Understanding rural marketing

Business Line (Oct 18, 2001)

On 5th October 2001, Anugrah Madison Advertising, the rural advertising arm of Madison Communications, in collaboration with Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, a Singapore based NGO, organised a one-day seminar titled ‘Rural marketing for Competitive Advantage in Globalised India’ at Hotel GRT Grand Days in Chennai.

N.Murali, Joint Managing Director of The Hindu, inaugurated the seminar, which saw an overwhelming participation from corporates.

The event aimed to demystify the subject, with topics ranging from the evolution of rural markets, to an understanding of the rural consumer and the role of technology in rural marketing.

Speakers included D.Shivakumar, Business Head – Hair, Personal Products Division, HLL; Sankara Pillai, General manager, ORG-MARG; Francis Xavier, MD, Francis Kanoi Marketing Services and V.Sekar, Senior Vice President, BPL, among a host of others.

Shivakumar, who took the inaugural session, highlighted that rural demands could be influenced on four fronts – access, awareness, attitudes and affluence.

He emphasized that access would have to be in terms of physical infrastructure as well as entry into markets. Concurrently, awareness levels would need to be raised in rural areas through media reach and literacy programmes. He pointed out that attitudes would need to be moulded for a greater acceptance of products and services.

"Finally, affluence in rural markets could come from real income growth, especially in families where there are multiple wage earners." He said.