5 Ways to reach rural markets in India
6 min read
If you are bound by the belief that brand growth is solely feasible in the urban spaces of India, then you are well unaware of the shifting dynamics in rural India. After the digitization drive in India, the rural population of the country is also shifting towards consumerism. As a result, brands are redefining and reshaping their approach to the rural markets.
To make an indelible impact in the rural populace, the marketers and advertisers diligently conduct surveys. Needless to say, in a country like India which is known for its diversity, rural branding is not easy. Culture, demographics, and socio-political factors vary widely with every 100 kilometers. In such a case, being a brand name that is synonymous with rural India could be quite difficult.
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How to plan a rural outreach strategy for your brand?
Intricate planning and an effective rural marketing strategy would help your brand flourish in rural spaces. Catching the essence of rural life and building brand trust are the keys to fetch attention in the rural sector. Along with these strategies, the following five ways are also extremely significant for promoting your brand:
1. Advertisements through wall paints: As quaint as it sounds, this still remains the most effective option for rural branding. The wall painting design is decided upon by the marketer/advertiser. It is then handed over to a local artist to complete the artwork of the layout. While technological advancements are ruling the advertising world in the cities, the rural spaces of the country still love to dwell in simplicity and traditional values. Therefore, it is a no-brainer that wall painting is the go-to option for brand promotion in rural areas. Thus, wall painting is one assured way of catching the attention of the village folk.
2. Kiosk setup: If you want to engage with one-on-one interactions with the villagers, kiosks set-up is one easy way to achieve so. Setting up kiosks in the popular areas of a village, like a post office, the market place, near a high school, etc. will attract their fancy. As a result, they will themselves be influenced to approach the kiosks out of their curiosity. Kiosk setups help you to have a detailed interaction with the probable consumers about the brand. This, in turn, helps in building a strong image of the brand among the villagers. Distributing leaflets and flyers, giving product/service demonstrations and samples go a long way in consolidating the brand outreach.
3. Mobile Van: Audio-visual medium works the best to create brand impressions. This could put to good use by opting for a mobile van for branding. Mobile vans do the task of propagating the image and message of the brand at several places in a village or even in several villages in a single day. Keeping leaflets, flyers, and product samples in the mobile van will further the brand image among the locals.
4. Mela events: The melas or the village fairs are the most anticipated events in a village. These melas are held in the various festivals that the locals observe and are red-letter day events in a village. Almost the whole village and the adjoining villages throng to these melas. So, setting up a stall in these fairs is a prudent way to win the attention of a village towards a brand.
5. Shop branding: Lastly, advertising your brand in and around the village shop will create an immediate response among the consumers. Shop branding in rural marketing is a strategy that corresponds to mall advertising in the cities. Advertising a brand in the close proximity of a retail outlet influences the customer to buy the product out of curiosity. Thus, shop branding has an instantaneous brand impact among the other forms of rural marketing.
FAQ’s for Rural Marketing in India
Rural advertisement consist of various brand promotional activities carried out by companies in order to enhance brand awareness and visibility in Indian villages among rural audience.
OOH media options like Mobile van advertising, Kiosk Advertising, Hoardings and Wall painting are used to target rural markets and audience in India.
Rural markets in India, unlike their counterparts in urban areas are highly difficult to predict, and have specific characteristics and behavior. Financially, the rural population of India is mostly mix of low and medium level varying irregular income and flow of farm income may vary as per the monsoon season.
Rural promotion or brand activation in Indian villages primarily include set of various activities to boost particular brands visibility and awareness in remote village areas in a given geographical location.
In India’s growth story of being a developing nation, villages have played an important role. Overall rural development efforts has reached villages as well and same can be seen in data of average rural household spending. Growing purchase power definitely attract brands to grow their footprints in Indian rural areas.
MyHoardings have capability and expertise to help brands build their rural marketing strategy. With vast experience in brand promotion in rural areas of India, MyHoardings can provide planning expertise and hassle free campaign execution of ad plans and branding in every corner of India.
Despite a long growth story, challenges remain in rural marketing sector in India. Data shows that number of people under the poverty line has not reduced at the planned and expected rates. Along with that, lack of better transport infrastructure, multiple languages and dialects, low income per capita and seasonal low demand clouts rural markets with clouds of uncertainty in India.
Since India rural markets remain uncertain when compared to urban counterparts, performance measurement also remain a challenging task in limited time periods. As far as Rural marketing is concerned, sustained presence in market is the key to perform in Indian villages and performance can only be verified with sales data in hand for ample period.
Yes. As an established rural branding agency in India, MyHoardings help brands to provide end to end services in rural marketing sector in India. We also provide experienced and influential promoters for interactions with villagers who can be beneficial for brands in Kiosk branding and roadshow advertising campaigns in India.
Yes. MyHoardings is growing rural advertising agency in India and multiple brands have chosen to collaborate with MyHoardings to execute their rural branding campaigns in Indian villages.
Products and services can be promoted with static ads like OOH hoardings, wall painting or interactive advertising mode involving promoters using mobile Kiosks or roadshow advertisement.
Wall painting is traditional, popular and impact creating mode of advertisement in rural Indian. Brand promotion in Villages with Wall painting include painting client creatives on available large walls in rural areas of India.
Wall wraps are usually considered as advanced version of wall painting, include large size flex or vinyl stickers pasted on road walls and retail areas in India. Wall wrap is an very economical and cost effective mode of outdoor advertisement and branding in India, especially in rural areas.
Growth story of Indian rural markets in past few decades is a well-known. Will rise in rural economy, increasingly more and more brands plan to increase their presence in Indian villages in order to increase company footprint and enhanced sales.
Roadshow advertising is used to promote a particular company products and services by displaying same on vehicles and carrying vehicle in busy rural areas of India. Usually promoters also accompany the roadshows in order to explain the product details or plans to the rural audience.
Rural advertisement activities vary highly when compared to urban marketing which need separate planning and crafting different messages for different audience groups. Rural advertising is also dependent on the cultural, geographical and social formats of living.
