ADVERTISING

In India, the advertising is mostly in English or Hindi. As rural markets widen beyond the
English-and-Hindi knowing people, there are problems of translation into the vernaculars.
Good translations are seldom easy; and there is often the need for thinking out the
advertising concepts and the brand image in the local language itself. This is a problem
for local copywriters to conceptualize in the vernacular, where necessary. Advertising in
the local language in the absence of shortage of professionals, makes success of rural
advertising campaigns difficult.
It is a general assumption of advertising theory that advertising helps to create demand. It
may be worth saying to what extent advertising creates demand, particularly in our rural
society, which is in transition from traditional to modernity and to what extent it helps
only to accelerate demand after the social and environmental changes have taken place.
The basic trends for demand of products are determined primarily by prevailing social
and environmental conditions.
Advertising itself serves not so much to increase the demand for a product as to speed up
the expansion of demand that may come up from favourable conditions and to retard
advances due to unfavourable conditions. Most rural marketers treat this as an almost
insoluble problem, because other factors also stimulate demand for e.g. price cuts, quality
changes and increasing real incomes.
‘We divert some resources from advertising to market research even at the risk of under
advertising in rural areas’
This is essential because the basic marketing problem is the absence of elementary
market research data individual rural areas. Individual fact, we do not know where we are
going. Over planning leads to over-capitalization, from which it is very had to retreat.
The five-year plans have been a classic exercise individual bad demand forecasting with
sophisticated methods and poor data; and it has been compounded by business
managements accepting national planning targets as gospel, without undertaking the
responsibility of doing a measure of their own market research, which is an essential for
rural markets individual India.
The rural market information gap is wide enough to justify major collaboration between
governments, universities, independent research organizations and business. There is very
little appreciation of it as a primary investment need, its very precondition; and very little
money is spent by too few on it.
Advertising caters to rural society with divergent life-styles and value systems presented
an unusual challenge between the strategy of homogenization (overcoming the barriers
between segments), and one of heterogenisation (capitalsing the very existence of many
small riches). This sort of advertising involves constraints individual in the form of cost
duplication of facilities and fragmentation. In such areas, the basic objective of
advertising and market research may be to find and develop products, which may cut
across heterogeneous preferences with common brands and similar or common
advertising.
Our rural marketers should keep an eye on import substitution and upgrade raw materials
on the basis of research and development before they can ensure that adequate raw
materials reach the manufacturing areas for products which would then reach rural
markets individual a steady flow and at relatively stable prices.
Tourist advertising and motivation pose a most fascinating challenge to our country with
its old culture. Foreign tourist can be attracted to rural areas where historical monuments,
game sanctuaries, and mountain and sea resorts exist.
Rural India is a set of regional markets where cultural factors play a very important role.
The raw materials come from the soil; and the relatively low productivity of Indian
farmers is reflected in the low purchasing power of the rural buyer. The rural advertising
problem in a country like India is related to political, social and economic problems. With
low income from farms the question that arises is: can we afford the infrastructure of
mass media for rural markets?
The Indian rural market is very heterogeneous. Nevertheless, public advertisement is an
important prerequisite for the creation of demand. The problem of rural consumer in our
country is that he is traditional; to some extent, there is homogeneity and there are high
resistance and low resistance products among the rural buyers. Rural buyers show a great
many contradictions; and the advertising man has to understand them. For example, the
poor spend lavishly on marriages; in certain parts rigid caste systems still exist; the
community is more contended with whatever little it has.
Many preach non-violence and practice violence. For mass media men to motivate rural
buyers to change their lifestyle is not therefore that easy. The concept of sufficiency is a
hurdle to development and the problem of huge distances and inadequate outlets is quite
considerable.
Within a rural market, there are many mini markets based on caste, religion, language or
other differences. All people living in an around these markets have distinctly different
life-styles. The marketing men know that the cost of distribution increases as the town
gets smaller and it is not economical to serve very small villages. Rural markets are no
longer a sellers market now. Many people have underrated the strength of the market on
the assumption that India’s rural poverty restricts rural purchases only to those items,
which are basic necessities. This has turned out to be a myth now. The social status,
needs, expenditure on weddings and entertainment, have influenced the operations of the
rural markets. Many farmers travel to weekly markets to buy vegetables that they can
themselves grow; but they go in order to have news, stimulation and for socialization.
The bumper crops and the upturn in agricultural production have resulted in a
considerable increase in the incomes of farmers and in their purchasing power. The
increase in purchasing power in rural areas has generated vast potential markets for
manufactured goods because the people want to raise their standard of living. New
approaches must be evolved to awaken the rural population to the range of consumption
possibilities open to them. Advertising and consumer research is essential for this
purpose; for it must be determined not only what the villager wants but also what would
motivate them to buy. Market research and consumer surveys are essential and should
cover a fairly wide area of rural life, including the attitudes and aspirations of the rural
buyer.
In rural India the role that advertisement plays is major. It will enhance demand when
favourable environment conditions have been created. Advertising does not create
immediate demand. There is always an information gap. The biggest single advertising
problem is the shortness of the reach of mass media. As our country is large, the problem
is complex, for there is a huge potential rural market. There are not very many dailies in
circulation; nor many a radio or transistor or a TV set. The mass media gap in India is as
conspicuous as the income gap. Therefore, there is a need for extending basic
infrastructure with a view to enlarging the reach of mass media in rural India. Hopefully,
the electronic revolution will follow the green revolution in rural India. The different
approaches to reach rural buyers which may be profitably utilised include mobile
publicity-cum-sales stalls, sales and cinema vans, participation in rural fairs and festivals.
The value of this direct personal propaganda and selling cannot be overestimated,
especially in the rural markets. These are often a potent means of changing habits by
means of real life demonstrations of the goodness of the product and its utility, and by the
invaluable personal link established between the seller and the buyer. In rural markets,
persuasion by the opinion-makers, by the “voice of authority” counts; product messages
may be conveyed in print, by the cinema, or in person by teacher, doctor, shopkeeper or
village headman. In rural areas, the effective approach to be employed to reach the buyers
is to establish contacts with local educators who can influence them by word-of-mouth.
Such local educators are government officials, Block Development and Extension
Officers, and Village Pardhans and School Teachers. To the extent that traditional social
institutions like the panchayats still influence social habits, particularly at the time of
marriages and festivals, they can be useful instruments for mass changes in consumer
habits. They are usually strongholds of tradition: but when the strongholds themselves
change, the surrounding societies are quick to follow suit. This is particularly so when
change comes to the culture center of a community, the center from which new ideas
radiate.
According to one study, though most people consider the tradition-directed leaders to be
an impediment in the communication process to induce changes, this is not necessarily
true. The change via such leaders may be slow; but they (the leaders) reduce the risks and
uncertainties of its consequences. They also help to generate confidence in the slower and
later adapters. Both styles, the progressive and the traditional, may play their roles; and it
is for rural marketers to realize their possibilities. The study also indicates that the
influence of opinion leaders in such non-mass media societies is largely confined to small
social segments and the immediate neighborhood structures. A rapid development,
therefore, calls for the earliest possible extension of the mass media, especially the radio
and TV.
The villagers are slightly hesitant about going to slightly smart looking shops. The
relatively prosperous family generally becomes the trendsetter group in the village and
they must initially receive the advertisers attention. Advertising research may focus on
the sources of awareness in the rural sector-the influencing the villages. It must
concentrate on determining the different influences the villages are exposed to, either in
the village or his visits to the towns. A villager normally makes his household purchases
from a nearby small town or a fair, but visits a district, town or a still larger market to
fulfill his requirements of consumer durables. It would be useful to ascertain his
motivation in selecting different markets for different purposes.
Seasonality figures prominently rural buying habits on account of harvesting seasons,
fairs, festivals, marriage, etc. these things should be plotted in advance for sales
promotion and advertising information on the styles of rural buyers, his attitude towards
processes durability and the incidence of impulse buying- these should be checked. The
rural buyer in general is price conscious. Chester and sophisticated models of agricultural
machinery, sewing machines etc, should therefore be more acceptable to rural consumer.
The goods should be made available to the rural consumer at places that are more
convenient to him. Ideally, it is desirable to get down to the village and combine the sales
and advertising effort at that level. But practically this would be very difficult as selling
cost would be very high if we allow this approach. To expand sales in rural markets, hire
purchase facility should be extended. Effective after sales services should also be
extended where a distributor/dealer has been appointed. Some incentives should be given
to dealers to open bank accounts in nearby banking towns.
Eighty percent of total population is in villages and about 60% of the national income
comes from rural areas. There is an inequitable distribution of rural income amongst the
rural folk.
In India, the advertising is mostly in English or Hindi. As rural markets widen beyond the
English-and-Hindi knowing people, there are problems of translation into the vernaculars.
Good translations are seldom easy; and there is often the need for thinking out the
advertising concepts and the brand image in the local language itself. This is a problem
for local copywriters to conceptualize in the vernacular, where necessary. Advertising in
the local language in the absence of shortage of professionals, makes success of rural
advertising campaigns difficult.It is a general assumption of advertising theory that
advertising helps to create demand. It may be worth saying to what extent advertising
creates demand, particularly in our rural society, which is in transition from traditional to
modernity and to what extent it helps only to accelerate demand after the social and
environmental changes have taken place. The basic trends for demand of products are
determined primarily by prevailing social and environmental conditions.
Advertising itself serves not so much to increase the demand for a product as to speed up
the expansion of demand that may come up from favourable conditions and to retard
advances due to unfavourable conditions. Most rural marketers treat this as an almost
insoluble problem, because other factors also stimulate demand for e.g. price cuts, quality
changes and increasing real incomes.
‘We divert some resources from advertising to market research even at the risk of under
advertising in rural areas’ This is essential because the basic marketing problem is the
absence of elementary market research data individual rural areas. Individual fact, we do
not know where we are going. Over planning leads to over-capitalization, from which it
is very had to retreat. The five-year plans have been a classic exercise individual bad
demand forecasting with sophisticated methods and poor data; and it has been
compounded by business managements accepting national planning targets as gospel,
without undertaking the responsibility of doing a measure of their own market research,
which is an essential for rural markets individual India.
The rural market information gap is wide enough to justify major collaboration between
governments, universities, independent research organizations and business. There is very
little appreciation of it as a primary investment need, its very precondition; and very little
money is spent by too few on it.
Advertising caters to rural society with divergent life-styles and value systems presented
an unusual challenge between the strategy of homogenization (overcoming the barriers
between segments), and one of heterogenisation (capitalsing the very existence of many
small riches). This sort of advertising involves constraints individual in the form of cost
duplication of facilities and fragmentation. In such areas, the basic objective of
advertising and market research may be to find and develop products, which may cut
across heterogeneous preferences with common brands and similar or common
advertising.
Our rural marketers should keep an eye on import substitution and upgrade raw materials
on the basis of research and development before they can ensure that adequate raw
materials reach the manufacturing areas for products which would then reach rural
markets individual a steady flow and at relatively stable prices.Tourist advertising and
motivation pose a most fascinating challenge to our country with its old culture. Foreign
tourist can be attracted to rural areas where historical monuments, game sanctuaries, and
mountain and sea resorts exist.
Rural India is a set of regional markets where cultural factors play a very important role.
The raw materials come from the soil; and the relatively low productivity of Indian
farmers is reflected in the low purchasing power of the rural buyer. The rural advertising
problem in a country like India is related to political, social and economic problems. With
low income from farms the question that arises is: can we afford the infrastructure of
mass media for rural markets?
The Indian rural market is very heterogeneous. Nevertheless, public advertisement is an
important prerequisite for the creation of demand. The problem of rural consumer in our
country is that he is traditional; to some extent, there is homogeneity and there are high
resistance and low resistance products among the rural buyers. Rural buyers show a great
many contradictions; and the advertising man has to understand them. For example, the
poor spend lavishly on marriages; in certain parts rigid caste systems still exist; the
community is more contended with whatever little it has.
Many preach non-violence and practice violence. For mass media men to motivate rural
buyers to change their lifestyle is not therefore that easy. The concept of sufficiency is a
hurdle to development and the problem of huge distances and inadequate outlets is quite
considerable.
Within a rural market, there are many mini markets based on caste, religion, language or
other differences. All people living in an around these markets have distinctly different
life-styles. The marketing men know that the cost of distribution increases as the town
gets smaller and it is not economical to serve very small villages. Rural markets are no
longer a sellers market now. Many people have underrated the strength of the market on
the assumption that India’s rural poverty restricts rural purchases only to those items,
which are basic necessities. This has turned out to be a myth now. The social status,
needs, expenditure on weddings and entertainment, have influenced the operations of the
rural markets. Many farmers travel to weekly markets to buy vegetables that they can
themselves grow; but they go in order to have news, stimulation and for socialization.
The bumper crops and the upturn in agricultural production have resulted in a
considerable increase in the incomes of farmers and in their purchasing power. The
increase in purchasing power in rural areas has generated vast potential markets for
manufactured goods because the people want to raise their standard of living. New
approaches must be evolved to awaken the rural population to the range of consumption
possibilities open to them. Advertising and consumer research is essential for this
purpose; for it must be determined not only what the villager wants but also what would
motivate them to buy. Market research and consumer surveys are essential and should
cover a fairly wide area of rural life, including the attitudes and aspirations of the rural
buyer.
In rural India the role that advertisement plays is major. It will enhance demand when
favourable environment conditions have been created. Advertising does not create
immediate demand. There is always an information gap. The biggest single advertising
problem is the shortness of the reach of mass media. As our country is large, the problem
is complex, for there is a huge potential rural market. There are not very many dailies in
circulation; nor many a radio or transistor or a TV set. The mass media gap in India is as
conspicuous as the income gap. Therefore, there is a need for extending basic
infrastructure with a view to enlarging the reach of mass media in rural India. Hopefully,
the electronic revolution will follow the green revolution in rural India. The different
approaches to reach rural buyers which may be profitably utilised include mobile
publicity-cum-sales stalls, sales and cinema vans, participation in rural fairs and festivals.
The value of this direct personal propaganda and selling cannot be overestimated,
especially in the rural markets. These are often a potent means of changing habits by
means of real life demonstrations of the goodness of the product and its utility, and by the
invaluable personal link established between the seller and the buyer. In rural markets,
persuasion by the opinion-makers, by the “voice of authority” counts; product messages
may be conveyed in print, by the cinema, or in person by teacher, doctor, shopkeeper or
village headman. In rural areas, the effective approach to be employed to reach the buyers
is to establish contacts with local educators who can influence them by word-of-mouth.
Such local educators are government officials, Block Development and Extension
Officers, and Village Pardhans and School Teachers. To the extent that traditional social
institutions like the panchayats still influence social habits, particularly at the time of
marriages and festivals, they can be useful instruments for mass changes in consumer
habits. They are usually strongholds of tradition: but when the strongholds themselves
change, the surrounding societies are quick to follow suit. This is particularly so when
change comes to the culture center of a community, the center from which new ideas
radiate.
According to one study, though most people consider the tradition-directed leaders to be
an impediment in the communication process to induce changes, this is not necessarily
true. The change via such leaders may be slow; but they (the leaders) reduce the risks and
uncertainties of its consequences. They also help to generate confidence in the slower and
later adapters. Both styles, the progressive and the traditional, may play their roles; and it
is for rural marketers to realize their possibilities. The study also indicates that the
influence of opinion leaders in such non-mass media societies is largely confined to small
social segments and the immediate neighborhood structures. A rapid development,
therefore, calls for the earliest possible extension of the mass media, especially the radio
and TV.
The villagers are slightly hesitant about going to slightly smart looking shops. The
relatively prosperous family generally becomes the trendsetter group in the village and
they must initially receive the advertisers attention. Advertising research may focus on
the sources of awareness in the rural sector-the influencing the villages. It must
concentrate on determining the different influences the villages are exposed to, either in
the village or his visits to the towns. A villager normally makes his household purchases
from a nearby small town or a fair, but visits a district, town or a still larger market to
fulfill his requirements of consumer durables. It would be useful to ascertain his
motivation in selecting different markets for different purposes.
Seasonality figures prominently rural buying habits on account of harvesting seasons,
fairs, festivals, marriage, etc. these things should be plotted in advance for sales
promotion and advertising information on the styles of rural buyers, his attitude towards
processes durability and the incidence of impulse buying- these should be checked. The
rural buyer in general is price conscious. Chester and sophisticated models of agricultural
machinery, sewing machines etc, should therefore be more acceptable to rural consumer.
The goods should be made available to the rural consumer at places that are more
convenient to him. Ideally, it is desirable to get down to the village and combine the sales
and advertising effort at that level. But practically this would be very difficult as selling
cost would be very high if we allow this approach. To expand sales in rural markets, hire
purchase facility should be extended. Effective after sales services should also be
extended where a distributor/dealer has been appointed. Some incentives should be given
to dealers to open bank accounts in nearby banking towns.
Eighty percent of total population is in villages and about 60% of the national income
comes from rural areas. There is an inequitable distribution of rural income amongst the
rural folk.

BRANDING
A brand is a name that distinguishes a product from others. It has its own identity in the
market with its symbol and tagline. When we talk about brands in rural markets some of
the names which come to our mind are Rajdoot Bikes,Ghari Detergent,Dolly TV and chic
shampoo etc Findings indicated that good quality, value for money and sense of identity
with brand were likely to act as key determinants of a FMCG brand in rural India. Better
finish and good looks, recommendations from retailers were found be key determinants
of a consumer durable brand in rural India. Lets throw some light on agro inputs also like
pesticides, fertilizers, manure, seeds, tractors, harvesters, pumps and threshers etc. In this
regards marketers are following market specialization strategy.HYV seeds are also
becoming popular among the farmers.
It is a known fact in rural areas that price plays an important role in rural markets for
purchasing the products. Now the New Era of marketing is changing the scenario of the
Rural India. With Cola companies penetrating these markets with low prices (chota coke)
the rural consumer has now realized the benefits of branding. However, no data is
available to establish a relationship of the extent of branding and the consumer
acceptance with reference to research publications. Keeping this in view, the present
study was undertaken and the results have been presented.
Indian Marketers on rural marketing have two understanding (I) The urban metro
products and marketing products can be implemented in rural markets with some or no
change. (II) The rural marketing required the separate skills and techniques from its urban
counterpart. The Marketers have following facilities to make them believe in accepting
the truth that rural markets are different in so many terms.
The rural market has the opportunity for.
(i) Low priced products can be more successful in rural markets because the low
purchasing, purchasing powers in rural markets.
(ii) Rural consumers have mostly homogeneous group with similar needs, economic
conditions and problems.
(iv) The rural markets can be worked with the different media environment as opposed to
press, film, radio and other urban centric media exposure.
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

For a large variety of consumer products, the private village shops are the main channels
in the rural markets; they are also the cheapest and the most convenience channel to align
with. As such we shall examine in some detail how the private village are utilized by
firms in their rural marketing effort.

The network of village shops of India is considered by several experts as the largest and
cheapest distribution channel in the world. There are 3.6 million such shops in rural
India. The village shopkeeper actually operated against several odds. He is often forced
to deal in a large number of products in order to make his operation viable. It means
larger inventory and higher inventory costs. The longer lead time for replenishments from
the urban based producer enlarges his inventory holding further. Also, as his sales are not
uniform throughout the year, he has to carry the inventory over a longer period of time.
All this leads to the blocking up of his capital and increase his costs. The scope for
making up the higher costs through higher make up is rather limited. He cannot charge a
higher mark up, as the consumer he is catering to cannot afford to pay a higher price. Nor
is he able to make the higher costs by increased turnover. The average daily turnover of a
rural shop is less than Rs 300. Even this level of turnover is generated only when he
extends credit to his customers. And he incurs additional expenses for the frequent trips
he has to make to the supply points in the towns/ market centers. It is quite interesting
that in spite of all these handicaps, the village shopkeeper conducts his rural retail
operation at a profit, though quite nominal, it might be. He achieves this feat largely
tough his inborn ability for astute management of money and other inputs. He also puts in
hard work. He keeps his shop open for 14 hours a day compared to that 8 hour service
provided by the urban shops and he keeps his keeps his shop open on all 365 days in the
year, with the support of his wife and children, and ensures that he does not miss a single
possible sale. It is mainly this human labor, the cost of which neither gets accounted, nor
paid for fully that makes the village shops of India one of the cheapest distribution
channels in the world.

It is quite natural, therefore, that firms seeking an effective presence in the rural market,
willingly embrace the private village as the major component of their distribution outfit.
The shops also function as their effective bridge with the scattered rural consumers.
Organizing its mating channel out of these private shops, however, requires assiduous
efforts on the part of the firm. It has to select its outlets from out of existing shopkeepers.
In some cases, it has to develop freshers and appoint them as outlets. It has to select from
among the available people ending on the product line and other relevant factors and train
and develop them into competent dealers for their products.

The name of the game is to motivate the retailer in rural market to stock a product or a
brand.

Improving the viability of the outlets:

Improving the viability of the retail outlet is an important part of channel management in
the rural context. In the first place, the firm must be willing to view rural marketing as a
long term venture. Secondly, the firm must encourage the outlets to deal in a number of
product lines. In affect, the firm can collaborate with other firms and make a joint
retailing offer, there by promoting the viability of the retail operation.
NAME: LESLIE GUNNION

ROLL 538

ROOM NO 24

SUBJECT: RURAL MARKETING AND SERVICE

MARKETING