Abstract
Introduction
Many research papers and books pointed out that business opportunities are there at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP). This is true that rural income is neither stable nor high. In this landscape, selling products to the majority of poor people, with little or no access to electricity, is a huge challenge.
Today, rural marketing goes beyond what is typically taught in business schools. It extends beyond the traditional marketing activity of a large organization and pushes the envelope of what is the tried and true go-to-market marketing practices.
An Overview
Chapter 1 gives an introduction to rural marketing with the new definition of the subject with 4As (acceptability, affordability, availability and awareness) concept with 5D Framework (design, distribution, demand, development and dignity). A comparison of different markets belonging to urban and rural sectors is made based on the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Reserve of India (RBI). This chapter also talks about Indian market being composed of 70% and 30% of the rural and urban markets, respectively, but organizations give 20% and 80% attention, respectively to it.
Chapter 2 talks about the huge opportunities of rural markets in 12 different areas in connection with the concept of BoP, as a large section of the low-income population (around 4 billion) is not integrated into the global economy in India. The Government of India has taken some brilliant initiative such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA), National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) , Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Indra Gandhi Awas Yojana (IAY), National Social Assistance Scheme (NSAP), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), etc.
Chapter 3 talks about the understanding of the rural consumer based on the consumer behaviour from a different angle of the region, the proximity of cities, education and income level, culture and shopping habits.
Here, authors have discussed how marketing activities in the rural area have got affected by the issues such as electrification, transport, availability of water and communication. Here, the personality of the rural consumer is analysed from Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and rural market segment based on the Thomson Rural Market Index (TRMI) and Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA), Rural Market Ratings (MRMR), and these are discussed here.
Chapter 4 gives an overview and practical example of different marketing strategies related to areas involving the product, pricing, cost, distribution and promotion, which is very helpful for the reader in understanding the concept. The rural masters (Accenture) is another concept, which focuses on execution excellence, implementing novel strategies to serve the rural consumers and drawing on a deep understanding of consumers’ cultures and needs. This chapter also talks about how to retain the rural customer by developing low-cost models for after-sales support and by building trust with them.
Chapter 5 deals with various market research methods that can be very useful in modifying the marketing activities in rural areas and how various participatory research approaches like participant observation (PO), rapid rural appraisal (RRA), participatory rural appraisal (PRA), participatory action research (PAR) would help an organization to know the customer’s rituals, values, culture and lives. The significance of ethnographic research is also discussed here to understand valuable insights about how rural people regard products.
Chapter 6 describes the distribution channels in rural areas and how difficult it is to build channels over there. Several models of a rural distribution channel are available in India, the largest of which is the government-run public distribution system (PDS). Piggybacking and a network of sub-dealers or local partners, direct selling and outreach are some of the initiatives to reach the rural customers.
Chapter 7 talks about the pricing and marketing communication in the rural market. Pricing and marketing communications are the important tools of a marketing strategy, but implementing those tools in the rural market requires a deep understanding of the markets and consumers. The significance of various marketing communication mix is also discussed here with special emphasis on BTL techniques and community radio or All India Radio (AIR) local channels, melas and fairs.
Chapter 8 deals with the agribusiness and why agriculture should be treated like any business. It talks about how value is added at different stages of farm-to-fork agricultural value chain.
Chapter 9 discusses agricultural marketing as different from the conventional marketing practices, and there is a lot of scope of value addition in the steps relating to the value chain. Though the agricultural marketing infrastructure is the victim of monopoly, politics and lethargy, the transaction cost can be brought down by creating storage facilities, direct sales, transportation, access to finance, price information and food processing facilities. Agricultural marketing is dominated by the government to prevent dishonest practice and to supply food grains at cheap price to the poor people of the country. Agricultural marketing is covered under state list in Article 245 of Constitution of India. These would bring in a necessary change in this article for the bigger benefit of the nation.
Chapter 10 talks about the information and communication technologies in rural marketing. Internet and communication technologies has the potential to bring products and services to the remote areas, thereby empowering and connecting them in the development process. Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) have the capability to enhance connectivity, content and capacity in a rural area, which, in turn, will enhance communication and media, financial inclusion, agricultural trading, logistics and distribution, mobile-based payment, three-dimensional (3D) printing, E-Panchayat, etc., and will empower the local communities and offer information to villagers.
Chapter 11 deals with management of sales force in rural marketing, which suggests that the management of rural area sales is different from urban area sales. The four success pillars of rural sales management are putting villagers’ interests before profits; ability to work with semi-qualified intrapreneurial partner; building and retaining teams of highly committed rural people; and empowering, educating and nurturing local talent.
Chapter 12 is the last chapter of the book, which talks about the future of the rural market. As there is a huge potential of a business, an organization should not ignore this market; rather, this market should be a part of a successful journey of the organization. Rural India could be a growth engine for the country’s economic development in the near future with new BoP approaches.
Insights
This book describes the process of rural marketing and methods of transformation of business into social business. This book is the bouquet of well-connected logically informative chapters with very insightful opening and closing cases, which help the reader to understand the concept very well. Though this book talks about marketing in rural areas and empowering the bottom-of-pyramid markets to create a successful business venture, it should also give a direction on how the learning and development perspective, process perspective and customer perspective lead to financial perspective with cause and effect logic.
Conclusion
The book leaves readers with a great deal to think about the marketing innovativeness they should apply in the rural market and also gives them a new insight on how to empower the rural people so that they can be part of a developing economy. I strongly recommend this book for the students, industry practitioners and the researchers who want to learn more about the dynamics of rural marketing and particularly when she/he feels at the crossroads. It gives a sense of direction.