Why GO Rural? 2.0

We are back from the break, Today we will discuss various factors regarding rural marketing which have influenced in rural India. We will start with the industrial sector and service sector and end with the role of social media.

Industrial and Service Sector

Nearly 100 years ago Dr. B.R. Ambedkar wrote, “In short, strange as it may seem, industrialisation of India is the soundest remedy for the agricultural problems of India.” The rural economy is growing not just because of farm ing. In a paper written for the NITI Aayog by Ramesh Chand, S. K. Srivas tava and Jaspal Singh, there is indication of the structural transformation of the rural economy. More than half of the industrial production comes from rural India. Rural construction also accounts for nearly half of the to tal building activity in the country. The value of rural services is about a quarter of the total services output. 

Rural middle classes are now fueling the economy of India.

Mandis or Agricultural Markets & Market Towns in India

Mandis or Agricultural Markets and Market Towns in India are the hubs of economic activity. These are the places where farmers sell their produce and buy almost everything for their needs. According to available esti mates, there are over 7500 regulated agricultural markets in India today, operating under different state level acts covering a huge variety of notified agricultural produce. All these numbers are the opportunities present in rural India which I have tried to present. Hope marketers will get a good in sight.

Rising Standard of Education

With this development in the infrastructure and storage, the price and sell ing management have worked in a big way leading to the development of private education in villages and nearby towns with CBSE and even ICSE boards leading to development in educational standards in rural areas. As per the ninth Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released, 29% of enrolments in the 6 to14 age group are in private schools. This is a 10% in crease in seven years from 18.7% in 2006 to 29% in 2013. Other States and Union Territories with a high percentage of elementary school children in private institutions include Puducherry (54.3%), Haryana (51.4%), Uttar Pradesh (49%), Punjab (46.7%), Jammu & Kashmir (45.5%) and Meghalaya (45.3%). As with private schooling, there is also a growing prevalence of private tuitions among elementary school students. The figure stands at 24.1%. This development of schools and professional colleges in rural India have led to development of professional workforce in rural areas and the compa nies were able to recruit these people for work in their own home towns. This educational development has also improved the environment for en trepreneurship which have led to development of the industrial areas in smaller towns and development of dairy business and agri allied business. Many students who have studied well have started moving outside the country to foreign lands for a better livelihood leading to more exposure to technology and developed products. 

Rising Mass Media

There was AIR and Doordarshan, then came the cable channels in the 90’s which started the revolution of mass media penetration. The television ac tually changed the pattern of thinking of rural population in a big way. TV led to the adaptation of new technologies across the country. New ideas started flowing. According to the viewership monitoring agency, TV penetra tion rose from 99 million to 109 million in rural India and from 20 million to 21 million in the mega cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru during this period. The survey also shows a 6.9% increase in male TV view ers (from 401 million to 429 million) versus a 7.5% jump in female TV view ers (from 378 million to 407 million).

Online sales have increased many folds in rural India. Flipkart said that it recorded almost 100% increase in sales to customers in Tier-III cities. During sales season, more than 40% of sellers were from Tier-II cities and be yond. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart’s chief executive officer said in a statement, “Bharat has moved closer to India in more ways than one.” While Amazon India’s chief says, “This has been our biggest celebration ever, a digital Bharat festival.” The impact of local language usage on the internet has changed the com plete dynamics of rural marketing. According to a report by KPMG and Google published in 2017, “Indian Languages - Defining India’s Internet”, there were 234 million vernacular internet users and 175 million English users in 2016. By 2021, users of Indian vernaculars are expected to reach 536 million, while English users will increase to only 199 million. 90% of new internet users between 2016 and 2021 will use local languages, said the report.

The change in technology defintely gives rural marketers many things to ponder upon.

Let's end today's blogpost with our summarising point that is the role of social media!

Role of Social Media

Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and other media have also started their operations in local languages. Rural traffic, on these apps and sites, has increased many folds. Rural internet users have reached 120 million log ging in through inexpensive devices. Using low-tariff data plans, they are sharing images and downloading songs and videos like never before. The numbers are going to surge. By 2020, rural consumers will constitute about 50% of India’s internet users to reach 315 million by logging in through inexpensive devices, according to a report by the Boston Consult ing Group (BCG), the US based management and business consultancy. The surge in aspirations, incomes and resources in multiple ways are clear indication of the rise of rural India. Marketers need to understand and fo cus on this part of India in a different way. The colossal rural market of India is an attractive preposition but need quite carefulness while planning and implementing the campaigns.