07-03-2012, 03:37 PM
Media for rural marketing
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Strategic aspects
Rural marketing in India is not much
developed there are many hindrances in the
area of market, product design and
positioning, pricing, distribution and
promotion. Companies need to understand
rural marketing in a broader manner not only
to survive and grow in their business, but
also a means to the development of the rural
economy. One has to have a strategic view
of the rural markets so as to know and
understand the markets well.
Client and location specific promotion
Increasing specialisation in the farming sector has marketers to this
strategy. The marketer under this strategy has to design location
and carry out farmer specific promotional campaigns.
Recommending the use of the products at micro level would result
in increasing productivity of the input and thereby increasing the
image and the sales of the product can raise the input demand for
rural markets. Joint or co-operative promotion A personalised
approach is required under this strategy of rural marketing. Under
this approach there is a greater scope for private sector and farmer
organisation to get into input supply and especially into retail
distribution, as it is a low risk activity.
Bundling of inputs
In order to reap the benefits of, the economies of the scale a rural
marketer has to resort to bundling of inputs. ‘Bundling of Inputs’
is the process by which the marketer would provide a bundle of
products to the retailer so that he can meet the requirements of the
farmers in one place. The village level co-operatives and other agencies
can play an effective role in the distribution of inputs. Establishing
linkages with financial agencies and other input sellers can help
greatly as the bank credit plays an important role by making the
purchase possible. Management of Demand A marketer apart from
maintaining good supplies in terms of quality and quantity also has
to focus on the demand side of the operations also.
Developmental marketing
Developmental marketing refers to taking up marketing programmes
keeping the development objective in mind and using various
managerial and other inputs of marketing to achieve these objectives.
A prerequisite for developmental marketing is Development Market
Research, which can be termed as the application of marketing
research tools and techniques to the problems of development. The
research tools of marketing like product testing tests marketing,
concept testing and media testing or message test and focus groups
are used in this work. Developmental marketing has started to find
its roots in India where researchers are using focus groups and
products tests to learn more about rural markets and products needs
and USPs (Unique Selling Proposition) can be tried out.
Partnership for sustainability
There is a need to build partnership with rural clients for a sustainable
business relationship and sustainable marketing relationship.
There should be a long-term relationship between the firms and
farmers for agro business projects, which are risky, long drawn and
technical in nature. Partnership is required in rural marketing
business so as to award distributorship to local groups and individuals
employing locals, staff secondment in local projects, preferential
purchase of local product, training to locals and discount on product
supplies in some areas. Rural marketing firms can work with NGOs
also because NGOs have better linkages and understanding of the
local communities and their problems.
Conclusion
Rural marketing in India has still a long way to go, rural marketers
have to understand the fact that rural marketing in India has a
tremendous potential in our country. Rural marketers should
understand this fact and try to tap the huge untapped potential in
our country
