Rural Marketing Mix

The 4 P’s of marketing – price, product, place, promotion – have been the standard by which every marketing strategy has been developed in the past. This approach was designed for urban markets, but the distinctiveness of rural consumers means that different was required.

The 4 As of marketing-affordability, availability, awareness, and acceptability have evolved as a more customer-oriented solution to design an appropriate marketing strategy for rural markets.

a. Affordability

It is a fact that per capita rural incomes are still only half of urban incomes, and all products and services designed for rural markets must keep affordability in mind. However, it is important to realize that creating an affordable product or service is not the same as creating a low-cost-low-quality version of an urban product or service. It is vital to design a product or service that caters to the needs of the rural consumers in their unique environment and provides value as perceived by them. Rural consumers are driven by the value proposition, and not just by cost. Affordability here simply means that it should be within their purchasing capacity.

Thus, branded personal care items have been successful in rural areas through 'sachet packaging' by increasing affordability. Companies like Max Vijay now offer life insurance through 'sachet purchasing' , small frequent payments made to local retailers.

b. Availability

     Availability remains the single largest challenge for marketers. India's 640,867 villages are spread over 3.2 million sq. km (Census 2001). If the product or service is not available in a market, it cannot be purchased. A simple enough concept, but the vastness of the country makes reaching the 'last mile' a Herculean task. Companies have adopted innovative distribution strategies—HUL's Shakti model and Colgate's bicycle entrepreneurs—to overcome this problem.

Field observations have shown that when products or services reach small towns, there may be no need to develop a distribution strategy to go further. Retailers themselves will transport the goods to the village level. Also, especially in the case of larger ticket items, rural consumers visit nearby towns to purchase items such as mobile phones, two wheelers, and branded clothing, to avail of the greater choice or access services such as banking and computer classes available there. Thus, the question is, which small towns to target? The paucity of secondary data available at the village and block levels also adds to the confusion, as it is difficult to determine where distribution efforts would reveal a viable market. A ‘Small Town Index' to rate the attractiveness of one location versus another would be an invaluable tool in determining where to make the product or service available.

c. Awareness

Low levels of literacy remain a stumbling block for any communications message for rural consumers. However, literacy rates are rising, indicating that comprehension levels will rise, too. Access to mass media, especially television, is very high in rural India, with half of all television sets being sold in rural India. This means that rural consumers are exposed to the same advertising designed for urban markets, increasing the demand for typically urban products and services such as fairness creams, etc. However, alternative rural means of communication such as wall paintings, vans, road shows, and nautankis in the local language also play an important role in creating interest amongst rural consumers.

d. Acceptability

Acceptability of a product or service vis-à-vis rural consumers is critical. As mentioned earlier, a product or service developed and designed for urban consumers may not necessarily be successful in rural markets. The rural environment must be borne in mind, in terms of their living conditions and how they would perceive and use the product or service. A productive asset, one that adds to earnings rather than a mere consumption product, would have greater acceptability in a typical rural household. Products that show greater versatility and adaptability to rural conditions have an advantage over others. For example, Chinese models of mobile phones have been an instant hit in rural markets without any advertising or promotion as they are low cost, durable, easy to use, have a built-in torch, and loudspeakers for playing music. So the mobile phone transforms into a personal portable entertainment system operable in ‘no electricity conditions,

Once a product or service fulfills rural concerns on all aspects of the marketing mix, it becomes suitable for rural markets. However, the size of the target rural consumer segment and the cost implications need to be considered to determine if this has the potential to become a successful product or service for the company.

References

• Pradeep Kashyap, Rural Marketing, Pearson Publication, Third Edition