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Our Bureau

Hyderabad, Oct. 28 Hindustan Unilever Ltd is planning to double the strength of its rural women entrepreneurship promotion programme — Shakti — in India over next two years, according to Mr Douglas Baillie, Chief Executive Officer, Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

In his keynote address on a seminar on ‘Beyond Rich India — Lower Income Segments — A Marketing Opportunity’ at Indian School of Business (ISB) here on Saturday, Mr Baillie said, “Currently, there are 42,000 women entrepreneurs who sell our products directly to household and retailers in villages. We will increase their number to over 1,00,000 by 2010.”

Observing that the market opportunity in lower income segments in India was huge, he said poor household consumption in rural India would equal urban levels within 10 years. “More and more companies are targeting the bottom of the pyramid in markets and we need to the change market paradigm to tap the opportunity,” he said.

The new marketing ‘mantra’ would consist of principles such as “deep dialogue, putting the last first, building of capacities, leapfrogging of technology, and understanding the ecosystem of local partners,” he observed.

Mr Rajiv Sabharwal, Head of Retail Assets, Rural & Micro Banking Group, ICICI Bank, said the bank would leverage technology to tap the rural retail credit demand. “We are working on a smart card that can combine 16 product offerings from our bank to be used in the rural markets,” he said.

More Stories on : Direct Marketing | Entrepreneurship | Gender | Events | Hindustan Unilever Ltd

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Hindustan Unilever to double strength of Shakti entrepreneurs

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