Innovation, interest & insight to take brands to 'aam aadmi'
23 Aug '07
3 min read
Rural markets will change with the advent of infrastructure and connectivity, said Mr. Suhel Seth, Chairman, The Marketing Summit 2007 and Managing Partner, Counselage at the Marketing Summit 2007 organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Innovation, interest and insight will bring the key difference in understanding the rural market and the 'aam aadmi', he said.
Mr. Seth said that the marketer has to understand the development process of the rural market as the aspiration is fast tracked for the rural consumer compared to the urban consumer.
The challenges for the rural markets are to establish trust, creating innovative product packaging and providing the right communication for the brand, he said. The marketer has to create brand proposition by building iconic images and focusing on marketing challenges rather than penetration challenges, added Mr. Seth.
Focus on rural markets can only grow if the margins in urban markets fall and existing markets become stagnant, said Mr. Seth. He also emphasized on the infiltration of media to the rural areas to make rural population more brand specific.
Mr. S Sivakumar, Chief Executive – Agri business Division, ITC Limited addressing the session on 'Integrating the rural consumer – Challenges ahead for the Indian Marketers', said that distribution and reaching the rural markets at low cost is a major challenge.
He said that the business has to be looked from the income generatingperspective of the farmers since most of Indians still depend on agriculture as their sole occupation.
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