Effective ways to advertise in rural India

The scenario is changing as the economy conquers new heights in India. Good-quality branded stuff doesn’t remain the birthright of the urban population only. Now, we can see hoardings and signboards of Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Lays chips in the most interior villages while travelling by road. The change is happening gradually and quite rapidly. No wonder, marketing executives and advertising gurus want to develop tricky, spicy and suggestive advertising that attracts and appeals the rural customers. Experts say that the intellectual and indirect message appeals the urban population, but a direct and simple message is a great hit in the rural areas. It is very much important that the creative team has the understanding of the rural mentality and preferences to develop a successful and effective campaign. There are some special characteristics of the rural population that need to take into consideration if you want to design an effective way of capturing their attention:

• It is a fact that the rural literacy levels are lower, but the customers are no inferior to their urban counterparts regarding common sense and intelligence. They have a good presence of mind and can relate to the advertizing concepts quite effectively. They are very conscious of value for money and want the maximum return on investment.
• Spending a few thousand bucks isn’t a big thing for rural customers nowadays. The purchasing power has increased greatly in last few years with the uplift of the Indian economy. Hence, dangling the caret of price tag is no longer an effective strategy for the rural market.
• Advertizing agencies use innovative marketing strategies to reach the rural population. Vritti Media is an exclusive example of it. With the use of bus stand for rural marketing, it could reach millions of people effectively and economically. The groundbreaking concept of "Audiosalwala Bus Stand" has been immensely popular in Karnataka. The products and services promoted on the bus stand using state-of-the-art broadcasting concepts. Use of local dialects and catchy ads made it a big hit.
• It is the well-known aspect that the so-called "PAN India" communication plan is not good when you want to impress the widespread rural buyers. A strategy with the local flavors should be conceived. Below-The-Line activities work quite well in the villages.

A creative suit designed for the people living in the interior areas using the tips mentioned earlier would result in a groundbreaking strategy.

Rajesh radhakrishnan is the author of this article on