1. Marketing Innovations
Observed in Rural
India: A Case Study
Approach
Paper presentation
Submitted By
P.S.NEEMISH

2. Objectives of the Research
• The research aims at identifying replicable innovative practices in
the rural market.
• These can be adopted by new or existing marketers to generate
high revenue and to help the customers as well.

3. Introduction
Rural India is moving away from poverty to prosperity. It is the era of
rural boom and every marketer is seeking an opportunity in rural
market. Due to high competition in urban, companies are going rural
to get an advantage. In last decade rural didn’t have choice to select
products and have to buy fake brands because of poor literacy rates
as well.
Now things are changed in Rural market. Rural market in new
millennium is not any more rural, but semi urban. The spending of
rural population have increased in FMCG products. They have
changed buying behaviors from loose packaging to packaged
products, their own choices of brand. Literacy level in the rural has
increased from 59 % in 2001 to 69 % in 2011.

4. Rural Marketing
MNC are now concentrating on rural market for growth of their
business. Rural India is and unexplored market for them. They are
treating urban and rural customers as same. The rural is quality
conscious today. So companies can’t cheat the rural customer by
providing cheap quality items.
These companies are taking a extra pain to reach rural market
because of low transport facilities. But there is a threat of fake
products in the market. When companies launch products with the
support and involvement of rural people, the product tends to
capture greater attention among rural minds.

5. Research Methodology
The Methodology follows a case study research. The researchers has
selected 20 companies which are operating in rural central Kerala,
based on convenience sampling and observational research. The
practices of these companies were analyzed and were studied. The
companies were ranked based on their innovative marketing
techniques using Delphi technique.

6. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
1. Lexi Soap
2. Parachute oil
3. Airtel
4. Oreo Biscuit
5. Shakti Ghee
6. Ida yam Sesame Oil
7. Khushi Mango
8. Elite Breads
9. Elite Maida
10. Krystal salt
11. Aditya Birla More
12. Dabur Amla Hair Oil
13. Fairever Fairness Cream
14. Mortein Coil
15. OK Soap
16. Trivenisuper market
17. Western Union Money Transfer
18. Akshaya Centre
19. Maxo Soft & Safe Wipes
20. Nirapara Rice

7. What is Delphi Technique
The Delphi method is a structured communication technique,
originally developed as a systematic, interactive forecasting method
which relies on a panel of experts. The experts answer questionnaires
in two or more rounds. After each round, a facilitator provides an
anonymous summary of the experts’ forecasts from the previous
round as well as the reasons they provided for their judgments.
Thus, experts are encouraged to revise their earlier answers in light
of the replies of other members of their panel. It is believed that
during this process the range of the answers will decrease and the
group will converge towards the "correct" answer. Finally, the
process is stopped after a pre-defined stop criterion (e.g. number of
rounds, achievement of consensus, stability of results) and the mean
or median scores of the final rounds determine the results.

8. Members of Delphi Technique
1. G M Marketing (20 years of experience) from a retail company.
2. Shop Owner (35 years operating grocery shops).
3. Shop Manager ( 10 years operating a store).
4. Academicians (20 years experience in teaching).
5. Distributer (15 years as a distributor of retail grocery items).
6. Wholesaler (20 years of retail products).
7. Stockist (12 years grocery items and FMCG products).

9. Then the 5 products which were ranked top were discussed with
academicians and practitioners to find the best practices. In depth
interviews were conducted by the researchers among the managers
of the selected 5 companies. The final evaluation was done on this
data and innovative practices were identified. Literature review on
innovative practices in the rural was also combined to generate the
best practices.
LITERATURE REVIEW
PRODUCT 1
PRODUCT 2
PRODUCT 3
PRODUCT 4
PRODUCT 5
PRODUCT 6
PRODUCT 7
PRODUCT 8
PRODUCT 9
PRODUCT 10
PRODUCT 11
PRODUCT 12
PRODUCT 13
PRODUCT 14
PRODUCT 15
PRODUCT 16
PRODUCT 17
PRODUCT 18
PRODUCT 19
PRODUCT 20
DELPHI
TECHNIQUE
PRODUCT 1
PRODUCT 2
PRODUCT 3
PRODUCT 4
PRODUCT 5
DELPHI
TECHNIQUE
IN DEPTH
REVIEWS
INNOVATIVE
PRACTISES END

10. CASES IN WHICH INNOVATIVE MARKETING
PRACTISES WERE OBSERVED
CASES INDUSTRY
1.Parachute Oil FMCG
2.Oreo Biscuit Food Processing
3. Airtel Telecommunication
4.Triveni super market Retail
5.Elite FMCG

11. Parachute Oil
Parachute, the flagship brand of Marico limited, is a premium edible
grade coconut oil in this category. The company focuses on creating
huge market reach through it’s unparalleled innovative packing and
promotion. The small sachet Parachute oil is having a high demand
because of its low cost affordability and attractiveness in packing.
The tamper-proof Parachute Coconut Oil (promoted as “with shudhi
seal”) and its demonstration in rural areas positively contributed in
fighting against duplicate products in rural markets. In spite of its TV,
Print, Digital and outdoor advertisements, Parachute also uses van
campaigns and Haats in rural areas to promote the brand.

12. Oreo Biscuits
Kraft Foods introduced its sandwich cookie ‘Oreo’ under the title of
Cadbury. Its tagline ‘World’s No.1 Biscuit’ provides a premium feel for
its customers, mainly the youngsters. The innovations it depict in its
packaging and more store visibility helps the company to take a
bigger bite of the Indian biscuit industry.
The advertisement of Oreo emphasizing the parent-child
relationship among Indian families evolved an ‘Oreo togetherness
pledge’ there by making parents promising to spend more time with
children in spite of their busy schedule. The availability of Oreo at
affordable prices in rural areas initiated more buying by students.

13. Airtel
The rural marketing strategies are giving a strong rural customer
basis for Airtel. Communication based on affordability and scalable
networks are the key factors which Airtel is focusing. Vans are used
for covering the rural areas with staff who educate locals about
mobile services and usage. They are creating special advertisement
for rural with characters which resembles the rural so that the rural
people can relate easily with their services.
Bharti Airtel Service Centers has set up in rural villages for receiving
consumer queries, complaints for sales and distribution points. These
centers employ local people. Airtel also employs the “matchbox
strategy” making available the recharge cards where ever match
boxes could be found.

14. Triveni Supermarket
Triveni is a chain of retail supermarkets operating in the cooperative
sector of Kerala. The floating boat is the new initiative in the rural
market under the leadership of Ex. State cooperative minister G.
Sudhakaran. This boat provides everything the consumer wants from
TV to FMCG products at subsidized rates. There are many villages in
Kerala with low transportation facilities.
There are many villages surrounded by water, so it is painful for the
customer to get goods. Here comes the importance of the floating
super market. The customers are getting a chance to know many of
the products and super market will reach where consumer is. The
timings of the boat will be announced in advance. This type of
innovation has been done through road as well.

15. Elite Foods
Elite Natural Products Pvt. Ltd introduced wheat powder, Maida and
sooji into the market focusing both the rural and the urban. The
company has the same quality for both rural and urban. Customers
are ready to buy these products due to the maintenance of good
quality.
The package size for different customers according to their need is
also another factor which attract customers. Elite also focuses on
selling elite breads to the rural market. The different varieties of
bread are having a high demand in rural market. The attractive
displays of the product is making possibilities of impulse buying.

16. Conclusion
• Strengthen the Distribution with Highly differentiated strategy
In case discussed of Airtel, it has been found that they have been
using a highly differentiated strategy called the match box strategy
to provide its service to nook and cranny of remote village.
• Facilitate impulsive buying through Attractive displays and
available on shelf.
Rural customers are highly receptive to attractive displays. Elite
makes use of this technique for expanding its rural
marketing shares. Elite makes sure that their product is available
for repeat purchase all the time. otherwise there is a chance for

17. • “Reach” the Customer if they can’t Reach You
Reaching a customer is important as Triveni supermarket does. If the
area is devoid of a distribution point, create one and serve the
customers. This blue ocean strategy is the working wonders for the
floating shop.
• Package Sizes to confirm Customers Needs
Reach customers through packages which confirm their needs and
the money they have for spending for that item. Rural customers
would not want to store items for future use. They would like to buy
items for only a shorter duration. They would use it completely and
then buy replenishments only after completely exhausting the
available items for them.

18. • Make the Products and Services Affordable for the Customers
Parachute oil makes it affordable for its consumers. Even though
marketers and economists talks about the availability of additional
disposable income for the rural the psychology of rural people is to
be stingy in their spending. They usually find “value for money” in
products when the quality is high and the price is less.

19. References
• Carden, A. ”The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating
Poverty through Profits”, C.K. Prahalad Economic Affairs, Vol 28
• Iyer, V. “Rural Marketing”, SIES Journal of Management.
• Joshi, P. “Rural India in the New Millennium.
• Ajith Thomas, G.R. Sreelakshmi. Marketing Innovations Observed
in Rural India: A Case Study Approach