The document discusses various approaches to rural marketing in India. It first describes the trickle down approach where companies focus on urban areas and assume rural sales will follow. It also discusses the undifferentiated approach where companies use similar strategies for rural and urban with minor modifications. However, the differentiated and bottom-of-the-pyramid approaches recognize the unique needs of rural consumers. The differentiated approach designs separate rural programs with market research, while bottom-of-the-pyramid aims to develop rural people as entrepreneurs through partnerships. The MARK framework is also described which emphasizes making products affordable, acceptable, available and raising knowledge in rural areas.

1. APPROACH DECISION: RURAL MARKETING MODELS
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

2. TRICKLE DOWN APPROACH
Companies that focused mainly on urban areas for sales
and experienced growth in urban sales relied only on
trickle down approach for rural market
It is believed that there is absolutely no need for designing
marketing programs to reach rural areas

3.  ASSUMPTIONS of the approach
• Rural market can be ignored. The top end rural market is
small in size and the sales from rural areas are only a bonus.
• Top end rural society culture is close to top end urban areas.
• Rural buyers buy from nearby towns when they are on work or
a visit.

4. UNDIFFERENTIATED APPROACH
 Companies believed that to reach rural market, urban market strategies with minor
modifications to suit rural conditions would serve the needs
 Rural consumers can be attracted to buy the products offered to urban consumers by
making them available at nearest point of purchase
 NCAER Survey conducted in 1994 showed that variables in asset preferences of rural
and urban consumers are minor
 FMCG and Durables are preferred by all income groups of urban and rural areas

6. EXAMPLE:-
 Many soap users prefer medicinal value, cosmetic strength and
the feeling of freshness in their washrooms.
 Medimix offers all these features and also claims that it is a
beauty care Ayurvedic family soap.
 Coco-Cola targets both urban and rural market with the same
drink.

7. 3. DIFFERENTIATED APPROACH
 Marketers design separate marketing programs for rural
markets.
 With substantial improvements in villages in terms of
affordability, accessibility and acceptance, companies
have started giving a separate status to rural business.
 Integration of CSR with Marketing Strategy

8. 3. DIFFERENTIATED APPROACH
 Emphasis on market research to understand rural markets
and consumers
 Segmentation, targeting and positioning for rural markets
 Designing and implementing the strategies related to 4Ps.

9. 4. BOTTOM-OF-THE-PYRAMID APPROACH
 The key idea in this model is developing rural people into
entrepreneurs or participants in business
 This has led to partnership between companies and NGOs, Govt.
Agencies and other social enterprises
 More than 4 billion people live at the bottom-of-the-pyramid
 Innovation in technology, products and services to BOP markets is
required.
 BOP markets must become the core business of any firm not just
CSR.

10. SOURCE: U.N. WORLD DEVELOPMENT
REPORT

11. 4. BOTTOM-OF-THE-PYRAMID APPROACH
 EXAMPLES:
 Companies target rural consumers in harvest season as their purchasing
power is high at that time. HUL’s Shakti Ammas (about 40000 in number) got
a basic smartphone to bill orders, manage inventory and get updates on
promotional schemes.
 Dabur India , is getting rural people to try its products and experience the
benefits. The idea is to get word of mouth advertising. It also organized health
camps to advertise toothpaste and chyawanprash portfolio.

12. 4. BOTTOM-OF-THE-PYRAMID APPROACH
 To develop and organize markets, companies have to work in partnership.
 Empowering the poor through access to buying power, better choice
and opportunities can threaten existing local power structures and
opposition can build quickly.
 Companies that develop local base and support stand a much better chance
of long term success.
 Creating a coordination of Non-Government Organizations, community
leaders and local leaders is important. These partnerships can leverage
local knowledge and insights to help develop sustainable businesses.

13. MARK APPROACH
 Rural India has problems quite unique in nature. The
major error people make while marketing to the rural
market is that they apply the same theories as learned
from the urban context.
 In regard to this myth, MARK approach has been identified

14. MONEY
 Products need to be within the affordable range.
 Sachetisation (selling in sachets) was used to overcome
this barrier and thereby sell to the rural consumer. This
strategy backfired and was found that sachet’s have in fact
cannibalized the sales of the larger volume packaged
products manufactured by the same company.
 For example : bourn vita sachet @ rs 5

15. ACCEPTABILITY
 There is a need to offer products that suit the rural market.
Customizing products to suit the needs of the rural folk will help it
gain wider acceptability and thereby lead to increased penetration
within these rural markets.
 E.g. A rural consumer will never be willing to accept Kellogg’s
cornflakes as a substitute to his breakfast of Paratha and curd but
if the Kellogg’s is able to communicate the message that Kellogg’s
since it is full of nutrients vital to a growing child the can be used to
supplement his child’s daily meal then he would be ready to buy
Kellogg’s for his child.

16. REACH
 Unless the product is available there is no point whether we
overcome the other challenges or not as we will not finally derive
any sales at all. Marketers must trade off the distribution cost with
incremental market penetration.
 Over the years, MNC’s have tried out various tactics to reach out
to the rural markets from using auto rickshaws, bullock-carts and
even boats in the backwaters of Kerala.

17. KNOWLEDGE
 Knowledge or awareness about the product depends on how
effective market communication is. It is extremely important to
choose the right channel for market communication.
 It is a commonly held misconception by marketers and ad-
agencies that TV is the best medium to communicate to these
rural masses.
 An important factor from the rural point of view is that during
sowing and harvest time there is electricity for agriculture but no
time to watch TV, after the harvest when farmers are free,
electricity otherwise given to them is now diverted to the industry.

18. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
 Consumer Behavior is the actions and decision processes of
people who purchase goods and services for personal
consumption’.

19. BUYING DECISION PROCESS: -

20. CONSUMER BUYING PROCESS (CONTD)
1) Need Recognition:-
 Internal stimuli
 External Stimuli
2) Information Search:-
This is the buyer’s effort to search internal and external business environments, in order to identify and
evaluate information sources related to the central buying decision.
 Personal source
 Public source
 Commercial source
 Experiental source

22. 3) Evaluation of alternative:-
individuals will evaluate different products or brands at this stage on the basis of alternative
product attributes – those which have the ability to deliver the benefits the customer is seeking.
4) Purchase Decision:-
Brand decision
Vender decision
Timing Decision
5) Post purchase Behaviour:-
customers will compare products with their previous expectations and will be either satisfied or
dissatisfied.

23. Thank You