INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF

INFORMATICS AND
MANAGEMENT

PAPER NAME : Rural Marketing

PAPER CODE : M-423

SUBMITTED TO: Dr. Kavaldeep Dixit Mam

SUBMITTED BY: Khushbu Bangar
MBA/2018/3673
IV Semester
Q. 1 Comment on the changes that have taken
place in the rural environment in the last five
years. You are also, expected to cover four
recent government scheme that are redefining
the rural landscape.
Ans : -Latest statistics show that agricultural
growth and rural income has largely been
unaffected by the economics lowdown, this,
despite the fact that the contribution of agriculture
to total rural income has actually comedown.
Instead, we have a growing service industry and
alternate revenue channels from horticulture,
poultry , fisheries and other activities which are
lesser independent and were virtually non-existent
a decade ago. India' s6, 38, 000 villages, which
harbour 72.2 percent of the population, once the
albatross around its neck, are now the signpost to
its future.
Technology Rules:  Much of the new prosperity is
to do with connectivity and new channels of
communication. Rural road projects have made it
easier and faster for farmers to get their produce to
markets while communication tools have given
them access to weather forecasts and critical
inputs. ITC' s e chaupal reaches 3.5 million
farmers giving them instant access to data on new
varieties of crops, pricing and markets.
After the 2001 earthquake, the villagers switched
to horticulture and introduced drip irrigation
techniques to reduce dependence on rains. Today
half the 780 hectare farm land is under drip
irrigation based horticulture cultivation with
potatoes, pomegranate, papaya and vegetables
being grown.  
In May2009 alone, under NREGA, there was 100
percent job utilisation with 745 applicants getting
work. "Since the beginning of the scheme in the
end of 2005, a total of 2,926 job card applications
had been received, of which 2,672 have been
employed till date. Though local enterprise is a
key factor , schemes like NREGA has
undoubtedly made a huge difference to the rural
economy and rural thinking.
New Innovations:  Apart from crop changes,
innovative farming techniques are boosting
productivity , encouraging new entrepreneurship
and having a huge social impact.
Four Recent Government Schemes:
1.Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS):
I. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
2005, was launched on the 2nd Feb.2006.Now the
new name of this scheme is" Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act "(or,
MGNREGA) .
II. This scheme is an Indian labour law and social
security measure that aims to provide‘ right to
work' to the people falling Below Poverty Line.
III. It guarantees 100 days employment in a year
to the village people.
IV. Fifty percent workers should be women. V. Its
90% funding is borne by the central government
and 10% by the state government
3.Swachchh Bharat Mission:
I. The Prime Minister launched Swachh Bharat
Mission on the birth anniversary of Mahatma
Gandhi on 2nd Oct, 2014.
II. The concept of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is to
pave access for every person to sanitation
facilities including toilets, solid and liquid waste
disposal systems, village cleanliness and safe and
adequate drinking water supply .
III . The programme is to be implemented by
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
IV. An action plan has been drawn up for Swachh
Bharat to become a reality by 2019, the 150th birth
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi .
V. The Mission aims to triple the growth percent
age of toilet from present 3% to 10% by 2019
4.Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna:
I. This programme was launched by the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on the birth anniversary
of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan on 11Oct
2014.
II. Ministry of Rural Development will be the
supervising authority fort his programme.
III. Under this programme each Member of
Parliament will take the responsibility for
developing physical and institutional
infrastructure in three villages by 2019.
2.  DeenDayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal
Yojna:
I. This is a placement linked skill development
scheme for rural poor youth.
II. It was launched by on 25 Sept 2014 by Union
Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Venkaiah Naidu on
the occasion of 98th birth anniversary of Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyaya.
III. It aims to target youth, under the age group of
15–35years.
IV. A total of 52000 candidates have been skilled
under this programme till 2014-15
Q.2 Elaborate on the 4A’s Rural marketing
strategy adopted by one FMCG and one
consumer durable company .
Ans:1.Availability : The first challenge is to
ensure availability of the product or service.
India's 627,000 villages are spread over 3.2
million sq km; 700 million Indians may live in
rural areas, finding them is not easy .However ,
given the poor state of roads, it is an even greater
challenge to regularly reach products to the far
flung villages. Any serious marketer must strive to
reach atleast 13,113 villages with a population of
more than 5,000.Marketers must trade off the
distribution cost with incremental market
saturation. Over the years, India's largest MNC,
Hindustan Lever , a subsidiary of Unilever, has
built a strong distribution system which helps its
brands reach the interiors of the rural market .To
service remote village, stockiest use auto
rickshaws, bullock carts and even boats in the
back waters of Kerala. Coca Cola, which
considers rural India as a future growth driver, has
evolved a hub and spoke distribution model to
reach the villages. To ensure full loads, the
company depot supplies, twice a week, large
distributors which who act as hubs. These
distributors appoint and supply,once a
week,smaller distributors in adjoining areas. LG
Electronics defines all cities and towns other than
the seven metros cities as rural and semi urban
market .To tap these unexplored country markets,
LG has setup 45 area offices and 59 rural remote
area offices
2.Affordability:- The second challenge is to
ensure affordability of the product or service.
With low disposable incomes, products need to be
affordable to the rural consumer , most of who are
on daily wages. Some companies have addressed
the affordability problem by introducing small
unit packs. Godrej recently introduced three
brands of Cinthol , FairGlow and Godrej in 50gm
packs, priced at Rs 45 meant specifically for
Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh—the so
called` Bimaru' States. Hindustan
Lever , among the first MNC’s to realize the
potential of India's rural market , has launched a
variant of its largest selling soap brand, Lifebuoy
at Rs 2 for 50gm.The move is mainly targeted at
the rural market .Coca Cola has addressed the
affordability issue by introducing the return able
200ml glass bottle priced at Rs5. The initiative has
paid off : Eighty percent of new drinkers now
come from the rural markets.Coca Cola has also
introduced Sunfill , a powdered soft drink
concentrate.The instant and ready to mix Sunfill is
available in a single serve sachet of 25 gm priced
at Rs2 and multi serve sachet of 200gm priced at
Rs15.
3.Acceptability: The third challenge is to gain
acceptability for the product or service. Therefore,
there is a need to offer products that suit the rural
market .One company which has reaped rich
dividends by doing so is LG Electronics. In1998,
it developed a customized TV for the rural market
and christened it Sampoorna. It was a run way hit
selling 100,000 sets in the very first year .
Because of the lack of electricity and refrigerators
in the rural areas, Coca Cola provides low cost ice
boxes—a tin box for new out lets and thermocol
box for seasonal outlets. The insurance companies
that have tailor made products for the rural market
have per formed well .HDFC Standard LIFE
topped private insurers by selling policies worth
Rs3.5crores in total premium. The company tied
up with non governmental organizations and
offered reasonably priced policies in the nature of
group insurance covers. With large parts of rural
India in accessible to conventional advertising
media—only 41 percent rural households have
access to TV—building awareness is another
challenge. Fortunately , however , the rural
consumer has the same likes as the urban
consumer—movies and music—and for both the
urban and rural consumer , the family is the key
unit of identity . However , the rural consumer
expressions differ from his urban counter part
.Outing for the former is confined to local fairs
and festivals and TV viewing is confined to the
state owned Doordarshan. Consumption of
branded products is treated as a special treat or
luxury.
4.Awareness:-Hindustan Lever relies heavily on
its own company organized media. These are
promotional events organized by stockiest .Godrej
Consumer Products, which is trying to push its
soap brands in to the interior areas,uses radio to
reach the local people in their language. Coca
Cola uses a combination of TV, cinema and radio
to reach 53.6 percent of rural households. It
doubled it’s spend on advertising on Doordarshan,
which alone reached 41 percent of rural
households. It has also used banners, posters and
tapped all the local forms of entertainment .Since
price is a key issue in the rural areas, Coca-Cola
advertising stressed its` magical ' price point of
Rs5 per bottle in all media. LG Electronics uses
vans and road shows to reach rural customers. The
company uses local language advertising. Philips
India uses wall writing and radio advertising to
drive its growth in rural areas. The key dilemma
for MNC’s ready to tap the large and fast growing
rural market is whether they can do so without
hurting the company 's profit margins.

Q.3 If you had to sell smart watches in rural

India which segmentation variables will you
consider and why?
Ans: Segmentation is the process brands use to
divide their target market into smaller segments of
people that share common characteristics to
optimize their marketing, advertising and sales
efforts.
If I had to sell smart watches in rural market there
are 4 types of segmentation which I studied and
made a strategies for the rural people that how to
sell smart watches indifferent types of segment
and earn profit. Here are these segments:
1.Demographic segmentation
Demographic segmentation divides a market
through variables such as age, gender, education
level, family size, occupation, income, and more.
This form of segmentation is a widely used
strategy due to specific products catering to
obvious individual needs relating to at least one
demographic element. Perhaps the most obvious
variable of them all, age is important for
marketers to understand and advertise accordingly
due to the fast paced nature of preference changes
within the various stages of life.
2. Behavioural segmentation
Behavioural segmentation has similar
measurements to psychographic segmentation but
focuses on specific reactions and the way
customers go through their decision making and
buying processes. Attitudes towards your brand,
the way they use it, and their knowledge base are
all examples of behavioural segmentation.
Collecting this type of data is similar to the way
you would find psychographic data. Review
websites can also be a helpful tool when searching
for this information. Brand loyalty is an excellent
example of behavioural segmentation.
3. Psychographic segmentation
Unlike geographic segmentation and demographic
segmentation, psychographic segmentation
focuses on the intrinsic traits your target customer
possesses. Psychographic traits can range from
values, personalities, interests, attitudes, conscious
and subconscious motivators, lifestyles, and
opinions. To understand your target customers on
this level, methods such as focus groups, surveys,
interviews, and case studies can all prove
successful in compiling this type of conclusion.
4. Geographic segmentation
Geographic segmentation targets customers based
on a predefined geographic border. Differences in
interests, values, and preferences vary
dramatically throughout cities, states, and
countries, so it is important for marketers to
recognize these differences and advertise
accordingly.

Q.4 Highlighting Gillette Guard and Godrej

Chotukool product strategies describe what
strategies marketers can adopt under
acceptability to increase their brand sales.
Ans:-Gillette Guard: Procter & Gamble executives
in 2008 during one of their 300 visits to homes in
rural India witnessed a man shave while sitting
bare foot on the floor in a tiny hut in India.
• He had no electricity, no running water and no
mirror.
•The visits kicked off the 18 months it took to
develop Gillette Guard, allow cost razor designed
for India and other emerging markets.
• From these insights, the team developed Gillette
Guard from a clean sheet of paper, filtering every
design and technology element through the eyes
of the low income consumer and what he valued
most .
• Guard was designed to include most important
features that were meaningful for the consumer
and allowed the product to be offered at an
affordable price. This also enabled a dramatically
simplified product design using 80% fewer parts
than Gillette Vector which enabled a stream lined
and lower cost manufacturing process.
• Gillette Guard is available in India for a
suggested retail price of approximately 15 Rupees
(or33U.S.cents)per razor with refills costing
approximately one Rupee(or2U.S.cents)per shave.
• A single blade system lined with a safety comb
designed to prevent nicks and cuts.
• A flexible pivoting razor head helps better
maneuver the curves of the face and neck and
tackle the hair under the chin–difficult areas for
double edge razor users to shave safely.
• An easy to maneuver handle with a light
weight ,ribbed design offers excellent one handed
control to help prevent nicks and cuts.
Added Convenience
• Easy rinse cartridges to prevent clogging.
• A hang hole at the end of the razor handle
provides a convenient means of storage
• Easy click docking makes it faster and easier to
connect the blade to the razor versus the
complexity of assembling a double edged razor.
Godrej Chotukool: It is an innovative approach to
tackling the problem of food storage in India, a
country in which around one third of all food
spoils and an estimated 80 percent of households
do not have access to or use a refrigerator.
• Chotukool offers a low cost, low energy cooling
solution for rural householders in India where an
estimated 80 percent of the population do not use
or have access to a refrigerator.
• An example of the power of frugal innovation,
Chotukool is a ground breaking product on many
levels–in terms of the technology used, its design
and the business model employed to develop and
deploy it.
• Chotukool is a 45liter plastic container that can
cool food to around 8 to10 degrees on a 12volt
battery. Abandoning the compress or technology
used in domestic fridges, it uses a thermo electric
or solid state cooling system. It does not have a
front opening door but opens from the top to
ensure that the maximum amount of cool air remai
ns in the container when opened.
Strategies marketers can adopt under acceptability
to increase their brand sales:
• Developing a Brand Name: Brand name in the
rural context facilitates easy brand recall and helps
in drawing any colour, visual or numeric
association. Like, (Bhoomiputra)for tractors and
(Ajanta)for toothpastes.
• Creating a Brand Identity: Involves the need to
relate the brand with the rural lifestyle, or with
appropriate symbols or with rural environment.
Tata Steel branded its galvanized corrugated
sheets Tata Shaktee to create a brand identity that
conveys the qualities of strength, durability and
toughness.
• Building a Brand Image: The brand should have
a personality of its own. It should emote,
empathize and talk to its consumers. Mahindra’ s
Bhoomiputra series of tractors, with their rugged
features and sarpanch(village head)series, have
helped to improve sales

Q.5Write a detailed note on rural centric

distribution channels for selling soaps in rural
India. You are required to cover both
traditional and innovative channels of
distribution.
Ans: Rural centric distribution channels- They are
those that optimize the existing infrastructure and
human resources available in rural markets to
create innovative and cost effective sustainable
business to service rural consumer needs.
Rural centric Distribution Models
• Mobile Traders/ Bare foot agents
• Shandies/ Haats/ Melas
• Using Agriculture Input Dealers
• Using Nongovernment organizations
• Utilizing PDS
• Mobile Vans
• Use of Cooperative societies
• Youth Entrepreneurship Model
• Utilizing petrol pumps and extension counters
• Hub and spoke model
• Syndicated Distribution
For selling soap there are distribution network in
the rural area:
Parent company

Wholesaler/distributor

Stockist

Retailer
 Final Consumer

Traditional and Innovative Channels of

Distribution:
Use of cooperative societies–There are over 4 lakh
cooperatives operating for different purposes like
marketing, credit and dairy cooperative in rural
areas. For eg. Farmers Service Cooperative
Societies function like a mini super market for
rural consumers where they sell soaps, detergents,
cloth, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc. at
economical and reasonable prices. Since these
societies have necessary infrastructure for storage
and distribution, companies may contact these
societies to sell their product
Utilization of Petrol Pumps–These petrol pumps,
in addition to petrol/diesel, oil and lubricants are
also selling consumables such as soaps,
detergents, biscuits etc, particularly on the
highways. These bunks may also think of stocking
certain consumable agricultural inputs like
fertilizers, seeds and pesticides.
Use of Public Distribution System–In India, the
Public Distribution System is well organized.
There are about 4.37 lakh fair price shops
operating in the country. Since the PDS outlets
cover the entire country they can be utilized for
marketing consumable items and low value
durables in rural areas.

Q.6 Write an essay on Significance and Future

of Rural India.
Ans:- Significance of Rural India
According to the third annual edition of Accenture
Research, Masters of Rural Markets From Touch
points to Trust points-Winning over India's
Aspiring Rural Consumers, rural consumers are
particularly aspiring or striving to purchase
branded, high quality products. Consequently,
businesses in India are optimistic about growth of
the country 's rural consumer markets, which is
expected to be faster than urban consumer
markets. The wider reach of media and
telecommunication services has provided
information to India’s rural consumers and is
influencing their purchase decisions. In line with
general trend, rural consumers are evolving
towards a broader notion of value provided by
products and services which involves aspects of
price combined with utility, aesthetics and
features, and not just low prices. The hinter lands
in India consist of about 6 50, 000 villages. These
villages are in habited by about 850 million
consumers making up for about 70 percent
population and contributing around half of the
country 's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Consumption patterns in these rural areas are
gradually changing to increasingly resemble the
consumption patterns of urban areas. Some of
India's largest consumer companies serve one
third of their consumers from rural India. Owing
to a favourable changing consumption trend as
well as the potential size of the market, rural India
provides a large and attractive investment
opportunity for private companies.
Future of Rural India:
Rural India in the near future is presumed to
become one of the largest markets on the globe
and is also transforming quickly in this dynamic
world. Today India's rural population consists of
12 % of the world population representing huge
untapped population. Consistently as the
purchasing power and preferences of rural people
are changing and every organization is looking
forward to invest in rural markets. Rural markets
have gained significance in the present scenario in
nations like India and China which might lead to
sustainable development and growth of Indian
economy in upcoming years resulting in
substantial increase in buying power of rural
consumers. For most of MNC's rural marketing
has become the latest mantra that are focusing on
rural markets to make in roads into huge Indian
market. Village areas consume huge variety of
urban and industrial manufactured goods due to
the advent of green revolution in India which has
lead to enhanced marketing skills and strategies
known as rural marketing. As rural market
environment keeps on changing, market profile
also changes so as people. Hence companies are
applying various strategies and modes to be a
winner in rural market. Rural market also exhibits
regional, linguistic, economic disparities and
cultural diversities. Recently growth in buying
power has brought lot of interest for major
companies like ITC, HUL, Godrej, Colgate, BPC
Land Nokia which are exploring cost effective
distribution channels. The present paper brings in
review of rural market environment, opportunities
and major problems in India. Research paper also
describes various strategies and major challenges
of rural marketing in India.

Q.7 If you had to sell health drink in rural

Rajasthan who will be your target audience,
what will be your positioning strategy and
what will be your 4A’s strategy (including
acceptability, availability, affordability and
awareness) ?
Ans:- The target audience is defined by factors
such as age, location, behaviour patterns, lifestyle
characteristics, socio economic position, and
more. Carefully defining your target audience is
considered to be the foundation for all of your
subsequent marketing decision.
The consumption of health drinks is rapidly
increasing, as demonstrated by their large market
growth. The targeted demographic group is
teenagers, young adults, 18 to 34 yrs old; although
expansion into non traditional markets is also
occurring. It is claimed that energy drinks can
offer an increased energy boost related to their
ingredient profile of caffeine, taurine, herbal
extracts, and vitamins.
Positioning Strategy:
Positioning strategy for health drink in Rural
Rajasthan are:
 Product characteristics
 Pricing
 Based on use or application
 Based on product process
 Based on product class
 Based on cultural symbols
 Based on competitor
4A’s strategies for health drink:
Let ’s take example of bournvita
1.Acceptability:-
Bournvita was one of the most loved chocolate
health drinks in the world be fore it was launched
in India. In 1947 the Cadbury India Limited
launched Cadbury Bournvita. Bourn because it ’s
brown in color Vita because it has lots of
vitamins. Bournvita acts as a dietary supplement
providing nourishment along with good taste.
2.Affordability:-
The mother or the house wife gives importance to
the nutritional values of the health drink and gives
price secondary importance. She will carefully
study the taste and the nutritive values the health
drink. Bournvita being one of the expensive
health’s drinks in the market, that is Rs151 for
500grams, but still due to its good taste and good
nutritive values it has captured majority of the
market.
3.Awareness:-
Bournvita has always promoted its product
according to customer’s needs. It has attracted
children by giving free gifts like plastic mugs,
chess games, rackets etc. They also come up with
schemes like extra Bournvita for same price. The
ads have very clearly promoted this drink for
intelligent school kids through organizing the
famous Bournvita quiz contest between different
schools. Bournvita is running two different
campaigns for Bournvita one campaign for the
Bournvita Five star Magic and another one
featuring Bournvita Confidence Academy.
4. Availability:-
Cadbury has a vast distribution network in India;
it is catering Bournvita to its customers in this
network. Bournvita is found in almost all medical
stores, provision stores, supermarkets and all retail
stores. It has around 2100 distributors and around
4,50,000 retailers. Total consumers of Bournvita
are around 65 million. It has installed coolers at
several outlets to address the issues of product
stability. This helps in maintaining quality during
summer when there is a lot of heat.