CONTENTS

Definition of Rural Marketing Section 1

Features of Rural Marketing Section 2
Understanding of Rural Marketing Section 3
Location of the Rural Marketing Section 4
Analysis of the Rural Market Section 5
Problems in Rural Marketing Section 6
Conclusion Section 7

Definition of Rural Marketing :

No other country exists on earth, which offers such a dazzling array of

Entertainment choices as India does!
In India, entertainment encompasses a wide plethora of options. Right
from cinema (the largest of its kind in the world) to television (amongst
the fastest growing in the world) to soothing music (the most diverse in
the world) to awesome festivals (richest in culture) and richest-possible
food and finally its fanatical devotion to sports like cricket.
Travel in India constitutes a major componenet of Indian leisure and
entertainment industry. India offers mind-boggling variety for travel from
highest mountain ranges of the world to serene beaches to historical
forts, palaces and temples to beautiful deserts. Exotic forests and
national parks in India are un-comparable in the world. Scenic hill-
stations (mountain resorts) still remain popular Indian travel hot spots.

Music in India is as rich as can be. Music in India is a means for

spiritual exploration, a path of realisation, in addition to deriving
aesthetic entertainment.
Be it classical or the folk or the modern Indian pop-bhangra, Indian
music reflects Indian life, having no predetermined beginning or end, but
flowing uninterrupted through the composer-performer. The purpose of
Indian music is to refine one's soul, discipline one's body, to make one
aware of the infinite within one, to unite one's breath with that of space
and one's vibrations with that of the cosmos.
The basic tenets of classical music have been laid down by numerous
ancient texts. The classical music is not pre-conceived but pre-written.
While the underlying notes are pre-written, within the framework of the
rules governing the raaga, the musician has complete freedom to exercise
full imagination and creativity.
In tribal societies, from birth to death, songs, dances and musical
instruments are used to mark every occasion. The origins of classical
music are also traced back to tribal tunes and songs.
The music of India is a mosaic of different genres and levels of
sophistication. At one extreme, classical music is performed in the urban
concert halls for purely artistic reasons, and, at the other, many kinds of
functional rural music accompanies life cycle and agricultural rites. In
between are many other musical genres of different regions of the
country, reflecting the diversity of its peoples, their life-styles, and their
languages

The Indian society is a complex social system with different castes,

classes, creeds and tribes. The high rate of illiteracy added to the
inadequacy of mass media impedes reach almost to 80% of India's
population who reside in village. Mass media is too glamorous,
interpersonal and unreliable in contrast with the familiar performance of
traditional artist whom the villager could not only see and hear, but even
touch. Besides this villagers are more conservative buyers then their
urban counterparts. Their desire to innovate with new product is
restricted.

Traditional media can be used to reach these people in the marketing of

new concept. The traditional media with its effective reach, powerful
input and personalized communication system will help in realizing the
goal. Besides this when the advertisement is couched in entertainment it
goes down easily with the villager.
Few of the available options in the traditional media are Puppetry, Folk
Theater & Song, Wall Painting, Demonstration, Posters, Agricultural
Games, and Post Cards etc.

Puppetry

Puppetry is the indigenous theatre of India. From time immortal it has

been the most popular form and well-appreciated form of entertainment
available to the village people. It is an inexpensive activity. The
manipulator uses the puppets as a medium to express and communicate
ideas, values and social messages.
Types of Puppet theatre in India: -
1. String puppets or Kathputlis of Rajasthan -
Contents - Heroic deeds of Vikramaditya, Prithviraj Chouhan, and Amar
Singh Rathore
2. String puppets of Orissa -
Contents - Radha-Krishna
3. Rod puppets from Bengal: -
Contents -Mahabharat, Manas, Radha-Krishna
4. String and Rod puppets of the south (Tanjavur, Madras and Andhra): -
Contents - Kathakali
5. Shadow puppets of (a) Orissa (b) Kerala (c) Andhra (d) Karnataka: -
Contents - Ramayana.
Thus in rural India puppetry is a source of livelihood, avenue for
entertainment and creative expression which is ritually sacred and
meaningful as a means of social communication and vehicle of social
transformation.

Song and Drama Division of the Government Of India make wide use of
puppets in its campaigns to promote various government projects.
Several other organizations, government, semi-government and private,
have also used puppets in support of individual schemes.
Life Insurance Corporation of India used puppets to educate rural
masses about Life Insurance; enlisting the help of the literacy house in
Luck now. These plays were shown to the audience in villages in UP,
Bihar, & MP. The number of inquires at local Life Insurance Companies
during the period immediately following the performance was compared
with normal frequency and found to be considerable higher. The field
staff of the corporation also reported a definite impact on the business.

Indian Institute of mass communication, N.Delhi made a study of

comparative impact of puppetry and documentary films, in two villages
near Delhi. People in both the villages responded more favorably to the
puppet shows then the films.

Folk Theater

Folk theaters are mainly short and rhythmic in form. The simple tunes
help in informing and educating the people in informal and interesting
manner. It has been used as an effective medium for social protest
against injustice, exploitation and oppression.
Folk Theater / Songs Forms In India
Andhra Pradesh: Veethi Natakam, Kuchupudi, Burratatha
Assam: Ankiya Nat, Kirtania Natak, Ojapali Bihar: Bidesia, Serikela
Chhau, Jat-Jatni Bidpada, Ramkhelia
Gujarat: Bhavai
Haryana: Swang, Naqqal
Himachal Pradesh: Kariyala, Bhagat, Ras, Jhanki, Harnatra Haran or
Harin.
Jammu & Kashmir: Bhand Pathar or Bhand Jashna, Vetal Dhamali
Karnataka: Yakshagan, Sanata, Doddata-Bayalata, Tala Maddle or
Prasang, Dasarata, Radhna.
Kerala: Kodiyattam, Mudiattam, Therayattam, Chavittu Natakam,
Chakiyar Kooth, Kathakali
Madhya Pradesh: Maanch, Nacha Maharashtra: Tamasha, Lalit Bharud,
Gondha, Dashavatar
Orissa: Pala Jatra, Daskathia, Chhau Mayurbhanj, Mangal Ras, Sowang,

Punjab: Nautanki, Naqaal, Swang

Rajasthan: Khyal, Rasdhari, Rammat, Turra Kilangi, Gauri, Nautanki,
Jhamtara
Tamilnadu: Therukuttu, Veethi Natakam, Bhagwat Mela Natakam,
Kurvaanji, Pagal Vasham, Kavadi Chindu
Uttar Pradesh: Ram Leela, Ras Leela, Nautanki, Bhagat, Sang-Swang,
Naqqual
Goa, Daman & Diu : Dashavatar, Tiyatra.
Folk songs have been effectively used during revolts of Telangana and
Naxalbari and now a days it's best exploiters are Political Parties.
Government has used this media for popularizing improved variety of
seeds, agricultural implements, fertilizer etc. Punjab Agricultural
University produced Two Audio Cassettes.
A) Balliye Kanak Biye - Wheat Cultivation.
B) Khiran Kepah Narme - Cotton Cultivation.
Both were well received by farmers.

BBLIL used Magician quite effectively for launch of Kadak Chhap Tea in
Etawah.

Demonstration:

"Direct Contact" is a face-to-face relationship with people individually

and with groups such as the Panchayats and other village groups. Such
contact helps in arousing the villager's interest in their own problem and
motivating them towards self-development.
Demonstration may be
A. I. Method demonstration
ii. Result demonstration
B. I. Simple Demonstration
ii. Composite Demonstration
The five steps to make any demonstration effective are below:
Information about people
Objectives to be accomplished
Demonstration plan & Execution of the plan
Evaluation of the demonstration
Reconsideration after evaluation.
In result demonstration, help of audio -visual media can add value.
Asian Paints launched Utsav range by painting Mukhiya's house or Post
office to demonstrate that paint does not peel off.

Haats & Melas

The countries oldest tradition holds the key to solving these problems.
The mobile supermarkets of rural India.
Facts & Figures: -
Over 47,000 haats and 25,000 melas are held annually.
The average daily sale at a Haat is about Rs.2.25 Lacs
Annual sales at melas amount to Rs.3,500 crore.
Over half the shoppers at haats have shopping lists.
More than 10,000 melas draw visitors from all over India.
Nearly half the outlets at melas are for manufactured goods.
Haats is a better opportunity for promotion after brand building has been
done at Mela.
Melas are organized after harvest season, so the villager has enough
money, which he will be ready to spend.
Demonstration at Haat is essential to convert customers at haats since
their atitude is far more utilitarian than that of visitors to a fair.

Wall Paintings

Wall Paintings are an effective and economical medium for advertising in

rural areas. They are silent unlike traditional theatre .A speech or film
comes to an end, but wall painting stays as long as the weather allows it
to.
Retailer normally welcomes paintings of their shops, walls, and name
boards. Since it makes the shop look cleaner and better. Their shops
look alluring and stand out among other outlets. Besides rural
households shopkeepers and panchayats do not except any payment, for
their wall to be painted with product messages. To get one's wall painted
with the product messages is seemed as a status symbol. The greatest
advantage of the medium is the power of the picture completed with its
local touch. The images used have a strong emotional association with
the surrounding, a feet impossible for even a moving visual medium like
television, which must use general image to cater to greatest number of
viewers.
A good wall painting must meet some criteria to generate awareness and
remind consumer about the brand.
The wall should:
The most frequented shops can be painted from inside also one feet
above the ground level.
It is courteous to take the verbal permission of owner .The permission is
normally given. However by taking the permission of the rural retailers or
house owners, one gets the owner morally committed to taking care of
wall painting.
The message should be simple, direct and clear.
A definite way of arresting is to use bright colors and these do not fade
away easily. A good paint will survive the ravages of dust, sand and
rainstorms for about three years.
Paintings must be taken after rainfall.
It should be peaked up during the festival and post harvest season. To
derive maximum mileage their usage needs to be planned meticulously.

FEATURES OF RURAL MARKETING

1. Large and Scattered market:

The rural market of India is large and scattered in the sense that it
consists of over 63 crore consumer from 5, 70,000 villages spread
throughout the country.

2. Major income from agriculture:

Nearly 60 % of the rural income is from agriculture. Hence rural
prosperity is tied with agricultural prosperity.

3. Low standard of living:

The consumer in the village area do have a low standard of living
because of low literacy, low per capita income, social backwardness, low
savings, etc.

4. Traditional Outlook:
The rural consumer values old customs and tradition. They do not prefer
changes.

5. Diverse socio-economic backwardness:

Rural consumers have diverse socio-economic backwardness. This is
different in different parts of the country.

6. Infrastructure Facilities:
The Infrastructure Facilities like roads, warehouses, communication
system, financial facilities are inadequate in rural areas. Hence physical
distribution becomes costly due to inadequate Infrastructure Facilities.
UNDERSTANDING RURAL MARKETS

There has been always a vast difference between the two markets for a
long time now. The difference is not only between urban and rural but
also within the rural areas -- between regions, states and districts. There
is a difference in the media reach, the education levels, in the culture
and the type of products that the two markets are exposed to and this
leads to a difference in the two markets.
The difference is in things like -- how do you celebrate New Year, how do
you celebrate birthdays? Small things like these are celebrated in a
completely different manner when the rural and the urban customers are
concerned. There is a vast difference in the lifestyles of the people in the
two regions. The kind of choices of brands that an urban customer
enjoys is different from the choices available to the rural counterparts.
The rural customer usually has 2 or 3 brands to choose from whereas
the urban one has multiple choices. The difference is also in the way of
thinking. The rural customer has a fairly simple thinking as compared to
the urban counterpart.

But with technology coming in, mass media reach and the literacy levels
going up - this divide is expected top reduce.
The biggest thing is that there is lack of any research into the consumer
behavior of the rural areas. There is considerable amount of data on the
urban consumer regarding things like -- who is the influencer, who is the
buyer, how do they go and buy, how much money do they spend on their
purchases, etc. but on the rural front - the effort has started to happen
now. So we need to understand the buyer.

Also, whatever little understanding we have is not for the entire industry.
There is no collective effort. Some people have spent time in the rural
markets, carried out studies and have understood the rural behavior,
but their works have not been passed or known to the rest of the
industry.

So, an in depth understanding of the consumer is one key area that the
industry needs to work on.

There are vast differences in the rural areas as well. There are some
5,60,000 villages and some 525 districts and each one is different from
the other. The geographical spread is not as homogeneous as it is with
the urban areas owing to vast cultural differences.

So an in depth understanding of the areas is what is required.

The field of rural marketing has been witnessing a lot of action from both
the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector and consumer products
manufacturers but, there has been little success in the manner in which
rural research is carried out.

The limitation lies in the inadequate or unavailability of appropriate tools

to evaluate the rural market behavior. The problem arises because of
general lack of education resulting in low awareness about the products
and hence the inability to respond to the queries of the researcher in
these areas. Conventional research tools do not work in these markets,
as these are difficult to comprehend for the illiterate and semi-literate
rural people.

The typical research scales used are for ranking, rating and attitude
measurement, limiting the research questions to simple yes/no kinds
that do not bring the true essence of the research process. In an effort to
look in to this issue two students from Management Development
Institute, Gurgaon along with Pradeep Kashyap, director of Marketing
And Research Team (MART) tried working out on some possible solutions
to this problem. The limitation of conventional research tools during the
research project prompted them to look at alternative sources to solve
this problem and the results were favorable.

Colors are very strong indicators, and forms, of expressing the feelings in
the rural areas and there are tools devised with colors that represent and
reflect the right answer to the researchers' queries. The selection of
colors is done on the basis of the association of rural people with these
colors. For instance, it has been observed that dark green represents a
good crop or Haryali (as they call it) and hence represents prosperity and
is considered to be the best. Light green represents not very good crop
and stands next to dark green color.

Yellow represents dry sand or a dry field and hence comes next. Orange
is the color of the setting sun and represents the end of the day and
hence is placed after yellow and just before red, a color that represents
danger to them. Such hypothesis has been working well, according to
MART, and it has incorporated these tools in its research projects.

This is probably the beginning to a new form of research and analysis

that might change the paradigm of rural marketing research and, who
knows, one might just see this field blossom into a specialized research
activity. If a simple ranking and rating is achieved, a lot can be explained
about the rural preferences and behavior providing the marketers and
manufacturers of goods specific to the rural markets get that meaningful
insight to be able to help grow the markets in these areas.
RURAL MARKETING-CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

The Indian rural market with its vast size and demand base offers great
opportunities to marketers. Two-thirds of countries consumers live in
rural areas and almost half of the national income is generated here. It is
only natural that rural markets form an important part of the total
market of India. Our nation is classified in around 450 districts, and
approximately 630000 villages, which can be sorted in different
parameters such as literacy levels, accessibility, income levels,
penetration, distances from nearest towns, etc.

The success of a brand in the Indian rural market is as unpredictable as

rain. It has always been difficult to judge the rural market. Many brands,
which should have been successful, have failed miserably. More often
than not, people point rural market success to luck. Therefore,
marketers need to understand the social dynamics and attitude
variations within each village though nationally it follows a consistent
pattern.

While the rural market certainly offers a big attraction to marketers, it

would be immature to think that any company can easily enter the
market and walk away with sizable share. Actually the market rises with
variety of problems. The main problems in rural marketing are:
· Physical Distribution
· Channel Management

PROMOTION AND MARKETING COMMUNICATION

The problems of physical distribution and channel management

adversely affect the service as well as the cost aspect. The existent
market structure consists of primary rural market and retail sales outlet.
The structure involves stock points in feeder towns to service these retail
outlets at the village levels. But it becomes difficult maintaining the
required service level in the delivery of the product at retail level.

One of the ways could be using company delivery vans, which can serve
two purposes- it can take the products to the customers in every nook
and corner of the market and it also enables the firm to establish direct
contact with them and thereby facilitate sales promotion. However, only
the bigwigs can adopt this channel. The companies with relatively fewer
resources can go in for syndicated distribution where a tie-up between
non-competitive marketers can be established to facilitate distribution.

As a general rule, rural marketing involves more intensive personal

selling efforts compared to urban marketing. Marketers need to
understand the psyche of the rural consumers and then act accordingly.
To effectively tap the rural market a brand must associate it with the
same things the rural folks do. Utilizing the various rural folk media to
reach them in their own language and in large numbers so that the
brand can be associated with the myriad rituals, celebrations, festivals,
melas and other activities where they assemble, can do this.

PROBLEMS IN RURAL MARKETING

Where the rural market does offer a vast untapped potential, it should
also be recognized that it is not that easy to operate in rural market
because of several attendant 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 major problems faced are: -

a) Underdeveloped People and Underdeveloped Markets: - The

number of people below poverty line has not decreased in any
appreciable manner. Thus underdeveloped people and consequently
underdeveloped market by and large characterize the rural markets. Vast
majorities of the rural people are tradition bound, accepting and believe
in old customs, traditions, habits, taboos and practices.

b) Lack of Proper Physical Communication Facilities: - Nearly fifty

percent of the villages in the country do not have all weather road.
Physical communication of these villages is highly expensive. Even today
most villages in the eastern parts of the country are inaccessible during
the monsoon.

c) Media for Rural Communication: - Among the mass media at some

point of time in the late 50's and 60's radio was considered to be a
potential medium for communication to the rural people. Another mass
media is television and cinemas it has been observed that cinema-
viewing habits in rural areas is very satisfactory were ever available.
Again statistics indicate that the rural areas account for hardly 2000 to
3500 mobile theatres, which is far less when compared to the number of
villages.

d) Many Languages and Dialects: - The number of languages and

dialects vary widely from state to state region to region and probably
from district to district. The messages have to be delivered in the local
languages and dialects. Even though the numbers of recognized
languages are only 16, the dialects are estimated to be around 850.

e) Low Per Capita Income: - Even though about 33-35% of gross

domestic product is generated in the rural areas it is shared by 74% of
the population. Hence the per capita incomes are low compared to the
urban areas.

f) Low Levels of Literacy: - The literacy rate is low in rural areas as

compared to urban areas. This again leads to problem of communication
for promotion purposes. Print medium becomes ineffective and to an
extent irrelevant in rural areas since its reach is poor and so is the level
of literacy. The dependence should be more on electronic media. In
addition television
Advertising is very expensive it should be recognized that the rural
market is a highly heterogeneous market, widely spread with seasonal
demand and poor transportation and communication facilities, both in
terms of physical movement and also in communicating with the target
audience. The innumerable problems mentioned above could be
classified into the following major categories: -
a) Consumer motivation and buying habits
b) Location and degree of concentration of demand
c) Dealer availability, attitude and motivation
d) Mass communication media
e) Marketing organization and staff.
Any marketing strategy for rural marketing should take in account the
above problems so that the investments made are easily recovered

CONCLUSION

Marketing according to a leading management theories Peter Druker can

be put in this way “There will be always, one can assume, be need for
some selling. But the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well
that the product or service fits him and sell itself. Ideally, marketing
should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be
needed then is to make the product or service available."

Thru this we feel that the gist of mktg. in rural & urban is the same. It is
nothing but teasing the minds of people, their desires, needs,
expectations & playing with their physiology. But the market for a
product may vary in rural & urban area and the marketing strategies to
market the product is also different in urban and rural area.

In rural area we find more of a stereotype because of similar socio-

economic background. But in an urban area it is a multitude of people &
personalities & variance in income, background & lifestyle. We found
that the movies, which were hit in cities, were doing as well in the rural
areas. (E.g. Lagaan, Gadar) But movies, which are hit in rural areas, may
not be successful in cities. (E.g. Mithun movies) We also found that
people in cities spend more on entertainment than people in rural areas.

As from the study we can see that the purchasing power of the people in
a city like Mumbai is more than a semi rural area like Ambernath and
willingness of the people in the rural area to spend towards movies or
any other mode of entertainment is quite less than that of the people
residing in urban area.

As comparing the purchasing power and the willingness to spend, the

marketing strategies and the range of products differ between rural and
urban area.