Marketers need to explore rural marketing

A study conducted by IIM-Ahmedabad, MaRs, Decision Point and Geometry Global | Encompass Network reveals that marketers have yet to understand rural marketing

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | February 10, 2016

The recent R|Scape research, conducted by equal partners IIM-Ahmedabad, MaRs, Decision Point and Geometry Global | Encompass Network, covers about 6,000 rural consumers, consisting of a mix of married men, married women, young men and young women in eight states and across over twenty popular categories.

During a seminar held on Monday, February 8, speakers such as PK Sinha, Professor of Marketing, IIM-Ahmedabad, Madhukar Sabnavis, Vice-Chairman and Director, Client Relations, Ogilvy & Mather, Raghu Roy, Founder & MD, MaRs, Ravi Shankar, Founder & CEO, Decision Point, and Rahul Saigal, Group COO, Geometry Global | Encompass Network spoke on different methods of marketing in rural India.

Saigal shed light on the need for conducting the study, highlighting the fact that rural consumer behaviour has changed significantly over the last 10 years. Improved road connectivity and higher education infrastructure, stronger media reach, and the increasing penetration of mobile phones and access to social media are just some of the factors leading to behavioral changes in consumers. As such, the need arises to understand these changes' impact on category adoption, purchase and consumption.

Saigal also highlighted strategies which may help No. 1 national brands become No. 1 local brands. While national leaders often find themselves at No. 2 or No. 3 positions in local markets, local brands which resonate most with local consumers often place higher than national leaders, proving that local relevance scores above any sort of aspirational appeal built by big brands. National brands that are able to localize their communication and product offers are more likely to overcome local players.

Roy spoke on methods of understanding the rural landscapes and families. He explained the ways in which young men are different from young women, and how these women differ from housewives and children when it comes to decision-making. While some rural residents have changed their decision-making processes, other have either not moved or are moving towards such a paradigm shift. He further explained that the former group comes from the farmers' category which lacks education, awareness and communication.

Market prioritization further necessitated the collection of research. It must be the beginning of all rural marketing campaign planning, not the end. Marketers tasked with rolling out rural marketing campaigns often complete their tasks by identifying end markets. They have little information about how rural consumers in one state are likely to behave differently from their counterparts in another. Hence, campaigns are rolled out on a one-size-fits-all basis.

While the research recognizes that rural consumers are different from urban consumers, these differences have not been properly assessed. Therefore, brand positioning and advertising often remain the same across both markets. It is common to find marketers rolling out their urban advertising campaigns to rural consumers. Brands and categories are at different stages of evolution across urban and rural markets, and urban advertising often ends up losing relevance to rural audiences.

On his part, Shankar shed light on the analytics of rural marketing. Consumers need to be segmented and analysed according to characteristic traits of unmoved, moving and moved consumer segments across TGs and states. There is a need to evaluate the leading indicators of category consumption across economic, social and technology parameters over multiple TGs and states. Lastly, Shankar called for an understanding of the inter-state differences in consumption needs various categories such as deodorants, toothpaste and branded foods across TGs and states.

Shankar also spoke on smart phones, the internet and social media as targets for marketers in rural areas, stating that communication rituals drive growth in the food category in rural India.  He ended noting that one needs a reason to buy multiple variants of toothpaste, as he is aware of the category, while on the other hand, the rural consumer needs to identify with brand like Kellogg's in order to purchase it, and this attitude is what needs to change.

Sinha, and Sabnavis had an open discussion on how marketers are starting to engage in rural modes of thought. While some are working hard, others are still trying to crack the code.

As electricity restrains the growth of rural markets, radio may face a boom, which some markets are already experiencing. Print marketing may also get traction, provided the content is localised instead of generic.

Key Findings:

The R|Scape dashboard is able to generate category-level adoption, purchase and consumption-related insight based on inputs such as age, gender and region/state. Here is a quick look at some findings.

1. Rural consumer segmentation needs to be a function of adherence to village norms and urban centricity.
2. By-and-large, rural consumers are exhibiting a lack of brand fidelity attitudinally as well as behaviourally.
3. Adherence to village social norms has created strong distinctions among rural married women.
4. The reasons for the adoption and consumption of categories are very different for rural and urban consumers. Hence, the same brand positioning or advertising does not work across both markets.
5. Rural markets are not homogenous. Reasons to buy and consume categories are often starkly different for consumers from different regions.

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