little Rin, you can get a whole lot of wash Targeting rural consumers… Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 22

Some great facts about the rural market: In India, the number of supermarkets (42,000) has exceeded the number of retail stores (35000) in the United States. In the year , LIC sold 55% of its policies in the rural India. 50% of BSNL mobile phone connections are in rural India. Around 20 million people has registered with rediffmail and out of those, 60% belong to small towns. More than 50% of one Lac who have made online shopping on Rediff are from rural India. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 23

The (KCC) Kisan Credit Cars(24 Million) issued in rural India has certainly exceeded the Number of Debit plus credit cards (17.7 Million) issued in Urban areas. The number of higher and middle income families (Earning Rs. 70,000+ annually) in rural India (21.7 Million) and Urban India (24.2 Million)are almost same. The electricity consumed by the agricultural department has clearly showed a steep increase of 11.6% of total consumption from 17.6% in to 29.2% in In the same course of time, industry share faced a drop of 23.6% from 58.4% to 34.8%. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 24

Role of media in rural markets Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 25

Traditional Media Puppetry, dance-dramas, rural specific art forms like Harikatha and Villupatu preformed at village melas and temple festivals. Study classes, Word of mouth Mike announcements, processions. Caparisoned elephants, decorated bullock carts carrying ad panels. Music records. Folk theatre. Demonstration, house to house campaigns by special promotion Squads. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 26

Hatts and Melas. Information centres on company’s products Wall paintings Posters Agricultural Games Postcards Audio-visual vans or publicity vans Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 27

Companies using Traditional Media Brooke bond India Ltd. HLL Rajdoot Bajaj Nirma Colgate Palmolive Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 28

Mass Media Television Word of mouth Radio Cinema halls POP,s Press Other print media Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 29

Companies using Mass Media Onida Videocon HLL Eveready Batteries Eicher Tractors RCF Mahindra & Mahindra Tractor Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 30

Strategies for Rural Advertising Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 31

Influencer strategy: The role of the influencer or influencing communication cannot be ignored as far as rural India is concerned. The advertisements that revolve around this very strategy actually depend on the influence of different influential people and/or events in the villages to put across the message powerfully with more effect and purchase intention. An example of this kind of advertisement may be brand endorsement by any influential person in the village like the ‘Mukhiya’ or the ‘school master’ local poojaris, influential landlords. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 32

Participatory strategy: Events like different festivals and different games and sports competitions actually have a high participation level in the rural India as other sources of entertainment are very less in those areas. So, these events and shows offer great opportunity to reach rural India cost effectively. Different brands sponsor different events and shows in rural villages which is actually a cost-effective way to advertise with the participatory strategy. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 33

Show-n-tell strategy: Many brands are venturing into different ways to educate their rural consumers about their brands and their usage through different shows and events. This kind of initiatives actually create huge awareness about the brand among the interested people in the rural India. Different health related advertisements like Polio awareness and AIDS awareness programmes involve a ‘show-n-tell’ strategy of advertising. Mrs. Gracy D'souza, Assistant Professor J. M. Patel College of Commerce 34

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