Rural Marketing, VTU Syllabus Module 7

Communication Strategy

Prof. Raghavendran Venugopal 1

Introduction

• Advertising goes hand in hand with economic growth.• Scenario has changed since economic liberalization.• Influence of Electronic media is contributing to the growth of

rural aspirations.• Communicating properly to the rural customers was the main

challenge for corporate marketers.• Reaching out to the rural consumers also presented a great

challenge.• Rural Communication is not a ‘peripheral activity’.


Challenges in Rural Communication

• Heterogeneity and Spread


Key characteristics of heterogeneous rural markets

• Widespread geographical dispersion (6,38,000 villages) many of them are still beyond the reach of media.

• Vast variations in levels of literacy.

• Literacy (Kerala 90%, Bihar 44%).

• Variations in reach of electronic media (Kerala 63%, Bihar 17%) and print media (Kerala 65%, Bihar 9%)


Therefore, the requirement is threefold

• To identify the most suitable medium to ensure maximum spatial research.

• To develop region-specific consumer profiles to understand the characteristics of the target market and

• To design the most effective and persuasive communication and promotional strategies to induce the target audience to buy the product.


Understanding the Rural Audience

There are two distinct sets of audiences in rural India:• A growing number of educated, upwardly mobile, middle

class people with aspirations and high exposure to mass media and with considerable purchasing power, in many ways similar to their urban counterparts.

• The illiterate masses, who are poor and cannot be easily reached through the mass media.

In terms of economic progress, rural India is divided into:• Developed states (Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu,

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra)• Underdeveloped or developing states (all other states)


A View of the Communication Process

The Communication Process Model


SENDER ENCODING MESSAGE----------------------- MEDIA

DECODING RECEIVER

FEEDBACK RESPONSE

NOISE

The receiver may not receive the intended message due to any one of the following reasons:

• Selective attention: where the consumer may not notice the stimulus provided.

• Selective distortion: where the message is deliberately twisted so that the consumer hears what he/she wants to hear and

• Selective recall: where the consumer retains only a small fraction of the message that reaches him/her.


Developing Effective Communication

Developing effective communication involves five steps:

1. Profiling the target audience2. Determining the communication objectives3. Designing the message and ensuring the effectiveness of

the message4. Selecting the communication channels5. Designing the promotion strategy and integrating the

communication process


1. Profiling the target audience

The steps involved in designing an effective message for rural consumers are probing and profiling the target audience. For probing, the following questions should be asked:

• Who uses the brand?

• Who buys the brand, and why?

• Who decides which brand is to be bought?


Probing and profiling of rural consumers is done by examining the following:

• Social classes and intentions• Consumer receptivity• Growing Brand Consciousness• Lifestyles• Buying roles• Children• Purchase needs• Community and the personal-value proposition• Value-for-money proposition


2. Determining Communication Objectives

• Once the target market has been identified, the marketer and the communicator must decide on the desired audience response.

• The ultimate response is purchase and satisfaction.

• Communicators try to put ideas into the consumer’s mind, to change his attitude, and to get the consumer to act.

• The response-hierarchy AICDA model best summarizes this communication strategy.


AICDA Model of Communication

.


Awareness

Interest

Conviction

Desire

Action

Thus a marketer may seek one or more of the following objectives:

• To bring about awareness among a certain percentage of the target audience.

• To improve knowledge to generate interest.

• To strengthen the liking or preference for the product.

• To persuade the consumer to buy the product.



Message Design

Formulating the message require solving five problems:•Message content (what to say)•Message structure (how to say it logically)•Message format (how to say it symbolically)•Context association (in what context)•Message source( who should say it)


Message content

Three types of appeal:• Rational appeals: appeal to the audience’s self

interest. Eg. Messages showing product quality (Ramco

Asbestos Sheets)• Emotional appeals: stir up positive or negative

emotions to motivate purchase• Moral appeals: appeal to the audience’s sense

of what is right and proper


• E g: There should be a difference of at least three years between two children

• With rural consumers, functional elements have stronger influence than emotional appeal.

• E g: In the case of Lux, they look for pure and mild( functional elements) and not on glamour (Aspirational element)


• Language: should be simple, direct, designed in the local language. It should consider traditional and cultural aspects


Message Structure

• Simple , short and self explanatory• Pictorial presentation: Muscleman logo of

MRF Tyres, ‘Plus’ symbol of Clinic Plus shampoo

• Disadvantage is that duplicate products will cheat customers


Message Format

• Pictures, attractive expressions, short stories, strong colors have more influence on rural consumers

• Eg: Minto fresh ad


Context Association

• Marketers need to pay attention to the rural environment dress styles, food habits and cultural preferences

• It should draw a close identification with rural audiences.


Message Source

Messages can be categorized in to three groups• Likeable source: Amir Khan in Thanda Matlab

Coca-cola ad.• Trustworthy source: word of mouth, includes

friends relatives, neighbors. Eg (Markfed pesticides and insecticides)• Expert source: Opinion leaders are according

to the product category


• E g: Mistri( mason) for construction related products like cement

• Villagers from an upper class will not accept the views of Sarpanch belongs to lower caste

• Women Pradhans lack mass appeal or support• Opinion leaders are rural youth, postman,

school headmaster etc


Communication Channels

Personal channels are divided into three• Advocate channels: Consist of company sales

people. Eg: Dalmia Consumer Care has Rural Sales Promoters to promote non tobacco bidi Vardaan

• Expert channels: Masons• Social channels : friends, family,neighbors


• Non –personal channels carry messages without personal contact. Includes mass media, atmosphere, events, haats, jatras, melas, folk media and mandis.

• An atmosphere is a packaged environment that creates the buyer’s leanings towards the product purchase.

• ( Chokhi Dhani), Shakti day


Promotional Tools

• Advertising• Sales Promotion: Three characteristics. Communication, Incentive, Invitation E g. Discount coupon on Purchase of one Tata

Shaktee GC sheet. Sampling: Lifebuoy Value proposition• Direct Marketing : Direct mailers are the most

used tool in rural.


E g: Videocon After Sales service-1800 mechanics and engineers visit villages twice a week to assure after sales service.

• Personal Selling : Most cost effective tool. E g: Project Bharat- covered 2.2crore homes. In 2002 HLL launched a direct contact

programme Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna-covered 15,000 villages in 10 states


Factors in setting the Promotion Mix

• Pull strategy: Use sales force and trade promotion to push the product through the channels. Established players like HLL, Britannia rely on Pull strategy

• Push strategy: Regional players like anchor prefer Push strategy

• Product Life cycle stage : promotional tools vary at different stages of product life cycle

Creating Advertisements for Rural Audiences

• Understand The Mindset of Potential Customers.

• Tricky, Clever ,Gimmicky Advertising doesn’t work with Rural Audience.

• Combining Education with Entertainment is a good method of targeting Rural Audience.

• Quickies do not register well with Rural Audience.

• Employing ‘Slice Of Life ‘ Approach.


Scheme of Rural Advertising Production

Area-Specific Adaptation( e.g. Punjabi for Punjab)

Regional Adaptation: Four Regions of India

Global Positioning: English


Last-Destination Adaptation: Rural dialect, Color, and Motif

Rural Media

Conventional Non-Conventional

Personalized Media


Conventional Media

• Radio• Television• Cinema• Print


Non-Conventional Media

• Wall Painting• Folk Media- Folk Theatre Folk Songs Folk Dances• Magic Shows• Puppet shows• Video Van


Melas

• Important feature of Indian rural life• To commemorate important events and to

honour a deity.• 25,000 melas held annually• They have a strong commercial aspect


Rural Marketers Rule

• Target top 100 commercial melas

• Focus should be on melas that last longer


Mandis

• Seen in states like Punjab and Haryana

• Large network of over 7600 mandis


Personalized Media

• POP Dispalys(point of purchase)

• Direct Mail


Rural Media


Communication Strategies

• Launch of new product

• Launch of new brand

• Communication for an existing brand



Thank You…