Rural marketers must look beyond short-term gains

The Hindu – Business Line, Catalyst, October 02, 2001.

Companies looking for short-term gains from rural markets are certain to fail. This is the avowed belief of Mr.R.V.Rajan, Chairman and Managing Director of Anugrah Madison Advertising Pvt. Ltd., who has been in the field of rural communications for 25 years.

Rural marketing is not about “peripheral activity” like taking an audio-visual van to the village and feeling that you’ve done your bit. It requires a totally different mindset, which involves getting rid of many mental barriers. A marketer will have to realise that he should be in the field for the long haul as gains are neither immediate nor large in the short term.

Anugrah Madison Advertising, which is a specialist in rural communication (“the total strategy and complete communication package”), is holding a seminar on rural marketing to commemorate its 15th anniversary. Since 1998, when it tied up with Madison Advertising, Mumbai, it has been the rural communication unit of the latter.

Mr..Rajan spoke to Business Line on a range of issues dealing with rural marketing.

Excerpts:

What has prompted this seminar on rural marketing? Why is there a sudden interest in the subject?

Our ad agency has been in the business of rural communication for the last 15 years, much before ‘rural’ became a buzzword among the fraternity. Our experience in handling agricultural and farm-related products such as MRF tractor and bullock cart tyres, Jain Drip Irrigation Systems, Shaw Wallace and EID Parry fertilisers and pesticides gave us rich insights in to the rural consumer.

While on one hand, an increasing number of companies, from the FMCG, automobile and consumer durable sectors, is looking on to the rural market to expand, on the other, growing globalisation is opening up vistas in the rest of the world for Indian brands. In this scenario, there are several questions, which need to be answered, which this seminar will attempt to do.

Why is there so much focus on rural markets of late?

In most product categories, both FMCG and consumer durables, there remain only the lower-end urban and rural consumers with increasing disposable incomes and aspirations for marketers to tap. This seems to be the only way to improve volumes in a stagnant market.

What is the rural market like?

It is a huge market, but dispersed, in terms of size. There are developed and non-developed rural markets.

The income shift from lower to higher is taking place faster in rural areas. Cable TV has revolutionized minds, especially those of women and children. They are the main demand -generators. They now aspire to lifestyle products, not just basic ones.

Word-of-mouth is extremely important here. One-to-one efforts are imperative. It takes a totally different mindset to understand the intricacies of marketing for this segment.

There are problems with distribution, with language, the products themselves may not be in the right sizes and at the right process, there is not much infrastructure, literacy levels are low, so is per capita income, the number of rural retail outlets is low, rural credit is lacking, banking facilities are inadequate, spurious brands flourish, demands are seasonal and villagers are highly suspicious of the big city types, they feel exploited – all these factors make the rural markets a tough nut to crack.

Why were these markets ignored earlier?

They were not really ignored. Some aggressive marketing-savvy companies such as Hindustan Lever, Colgate Palmolive and Procter & Gamble tapped their huge potential before other companies; in general, tend to look at rural markets for short-term gains. You have to be in it for the long haul. And unless the top management too is committed, it won’t work. And there can be no uniform and short-term strategy. You’ll be amazed at the myths surrounding rural marketing.

And what are these myths?

Many companies don’t have the patience for a long-drawn out strategy, this is borne out by my experience. ‘Van operations’ are not enough (referring to audiovisual vans which have been traditionally used to communicate new ideas or promote products in rural areas). Merely translating the advertising for the urban consumer and bombarding the rural market with it won’t help. Even commercials on the regional languages channels are tailored to urban markets.

Then there is a perception that the rural consumer is only price-conscious, not quality conscious. But there is a cost-value perception in ‘upper class’ rural consumers.

Another myth is that they aren’t loyal to brands. To them, logos and symbols represent a brand, which gives rise to so many fakes. The biggest market for fakes is the rural market.

The biggest myth is that peripheral activities will suffice – rural marketing calls for a totally different communication package, with a special message and an interactive element which will leave an impression.

What needs to be done?

Lots. But first and foremost, it should be understood that there is no short cut to the rural market. And for starters, you have to get away from the urban mindset, or listen to experts on the subject.

One-day seminar on Oct 5

Anugrah Madison Advertising is organizing a one-day seminar on ‘Rural Marketing for Competitive Advantage in Globalised India’ on Oct 5 here in collaboration with Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, a Singapore-based NGO.

The seminar will aim to discuss what rural marketing really involves, the relevance of rural markets in today’s India and various other issues. It would be a platform for rural marketing experts to meet with those working in the consumer durables, automobile and FMCG sectors.

The keynote address will be delivered by Mr. D. Shivakumar, Business Head (Hair), Personal Products Division, Hindustan Lever Ltd. Mr. Sankara Pillai, General Manager of ORG-MARG, will talk about the evolution of rural markets in India and their current status.

The other speakers include Mr. Francis Xavier, Managing Director, Francis Kanoi Marketing Research, Mr. V. Sekar, Senior Vice-President, BPL, Mr. Ravi Pisharody, Vice-President (Marketing), Castrol, Mr. Lakshmana Reddy, Vice-President (Marketing), Hindustan Motors, Mr.P.Eswaradas, Executive Vice-President, Amrutanjan, Mr. Harish Bijoor, CEO, Zip Telecom and Mr. Nirupam Sahay, Marketing Manager, Asian Paints.

The valedictory address will be delivered by Mr. P.G. Ponnapa, CEO, N-logue Communications on the ‘Role of Technology in Rural Marketing’. Mr. S.R. Ayer, former Managing Director, O&M, and Mr. Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison Communications, will chair the panel discussions.

According to Mr. Rajan, 100-150 delegates involved in FMCG, consumer durables and automobiles sector are expected to participate in the seminar, which has already drawn a large number of delegates from outside Chennai.