The Hindu Business Line : For a one-stop rural MART

Say rural marketing and you can’t leave out Pradeep Kashyap’s Marketing and Research Team (MART). And now, more than ever, with its repositioned status, the Delhi-based organisation aims to stand tall among organisations known for their k nowledge capabilities.

It has, in fact, done it all in the hinterland — data collection, qualitative research, campaigns, implementation and roll-outs for some of the top FMCG companies in the country. Besides, in a sense, it has made itself a benchmark in promoting within the organisation values that are essentially Gandhian — family spirit, transparency and non-hierarchical. So much so that several extremely attractive buyout offers have come its way. While firmly turning them down, it has sought to reposition itself in the industry as a consultancy on the lines of the best firms in the business.

“We have vacated the implementation space, in which we now partner rural organisations, many of which have been started by our own former employees. Instead, our core competence now is consulting – the aim is to be a knowledge leader in rural marketing,” says Pradeep Kashyap.

A change in the business model has brought about other changes too – the organisation has had to shrink. Not by letting people go, but by turning some of its former employees into entrepreneurs who implement, roll out and research – jobs that MART was doing a while ago.

And that’s not all — the single-owner niche outfit has also put in place a succession plan that involves its key employees. “When offers for buyouts came along, it set me thinking about what a different organisation ours was and how people here were used to a certain way of functioning. After me, what would happen to MART and the team that has built it up? The answers came from all of us and I took the decision of turning it into a partnership on the lines of consultancies and chartered accountant firms,” elaborates Kashyap.

So what did he do? He decided to give four of his employees, who had worked the longest with the firm, a gift — a stake of 2.5 per cent each in the company. He also plans to induct many more as and when they turn senior enough.

“I’ve always considered my employees a part of my family, so this is my succession plan, where people will be gifted a stake after they’ve attained 10 years of working experience. Till two years ago this over-a-decade-old organisation was woven around one individual. Now I have sought to broadbase it and pushed in a second line of leadership,” he explains.

Now MART has six owners (his wife always had a stake). The four new partners – Saroj Mohanta, Benjamin Mathew, Kirti Mishra and Sanjay Gupta – are those who helped Kashyap take the organisation to the next level. With several others waiting in the wings, MART hopes to keep in place the high level of commitment and passion for the cause it is known. Besides, it would also ensure that the organisation finds the right kind of people.

And what has been the fallout of such a move? Profit per employee has gone up tremendously, with a visible sense of ownership in each individual. “Our organisation’s profit per employee will compare favourably with the best employers in the country. Besides, if I’m not here tomorrow, MART will continue its work and vision,” says the diehard Gandhian as he reveals that a lot of interest is being generated in MART and its client profile has grown to include companies such as Microsoft, British Petroleum, World Bank and Britain’s DFID.

R.V. Rajan, Chairman of the Chennai-based ad agency, Anugrah Madison, which specialises in rural communication, and also President of the Rural Marketing Association, of which Kashyap is the Vice-President, says that the latter’s focus on rural research is total. Most clients seek him out for his research skills leading to strategy for the rural markets. Rajan points out that Kashyap’s work for Hindustan Unilever’s Project Shakti, which works with self-help groups across the country, is what put MART on the national map.

While MART has been growing by leaps and bounds and has already had three buyout offers from the country’s largest advertising agencies, it has been finding it difficult to cope with the demand. However, it has made forays across the shores to the hinterland of other SAARC countries. Currently it is working in Bangladesh with Grameen Phone, which is marketing airtime and rolling out the strategy of using mobile phones to convey information on micro-enterprises.

China too seems to be on its radar as several offers are coming in that could compel the organisation towards this foray. As he says, “China has never had enough market research capabilities. Now with a large number of MNCs there, they want to understand consumer behaviour of the rural Chinese population”.

But Kashyap finds that demand outstrips the availability of people who have an equal measure of calibre and commitment. He laments the lack of such people today.

“We are used to high levels of passion for work, commitment and loyalty. I find that people today are more interested in the pay packet than what they will bring to an organisation.” However, he and his team are hell-bent on sticking to its original vision.

“We have been extremely careful not to become complacent or arrogant. We stand for a set of values – our passion will remain to create knowledge and deliver the best to our clients,” he says. And now this could be far easier – with employees as stakeholders, literally.

More Stories on : Rural Marketing | Consulting

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