The Hindu Business Line : Marketers require better insight into rural demographics

Marketing heads from Nokia, Bharti Airtel, ESPN and CitiGroup provided an interesting insight into marketing and concurred that rural India does not want different products from what urban India consumes. The only value proposition is the cost but requires better understanding of demographics. Speaking at Ikshaa, an Indian School of Business Marketing Summit on `Think Global, Act Local', the Nokia Mobiles, Managing Director, Mr D. Shivakumar, said that though you draw from global insights, we need to take up marketing that meets the local requirements.

This called for last mile adaptation as bulk of the processes are standardised calling for a very local customisation.

Providing insights into the CitiBank experience, the Head of Marketing of CitiGroup, Mr Vijay Ramachandran, said large brands look for consumer similarities rather than differences. "We thrive on these similarities across 45 countries where we are present. The core product and offering remains the same, it is only the local issues that may require some focus."

Referring to the comment of the Indian Head of DiamlerChrysler that "The Mercedes buyer in India is the most intolerable buyer we have anywhere in the world," Mr Ramchandran said that this is just an example of different things for different people.

For instance, Godrej tried to make a refrigerator for rural market. But the market feedback showed that they wanted the same refrigerator what the urban population purchased.

Marketing practices

The telecom industry is an interesting case study for marketers globally, Mr T. Elango, CEO of Bharti, AP, said and felt that many of the innovative marketing practices from the domestic market are being tried in other parts of the world.

Referring to the outsourcing model, which is backed by revenue share concept pioneered by Bharti in India, Mr Elango said that this model has impressed many operators and they are now seeking to make to similar arrangements.

The Director of Marketing, ESPN, Mr Nirmal Dayani, said the Indian market called for lot of innovation and some customisation to cater to a different set of viewers preferring different sports.

Mr Dipak C. Jain of Kellogg School of Management described current day scenario as "global presence and local relevance. In the bipolar world instead of thinking about global and local issues, we need to address geographies with changing demographics".

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