Tag: Digital Marketing

There are various differences between urban market and rural market. So, it is necessary to make different market research design for rural areas as compared to urban market.

The various difference between urban and rural market research are as follows:

Difference # Urban Market Research:

1. Respondents: Literate, brand aware, individuals respond individually.
2. Time: Willing to respond, have time pressures, spare little time for researchers.
3. Accessibility: Easy to access
4. Secondary data source: Internal data, syndicate research, published media, many sources & large data.
5. Primary data source: Large number of middlemen, experts, sales force, consumers, opinion leaders.
6. Sampling: Respondents form relatively homogenous group. Income can be a criterion.
7. Data collection: Use of sophisticated instrument, style and administration. Respondents are comfortable with number ratings and timeliness.

Difference # Rural Market Research:

1. Respondents: Semi-literate or illiterate, brand unaware generally group responses.
2. Time: Hesitant but devotes time.
3. Accessibility: Tough to access, geographical distances and psychological approaches are barriers. Do not speak easily to outsiders.
4. Secondary data source: Very few sources and less data.
5. Primary data source: Less number of all categories.
6. Sampling: Heterogeneous groups. Income and land holding to be carefully applied.
7. Data collection: Require simplified instruments. Respondents comfortable with colour, pictures and stories.

In the context of rural marketing, this approach is necessary for both high value consumer durable items and capital agriculture inputs. It has been found by experience that the rural consumers do not decide on the bests of information provided by the companies or their advertisements. They prefer to consult others who actually possess the various brand of the product and also get their experience in using them.

Rural consumer makes well-considered buying decision for a specified brand often after lot of consultation with the opinion leaders. But opinion leaders change with the product category.

While for agri-inputs, the opinion leaders group consists of progressive farmers, agri-extension workers and village leaders, for other product categories, the opinion leader group consists of friends, well-informed relatives(particularly those working in nearly towns), educated youth and to an extent traditional village leaders. Dealers to play a major role in influencing the choice of a brand at the point of sale.

The electricians, mechanics and technicians which are found in almost all villages to service and repair products could be provided with free accessories, tools and their shops could be painted with company logo and brand name. These persons considered as specialists in their field could act as local brand ambassadors and could promote the products for the company as they are acting as opinion leaders for products in their field and their advice is sought by the villagers and given weight age in the purchase decision.

The following play the role of opinion leader in the case of corresponding product category:

(a) Successful farmer – for farm inputs

(b) Village youth who go to city – for lifestyle products

(c) School children – for personal care products

Asian paints launched its Utsav range during the Pre-Diwali season. Salesmen selected the opinion leaders in village and painted the village post office, library, or the house of the pardhaan to demonstrate that paint does not peel off. Salesman organized meets at the local dealers, where village painters were invited.

Integrated campaigns, which are – low cost, scalable, offer multiple contacts, and are interactive in nature, help in increasing brand penetration and frequency of usage need to be developed for the rural market.

Promotional activity must generate a lot of word of mouth publicity so that the brand is on top of mind when rural consumer purchases a product. Therefore, touch and feel aspect must be built into promotional activity. Brooke-bond organized marches in rural areas with band, music and caparisoned elephants to promote their brands of tea.

6. Folk Media:

There is a good audience available for different folk media in the rural world. Marketer can effectively utilize some of these to take his message to the rural audience. Different folk’s media are popular in different regions; therefore the folk medium selected must be popular in the region; then only it will be able to provide the desired level of audiences, some of the folk media, which can be used as a promotion vehicle, are described here below.

(a) Puppetry:

In rural India puppetry is an avenue for entertainment and creative expression, which might be ritually scared and meaningful as a means of social communication and vehicle of social transformation.

It is an excellent way of storytelling through the moving images called puppets. The cost of this medium is very less and is very popular in Rajasthan, Orissa and Haryana. People of all ages and genders can be targeted by incorporating the product in the narrative.

Song and Drama Division of the Government of India makes wide use of puppets in its campaigns to promote various government projects, several other organizations, government, semi-government and private, have also used puppets in support of individual schemes.

For example – Life Insurance Corporation of India used puppets to educate rural masses about Life Insurance. These plays were shown to the audience in villages in UP, Bihar and MP. The number of inquiries at local offices of LIC during the period immediately following the performance was compared with normal frequency and found to be considerably higher. The field staff of the corporation also reported a definite impact on the business.

(b) Folk Theatre:

Folk theaters are mainly short and rhythmic in form. The simple tunes help in informing and educating the people in informal and interesting manner. It has been used as an effective medium for social protest against injustice, exploitation and oppression. Government has used this media for popularizing improved variety of seeds, fertilizers, etc.

(c) Nautanki:

It is a folk dance drama which is performed in Uttar Pradesh on a make shift stage surrounded by a tent. It is a prime attraction in the village fairs amongst all age groups because of its narrative style and rustic humour. This folk media provides captive audience and marketers can use it as a platform to promote their products as rural audience believes that the performers are more credible than conventional media like TV or radio.

(d) Tamasha:

It involves seductive Lavni dance drama and interactive session with the audience. As only males are the audience therefore products meant for males can be effectively promoted through this media. The script can be modified to incorporate the product benefit, advantages and its availability.

(e) Birha:

Started during the freedom struggle to promote and develop the independence movement through the medium of songs, Birha is song about the current social realities of the day and is sung at gatherings, which draw big crowds. It is a musical night organized in the state of Uttar Pradesh and is popular amongst all the sections of the society. This is a very effective medium to deliver social messages and can be used for promotion of products that are very relevant for the rural masses.

Cultural practices and traditions of villages should always be given adequate weight age while deciding on the promotional strategies. A broad generalization is less likely to deliver effective results in the rural areas. Therefore, it is important to pilot-run a campaign and measures its effectiveness at a very small scale in one or two villages before launching a large-scale operation in similar socio-cultural settings. It is quite possible that a promotional campaign, which was successful in one area, might not only be ineffective but also boomerangs in the other.

While any one can think of ideas for below the line activities it requires conscious efforts by professionals to connect with the audience with the right communication package-which takes the core message of the brand and communicates it in a language, idiom, style and situations, which is easily understood by the target audience

Development

The development stage of the product life cycle is the research phase before a product is introduced to the marketplace. This is when companies bring in investors, develop prototypes, test product effectiveness, and strategize their launch. Due to the nature of this stage, companies spend a lot of money without bringing in any revenue because the product isn’t being sold yet.

This stage can last for a long time, depending on the complexity of the product, how new it is, and the competition. For a completely new product, the development stage is hard because the first pioneer of a product is usually not as successful as later iterations.

Development Stage Marketing Strategy

While marketing typically begins in the introduction stage, you can begin to build “buzz” around your product by securing the endorsement of established voices in the industry. You can also publish early (and favorable) consumer research or testimonials. Your marketing goal during this stage is to build upon your brand awareness and establish yourself as an innovative company.

Introduction

The introduction stage is when a product is first launched in the marketplace. This is when marketing teams begin building product awareness and reaching out to potential customers. Typically, when a product is introduced, sales are low and demand builds slowly.

Usually, this phase is focused on advertising and marketing campaigns. Companies work on testing distribution channels and try to educate potential customers about the product.

Introduction Stage Marketing Strategy

This is where the fun begins. Now that the product is launched, you can actually promote the product using inbound marketing and content marketing. Education is highly important in this stage. Your target consumer must know what they’re buying before they buy it. If your marketing strategies are successful, the product goes into the next stage; growth.

Growth

During the growth stage, consumers have accepted the product in the market and customers are beginning to truly buy in. That means demand and profits are growing, hopefully at a steadily rapid pace.

The growth stage is when the market for the product is expanding and competition begins developing. Potential competitors will see your success and will want in.

Growth Stage Marketing Strategy

During this phase, marketing campaigns often shift from getting customers’ buy-in to establishing a brand presence so consumers choose them over developing competitors. Additionally, as companies grow, they’ll begin to open new distribution channels and add more features and support services. In your strategy, you’ll advertise these as well.

Maturity

The maturity stage is when the sales begin to level off from the rapid growth period. At this point, companies begin to reduce their prices so they can stay competitive amongst growing competition.

This is the phase where a company begins to become more efficient and learns from the mistakes made in the introduction and growth stages. Marketing campaigns are typically focused on differentiation rather than awareness. This means that product features might be enhanced, prices might be lowered, and distribution becomes more intensive.

During the maturity stage, products begin to enter the most profitable stage. The cost of production declines while the sales are increasing.

Maturity Stage Marketing Strategy

When your product has become a mature offering, you may feel like you’re “sailing by” because sales are steady and the product has been established. But this is where it’s critical to establish yourself as a leader and differentiate your brand.

Continuously improve upon the product as adoption grows, and let consumers know in your marketing strategy that the product they love is better than it was before. This will protect you during the next stage saturation.

5. Saturation

During the product saturation stage, competitors have begun to take a portion of the market and products will experience neither growth nor decline in sales.

Typically, this is the point when most consumers are using a product, but there are many competing companies. At this point, you want your product to become the brand preference so you don’t enter the decline stage.

Saturation Stage Marketing Strategy

When the market has become saturated, you’ll need to focus on differentiation in features, brand awareness, price, and customer service. Competition is highest at this stage, so it’s critical to leave no doubt regarding the superiority of your product.

If innovation at the product-level isn’t possible (because the product only needs minor tweaks at this point), then invest in your customer service and use customer testimonials in your marketing.

Decline

Unfortunately, if your product doesn’t become the preferred brand in a marketplace, you’ll typically experience a decline. Sales will decrease during the heightened competition, which is hard to overcome.

Additionally, new trends emerge as time goes on, just like the CD example I mentioned earlier. If a company is at this stage, they’ll either discontinue their product, sell their company, or innovate and iterate on their product in some way.

Decline Stage Marketing Strategy

While companies would want to avoid the decline stage, sometimes there’s no helping it especially if the entire market reached a decline, not just your product. In your marketing strategy, you can focus on nostalgia or emphasize the superiority of your solution to successfully get out of this stage.

To extend the product life cycle, successful companies can also implement new advertising strategies, reduce prices, add new features to increase their value proposition, explore new markets, or adjust brand packaging.

The best companies will usually have products at several points in the product life cycle at any given time. Some companies look to other countries to begin the cycle anew.

Now that we’ve gone through stages, let’s review some real-life examples of them in action.

A prime need for any firm to emerge as a strong player in the rural market is by carefully identifying gaps in the rural market and crafting the right product offering for consumers. Chalking out a product strategy for rural market differs in many aspects when compared to urban counter parts. Needs and demand of rural consumer might be contrasting to that of urban consumer and therefore it’s necessary to hit the right chord when entering the rural market. The prime objective is to design products to suit rural requirements.

Conventional wisdom on rural marketing states that the needs of the rural consumers are similar to those of the urban consumers. Hence, the products made to urban specifications should suit the requirements of the rural consumers. However, this is not true in many cases, as there is a market difference between rural and urban environments. For instance, Kerosene or LPG gas stoves, where the flame can be controlled, are used for cooking in urban areas, while an open fire or ‘Chulha’ is used in rural areas. Pressure cookers with handles on one side suit the urban consumers, but not the rural consumers for use on an open fire or a ‘chulha’. Perhaps, a wide-bodied cooker within handles on opposite sides may suit rural requirements. Therefore, while designing and developing products, the requirements of the rural consumers are to be considered and rural-specific products developed.

During the late eighties, shampoo sales boomed when it was introduced in sachet pack, because it suited the consumers in low income groups. Hindustan Motors (HM) launched a utility vehicle the RTV (rural transport vehicle), aimed at rural market. Hence, product development for rural consumers is necessary.

Though marketers are still trying and experimenting ways to successfully tap the rural arena, below are few product strategies which have been widely adopted and have proved themselves to work in the rural landscape:

Small unit packing: This method has been tested by products life shampoos, pickles, biscuits, Vicks cough drops in single tablets, tooth paste, etc. Small packings stand a good chance of acceptance in rural markets. The advantage is that the price is low and the rural consumer can easily afford it.

Another example is the Red Label tea Rs. 3.00 pack which has more sales as compared to the large pack. This is because it is very affordable for the lower income group with the deepest market reach making easy access to the end user satisfying him.

The small unit packings will definitely attract a large number of rural consumers.

New product designs: Keeping in view the rural life style the manufacturer and the marketing men can think in terms of new product designs.

For e.g. PVC shoes and chappals can be considered sited ideally for rural consumers due to the adverse working conditions. The price of P.V.C. items is also low and affordable.

Sturdy products: Sturdiness of a product is an important factor for rural consumers. The experience of torch light dry battery cell manufacturers support this because the rural consumers preferred dry battery cells which are heavier than the lighter ones. For them, heavier weight meant that it has more over and durability. Sturdiness of a product either or appearance is an important for the rural consumers.

Utility oriented products: The rural consumers are more concerned with utility of the product and its appearance Philips India Ltd. Developed and introduced a low cost medium wave receiver named BAHADUR during the early seventies. Initially the sales were good but declined subsequently. On consumer research, it was found that the rural consumer bought radios not only for information and news but also for entertainment.

Brand name: For identification, the rural consumers do give their own brand name on the name of an item. The fertilizers companies normally use a logo on the fertilizer bags though fertilizers have to be sold only on generic names. A brand name or a logo is very important for a rural consumer for it can be easily remembered.

Many times rural consumers ask for ‘peeli tikki’ (Yellow Bar) in case of conventional and detergent washing soap. Nirma made a ‘peeli tikki’ (Yellow Bar) specially for those peeli tikki users who might have experienced better cleanliness with the yellow colored bar as compared to the blue one although the actual difference is only of the color.

The retail life cycle theory holds that retail institutions experience the cycle of innovation, growth, maturity and decline, like goods and services that they sell, similar to that of the product life cycle. The market traits and strategies which are taken by retail institutions should differ in variable stages of retail life cycle. The theory of retail life cycle is first introduced by William Davidson W. R, Betas A. D and Bass S. J in 1976.

Different stages of retail life cycle

Innovation stage

In the innovation stage, in which the reformation and development of business methods promote the emergence of new retail formats, the operating characteristics of new formats have not been understood by both consumers and the industry, lowering market share. Moreover, because of the development cost of new formats, it is hard for retail companies, which apply the new methods, to make profit at this stage.

This theory holds that the innovation in retail institutions is realized through the reformation of business methods. The reformation of business methods is mainly realized by decreasing the cost of operation and the price of products or services. However, it may also be innovated through improvement of product mix, customer service, sales, store selection, store design or sales promotion, business hours, logistics system and other ways, some of which are usually combined and innovated. Sometimes the company which leads the new retail format may become the target of hit (Roth, V. J., & Klein, S. 1993). During the period, the emergence of new forms can also lead to the blow of competitors and retaliation. In this stage, it has little impact on the existing competitive structure for its low market share.

Growth stage

In the growth stage, Langlois, R., & Robertson, P. (1995) points out that the new business formats start to be accepted by consumers and traits of new formats are widely understood in the industry. As a result, the market share begins to ascend and copycats are also on the rise. The competition between companies that apply traditional methods and new methods gets more intense. At that time, companies who have reformed their operating activities firstly can increase the marker sales and the profitability.

At the meanwhile, the competition between companies of new and original retail formats begin to turn out white-hot. With the rapid growth of reformed companies, customers of companies without innovation intend to choose products and services of innovative companies. Therefore, the unreformed retail institutions begin to take various actions to reduce the loss of customers. In fact, many companies which use original retail formats meet challenges of new formats with the positive attitude and apply some new methods in the existing formats. The competition of different retail formats is unique and increase the vitality in the market.

Later in the stage, with the wide application of new formats, the competition of companies which accept new formats will emerge and augment. The competition of different retail formats does not take the main role in the market. In the competition of new formats, some companies lacking competence start considering to leave the market. The remaining companies are inclined to take actions like improvement of service standard, expanding the commodity portfolio and improvement of shop facilities. Despite the continuing growth of sales, the cost will surge as well. Apart from the direct cost, indirect cost will increase sharply including promotion cost and the expense incurred by the increasing size of the organization. The cost may be higher than the sales and companies will face the non-profit situation.

Maturity stage

In this stage, companies of new retail formats are incapable of taking more market share and expand the customers’ base. In this period, companies which won out in the growth stage are trying to maintain the market share. However, the profit margin begins to decline because the new retail formats could not make any company have edge on the others and companies have to decrease the price in order to defeat competitors. Therefore, how to decrease the cost is the main problem that each enterprise faces. In order to pursue the differential advantage in the period of competition, the enterprises compete to make the market more mature and stable. Characteristics of new formats have been gradually lost and new formats change to traditional formats. Thus it becomes an important opportunity for the emergency of another new format.

For chain businesses, in this stage, they need to consider to close inefficient shops and open new shops in good addresses as well as develop to diversified and compound retail organization (Turner, S. 2002). It should be pointed out that the retail format even in the maturity stage can be improved to make the company come back to the growth stage. According to the research of Sun, L., Kay, R., & Chew, M. (2009), department stores in the United States has been in the maturity stage after World War II. After that, the development of shopping centers gave department stores an opportunity to grow again because department stores were different at that time form before and they were reformed based on the model of shopping centers.

Decline stage

In decline stage, the new formats have become the traditional ones and with the change of consumers’ buying behavior and the appearance of newer formats, the market begins to shrink and traditional formats (original new formats) could not make any profit but may suffer great loss due to the decreasing sales. During this period, some companies decide to leave the market. As a result, the competition among the same retail formats is not serious but the competition of different formats will get increasingly intense.

Companies of the traditional format compete through the price, which makes their profit get less and less. Companies of the new format have edge on the others due to their advantages in other aspects like service, product quality and operation style. The situation of decline stage is similar to the innovation stage but in the term of traditional formats.

After this stage, the market will enter the next life cycle.

Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. It is a type of publicity. The term was popularized by Jay Conrad Levinson’s 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing.

Guerrilla marketing uses multiple techniques and practices in order to establish direct contact with potential customers. One of the goals of this interaction is to cause an emotional reaction in the clients, and the ultimate goal of marketing is to induce people to remember products or brands in a different way than they might have been accustomed to.

As traditional advertising media channels such as print, radio, television, and direct mail lose popularity, marketers and advertisers have felt compelled to find new strategies to convey their commercial messages to the consumer. Guerrilla marketing focuses on taking the consumer by surprise to make a dramatic impression about the product or brand. This in turn creates buzz about the product being marketed. It is a way of advertising that increases consumers’ engagement with the product or service, and is designed to create a memorable experience. By creating a memorable experience, it also increases the likelihood that a consumer, or someone who interacted with the campaign, will tell their friends about the product. Thus, via word of mouth, the product or service being advertised reaches more people than initially anticipated.

Guerrilla marketing is relatively inexpensive, and focuses more on reach rather than frequency. For guerrilla campaigns to be successful, companies generally do not need to spend large amounts of money, but they need to have imagination, energy and time. Therefore, guerrilla marketing has the potential to be effective for small businesses, especially if they are competing against bigger companies.

The message to consumers is often designed to be clear and concise. This type of marketing also works on the unconscious mind, because purchasing decisions are often made by the unconscious mind. To keep the product or service in the unconscious mind requires repetition, so if a buzz is created around a product, and if it is shared amongst friends, then this mechanism enables repetition.

Companies using guerrilla marketing rely on its in-your-face promotions to be spread through viral marketing, or word-of-mouth, thus reaching a broader audience for free. Connection to the emotions of a consumer is key to guerrilla marketing. The use of this tactic is not designed for all types of goods and services, and it is often used for more “edgy” products and to target younger consumers who are more likely to respond positively. Guerrilla marketing takes place in public places that offer as big an audience as possible, such as streets, concerts, public parks, sporting events, festivals, beaches, and shopping centers. One key element of guerrilla marketing is choosing the right time and place to conduct a campaign so as to avoid potential legal issues. Guerrilla marketing can be indoor, outdoor, an “event ambush,” or experiential, meant to get the public to interact with a brand.

Guerrilla Marketing Types

• Viral or buzz marketing
• Stealth
• Ambient
• Ambush
• Projection advertising
• Astroturfing
• Grassroots
• Wild posting
• Street
• Pop-up retail

Strategy

The guerrilla marketing promotion strategy was first identified by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book Guerrilla Marketing (1984). The book describes hundreds of “guerrilla marketing weapons” in use at the time. Guerrilla marketers need to be creative in devising unconventional methods of promotion to maintain the public’s interest in a product or service. Levinson writes that when implementing guerrilla marketing tactics, smaller organizations and entrepreneurs are actually at an advantage. Ultimately, however, guerrilla marketers must “deliver the goods”. In The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook, the authors write: “In order to sell a product or a service, a company must establish a relationship with the customer. It must build trust and support the customer’s needs, and it must provide a product that delivers the promised benefits”

Online guerrilla marketing

The web is rife with examples of guerrilla marketing, to the extent that many of us don’t notice its presence until a particularly successful campaign arises. The desire for instant gratification of internet users provides an avenue for guerrilla marketing by allowing businesses to combine wait marketing with guerrilla tactics. Simple examples consist of using ‘loading’ pages or image alt texts to display an entertaining or informative message to users waiting to access the content they were trying to get to. As users dislike waiting with no occupation on the web, it is essential, and easy, to capture their attention this way. Other website methods include interesting web features such as engaging landing pages.

Many online marketing strategies also use social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn to begin campaigns, share-able features and event host events. Other companies run competitions or discounts based on encouraging users to share or create content related to their product. Viral videos are an incredibly popular form of guerrilla marketing in which companies film entertaining or surprising videos that internet users are likely to share and enjoy, that subtly advertise their service or product. Some companies such as Google even create interactive elements like the themed Google logo games to spark interest and engagement. These dynamic guerrilla marketing tactics can become news globally and give businesses considerable publicity.