“ Jab wahi safedi aur wahi jhaag kam daam mein mile, to bhala koi ye kyun le, wo na le ” (If you can get the same whiteness and detergent froth for a lesser price, why would you go for an expensive brand) — so went the immortal Nirma advertisement.

Nearly three decades later, these memorable words continue to be the benchmark for fast moving consumer good (FMCG) companies as far as planning for their media campaigns go.

FMCG majors have realised that there is no point spending several crores on chic advertisement campaigns in the rural market. Simple and inexpensive ways of marketing such as melas , posters, wall paintings, mobile vans and ‘ haats’ are being increasingly used to connect and engage directly with the rural consumers.

Rural budget

Emami spends a mere 3 per cent of the total 17-18 per cent of its allocated media budget in the rural market. Around 40-45 per cent of the overall sales come from villages, which have 60 per cent of the country’s total population.

“We spend less in rural areas as these are not high-investment campaigns. Still, all our categories in rural India have grown ten percentage points vis-à-vis the urban market,” says Mr Krishna Mohan, CEO (Sales), Emami Ltd.

Emami is not the sole contender. Other companies, such as Hindustan Unilever, Marico, Godrej, Pepsi, Coca-Cola among others too clock around 40-45 per cent of their overall sales from the rural market, said industry experts.

Higher aspiration levels

Cable and satellite penetration has helped spread more information about products to hard-to-reach rural pockets. This has boosted the aspiration level of rural consumers and has forced companies to launch products and market it through village melas (fairs), road theatre, , boat branding, mobile vans and wall paintings — at minimal cost, said Mr Subhobroto Chakraborty, Business Head at creative agency Genesis.

“Everyone wants to advertise for the long-term on a minimal budget. Wall painting is a very affordable medium and there is a huge competition.

We have about 300 painters who paint walls in villages and small towns where the television set is not that big a medium yet,” said Mr Mihir Mody, Founder of Adwallz, a company that does wall painting for about 100 companies across sectors.

FMCG and automobile companies are the biggest advertisers, given the number of categories and brands they have.

Mr Mody adds that companies such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola get their products painted on a roadside ‘ dhaba’ , or small motel, at very little expense.

multi-brand activation

Programmes such as Hindustan Unilever’s initiative  Khushiyon Ki Doli is another inexpensive medium of multi-brand activation. This was launched in 2010 in three States – Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The company reached out to more than 10 million consumers with the help of 170,000 retailers.

Most of these FMCG firms focus on low unit packs ranging from Rs 2-8 and are present in categories such as shampoos, oil, food items, creams, soaps and toothpaste, as they are easily consumed, said Mr Krishna Mohan of Emami.

According to Euromonitor International, a research agency, 68 per cent of personal care products retailed by FMCG companies were sold in rural India in fiscal 2011-12, as against 31 per cent in cities.

Meanwhile, Ms Alpana Parida, President at brand consulting firm DY Works, said that though the rural and urban divide was blurring, one needed to find different ways to connect with the rural consumers. She also stressed that rural India has so far not seen a rural brand yet. 

priyanka.pani@thehindu.co.in

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