| |
|
|
 |
Abhijeet Surve
Regional Manager West
Percept Out of Home
|
Changing Battle Grounds
|
Time and again marketing practitioners have waxed eloquent about the potential of the rural market. But when one zeroes in on the companies that focus on the rural market, a mere handful of names come to mind. Therefore we can safely say that until a few 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 was 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.
Interestingly, the rural market is growing at a far greater pace than its urban counterpart. "All the data provided by various agencies like NCAER, Francis Kanoi etc., show that rural markets are growing faster than urban markets in certain product categories at least. The share of FMCG products in rural markets is 53 per cent, while Durables boast of a 59 per cent market share. Therefore one can safely claim that rural markets are growing faster than urban markets.
Now for 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 in the arena of rural marketing.
Challenges:
 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 viz. reaching products to remote locations spread over 600,000 villages and poor infrastructure (roads, electricity, telecommunication etc.).
Communication needs to be tailor made for each product category and each of the regions where the campaign is to be executed. |
|
|
|
The Changing Rural scenario |
|
In the past, 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. Hence the growth in the rural market will be sustained to a large extent by this class in addition to the farmer. Even after a below average monsoon in 2009, the rural economy has grown, which is clearly visible through the purchasing power of rural folks, which has helped manufacturers to survive the global and domestic economic meltdown. |
|
There is a growing middle class in rural India, with income from the non-farming sector which is already making a tremendous difference to the way marketers are looking at rural India. Percept Out-of-Home’s Samsung campaign in Western India further reinforced the fact of the changing face of the Indian rural consumer, wherein the demand for multimedia handsets rose as people moved from basic mobile phones to multimedia and high end mobile sets. |
|
The aspirations and expectations of the rural rich are the same as their counterparts in urban India, with the result that many big-ticket brands, especially in the Consumer Durables sector, are doing well in rural India. Percept’s IDEA cellular campaign in Uttar Pradesh is an ideal example wherein we achieved an average sales of 30 SIM cards per village with a population of 7,000 to 15,000. |
|
It is estimated that 40 per cent of the graduates coming out of universities in India are from rural areas. Many of them remain in the villages and look for jobs in industries located in nearby towns. |
|
The income disparity between cities and the hinterland is narrowing. While rural consumers bought only about 45 per cent of the goods in 1995-96, they will account for 60 per cent of the purchase by 2009-10, according to a recent report from NCAER. |
|
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! |
|
|
|
|
Founded in 1984, Percept, an entertainment, media and communications company, today , is at an enviable leadership position with a team of 1200 people and 62 offices across India and Middle East. This publication has been exclusively created for our stakeholders. The contents of this publication has been created with inputs
from Percept Companies and Divisions. This document may not be reproduced or circulated without prior consent from the Corporate Communications Department at Percept Limited.
| |
|
|
|
