Any Indian discourse can be traced back to a cow. Known as Kamdhenu, or the giver of all desires, the cow is the most sacred of all animals in Hinduism. In the Mahabharata, Bhishma observes that the cow acts as a surrogate mother. She provides milk to human beings for a lifetime making her the mother of the world.
Well, the cow is definitely central to the Indian economy.
At over 144 million heads, India has the world’s largest herd of cows1. It also stands first in global milk production2. Livestock contributes more than 1/4th of the agricultural GDP of India. This, in turn, accounts for more than 18% of the national GDP. It also provides a livelihood to more than two-thirds of the rural population in India3.
In extension, these rural consumers account for more than 70% of India, the second most populous and the fastest growing country in the world4. It can be inferred that any global mass brand needs to succeed among rural Indian consumers. (Okay, that was a tad bit exaggerated given the number of Chinese consumers).
But how does a brand go about connecting with this rural Indian audience? What are the rules of marketing to engage with this consumer?
There is a guidebook on this. It starts by creating a no-frills basic product, manufacturing it at a low unit price, and distributing it in every nook of the country. Once done, make some simple communication and get a popular celebrity to endorse it. Voila, one laughs their way to rural marketing success.
In the development story of India, while urban India has grown, rural India is changing dramatically too. These ‘rural’ consumers are at the cusp of disruptive social and cultural change. There has been a dramatic rise in education5, empowerment and relative affluence6 of these consumers. In turn, this is making them more demanding, more fickle and more ‘rurban’ (rural-urban) in their outlook.
This is why this article is not about any ordinary cow. Nor is it about their sacredness or economics in contemporary India. It is about questioning the sacred cows of rural marketing. There are many conventions of rural marketing that have lived well past their expiry date. It is time to retire them and connect more richly with the emerging rural Indian consumer.
It’s time to slay some sacred cows.
The Aspiration Bias
The single foundational mistake lies in our preconceived biases about rural India. We continue to paint all rural consumers with a rather thick brush. We believe that their aspirations are somehow inferior to that of urban consumers. We are biased in our view that their exposure to world knowledge is limited and that their information sources are poorer. Nothing could be farther than the truth.
While the literacy rate in urban India is 86%, rural India is fast catching up at 71%. More importantly, there is no significant difference in their physical access to schooling7.
With literacy as the basis, there is an inclination to simplify (read ‘dumb down’) products and communications to rural consumers. This convention of making smaller, cheaper, bland simplistic products is ripe for disruption. Tomorrow needs us to invest in understanding the complex aspirations of the rural Indian consumer.
The feminine shift
To understand these complex and evolving aspirations, one needs to let go of yet another stereotype. We continue to see the male provider as the decision-maker of the household. This may be true of many regressive households and communities across both rural and urban India. But they are under pressure by an educated and empowered woman5.
As the girl child becomes more educated and aware, there is a shift in decision making towards ‘decision-sharing’. As opposed to male decision dominance in the house, rural women are becoming an equal counterpart in family decision making.
This is further fuelled by corporates like Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and ITC. Such corporates have come forward to empower rural women financially8. HUL Project Shakti has trained thousands of village women to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. This has resulted in over a hundred thousand micro-entrepreneurs across 18 Indian states9. Initiatives like these have had a lasting impact on the confidence of a rural woman. Hence, it is high time for rural marketing to go beyond male stereotypes and include women as potential decision-makers.
The Affluence Mistake
Beyond aspiration and decision making, the other sacred cow is one of affluence.
There is a notion that rural India is poor and urban India is rich. No doubt, this is also fed by media narratives of impoverished naked children running on dusty streets. The Household Survey on India’s Consumer Economy tells us that urban households account for 30% of its population and 43% of its spending. In the same context, more importantly, rural India accounts for a dominant 57% of India’s national spending10. This implies that there are significant pockets of affluence in rural areas too.
Luxury marketers like car brand Mercedes-Benz have understood this well. They cater to the Indian rural markets as a key market driver in the future11.
The affluence pyramid does not have a geographic bias. Neither does it have an urban bias. Marketers have to stop pretending that there is one. The marketers default today to SEC AB (or NCCS AB, if you choose to go with the new classification12). Instead, they should understand the total value in context of the brand premium for the rural affluent consumer. Understanding this notion of total value will disrupt today’s rural marketing practice.
As the rural consumer changes, there are also disruptive changes in accessing them via distribution. A dramatically simple fact – Amazon now delivers to 100% of all serviceable pin codes in India13 with customers in each one of them. It is also working with rural third-party affiliates to support their online businesses14. This internet-driven disruption in access upends decades of reliance on the rural shopkeeper. He is no longer the gatekeeper of the community’s aspirations.
Access and aspiration of rural Indian consumers is soaring to keep pace with their urban counterparts. In such a world, the so-called rural-urban divide seems artificial and primitive.
One symptom of this archaic thinking? Wall paintings continue to be the most used form of advertising in rural India15. Fact. Mobile17, internet18 and television penetration have increased dramatically with near 100% rural electrification16.
Brand and communication strategies need to evolve to keep pace with rural markets.
We do not need to stop advertising through traditional mediums. But it is important to realize that new-age media connect directly with rural consumers. In such a scenario, traditional media like wall paintings, puppetry, folk theatre, etc. will become support media. They cannot continue be the centrepiece of rural communications.
Rural markets are developing at twice the rate of urban Indian markets. A combination of literacy, aspiration, and affluence is changing the very nature of the rural consumer. This is further magnified by technology-driven access.
In summary
It’s time to put our preconceived notions about these markets under the scanner. We need to let go of the traditional holy cows of rural marketing. It is time to unlearn our traditional approaches. Only to start learning what a truly modern rural Indian market is all about.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1: News18.com (2019, October 18)
Cow Population Increased 18% In The Last 7 Seven Years: Livestock Census 2019
https://www.news18.com/news/india/cow-population-increased-18-in-the-last-7-seven-years-livestock-census- 2019-2350707.html
2: Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying, & Fisheries.
“Annual Report 2010-11”. 2010. [PDF File]
https://web.archive.org/web/20130721060801/http://dahd.nic.in/dahd/WriteReadData/ Annual%20Report%202010-11%20English.pdf
3. Dr Balaraju, BL and Dr Manjuatha, L.
”Role of Livestock in Indian Economy’’. 2017.
4. News18.com (2019, June 21)
Number of People in India’s Cities Will Overtake Rural Population in Next Three Decades, Says Report
https://www.news18.com/news/india/number-of-people-in-indias-cities-will-overtake-rural-population-by-2050-says-report- 2197025.html
5. LiveMint (2018, January 26)
The state of education in rural India
6. The Economic Times (2018, October 24)
India’s consumption story: Why you just can’t ignore this opportunity
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/indias-consumption-story-why-you-just-cant-ignore-this-opportunity/ articleshow/66346111.cms?from=mdr
7. The Economic Times (2015, June 18)
Literacy rate at 71% in rural India, 86% in urban: Survey
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/literacy-rate-at-71-in-rural-india-86-in-urban-survey/ articleshow/47886609.cms
8. Chakravarty, Anjan.
“The Evolving Scope of Rural India”. 2015. [PDF File].
http://www.hrpub.org/download/20150730/AEB2-11804149.pdf
9. Enhancing Livelihoods Through Project Shakti
10. Livemint.com (2017, December 08th)
How India spends
11. Financialexpress.com (2016, December 28th)
Mercedes-Benz India targets Tier 2, 3 cities as smaller cities may soon drive luxury segment growth
12.Barcindia.co.in (2015, September)
BARC INDIA’S NCCS IS THE NEW SEC
13. Business-standard.com (2018, June 6th)
Amazon now has customers in 100% serviceable pin-codes in India: Jeff Bezos
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/amazon-now-has-customers-in-100-serviceable-pin-codes-in-india- 118060600036_1.html
14. Business-standard.com (2018, June 6th)
In second most important market, it is still Day 1 for Amazon in India
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/in-second-most-important-market-it-is-still-day-1-for-amazon-in-india- 118060700014_1.html
15. Studiousguy.com
Rural Marketing & Advertising: Introduction, Nature, Innovative Use and Growth
16. Forbes.com (2018, May 7th)
Modi Announces ‘100% Village Electrification’, But 31 Million Indian Homes Are Still In The Dark
17. Economictimes.indiatimes.com (2019, September 26th)
India has second highest number of Internet users after China: Report
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/india-has-second-highest-number-of-internet-users-after-china-report/articleshow/ 71311705.cms?from=mdr
18. Bcg.com (2016, August 10th)
The Rising Connected Consumer in Rural India https://www.bcg.com/en-in/publications/2016/globalization-customer-insight-rising-connected-consumer-in-rural-india.aspx