Posted on : 2023-04-21 02:56:45
Article : Good evening, Friday Management TASK 238- Rural market tapping is a challenge but can overcome with innovative ideas of marketing. An interesting story to know the market and brand potential.
One challenge in tapping the rural market is how to reach consumers in remote areas with limited electricity and little access to mass media. Consumer markets in the developing world are with an enormous but still an untapped opportunity for companies seeking new sources of growth. Within that group is an even more overlooked opportunity: the rural consumer. By its sheer size, it has huge potential. Worldwide, there are around 3.4 billion rural consumers and about 3 billion of them live in developing countries in Asia and Africa. They are not all poor in many countries, but a rural middle class is emerging or expanding. Technology is making it easier to connect with rural consumers in so-called media dark areas.
The challenges like market development, product design, logistics, communication deter many companies from even considering rural markets in developing countries. But some companies have rural DNA i.e the ability to recognize the rural opportunity and to develop innovations to tap those markets along with their urban markets. There are rural consumers in the 10 countries with the largest rural populations. Seven of these are in Asia (India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam) and three are in Africa (Ethiopia, Nigeria and Egypt). Thailand, Myanmar, and Bhutan, also have considerable rural populations.
These ten countries in Asia and Africa host almost two-thirds of the world’s rural population i.e around 2.2 billion inhabitants. Because of government interventions, remittances from rural migrants, and works of NGOs and social organizations in developing better farming and sustainable living skills, these rural markets present a huge, global opportunity. Accelerated penetration of mobile phones, internet, and satellite TV is making these rural consumers aware of the product and service options that they aspire to have for themselves and their families. Urban markets are becoming saturated – competition there is growing fiercer. Forward-looking companies like Unilever cultivate an inclusive growth strategy that considers rural consumers as part of their plans for growth.
Many MNCs did plan out to develop the rural marketing to reach the rural consumer, one of the standouts was Unilever. Particularly in Asia, Unilever has pioneered a number of innovations that it has exported to other regions in its focus on addressing rural market opportunities. Underlying UL’s success in rural India is a program that requires managers to spend a month during their first year living in a village. They see how rural consumers live, and get a first-hand perspective on their needs and aspirations. That personal experience gives them insights that they could never gain from reading reports or conventional market visits. Several UL executives credited their success in part to that program.
These earlier marketing strategies are strong foundations for the present day visible next zen marketing strategies for the same products and product marketers. Look we look forward to your perceptive rural marketing plans which might stay equal to Unilever’s or simpler and better ones that may encourage other MNCs or any domain organisations to launch rural marketing drive. Our Management Solution for this TASK 238 would be posted on 24th April 2023 with an interesting case example on Unilever.
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