Reaching the Unreached with Advertising

Abstract

The article intends to focus on the factors that expose the new ways of communication strategies for Rural Advertising. Emphasis has been laid upon the marketing strategies of advertising agencies to venture into rural India. Rural markets have their own unique features, and the traditional advertising media generally proves to be unsuccessful in rural areas. The need of the hour is (Walk their walk, and talk their talk). Highlighting the importance of non-conventional and folk-medias, the article talks about the emergence of the wired Internet and mobile telecommunications networks which is creating opportunities for advertisers. The article also takes into account the regional disparity aspects of the hinterland and brings forward the need for customized communication strategy for advertising. It presents several things that marketers need to consider in establishing business in the region such as awareness, availability, and acceptability. It suggests that the products need to be customized to suit the locality as seventy per cent of the Indian population still resides in villages. Cost is considered a major deterrent to rural campaigns. MARTs Kashyap argues that the expense is grossly exaggerated. A key step, he believes, is identifying prominent social occasions and using them to build brands. Market days (haats) are a critical part of rural strategy. Setting up a stall costs very little, and the average turnout at a haat could be around 5,000 people. With saturation in urban markets for the demand of products, most of the FMCGs have penetrated deep into rural markets and it is estimated that 53 per cent of their revenue comes form the rural markets alone.

Keywords : Rural Advertising, Urban Market Trends, Communication Strategies Advertising Trends.

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