Consumer markets in rural India have a huge potential. It is high time that marketers focused on rural markets and tapped the potential of these markets.

The effects of globalization have finally reached the small towns and villages in India. The changing face of globalization has not only transformed the lives of urban consumers, but has also had its effect on the rural consumers. Rural consumers are no longer the same; they now need more than what they wanted earlier. They have developed their own tastes for products and services. There is sea change in the attitudes, lifestyles and preferences of rural consumers. (The given Exhibit focuses on the changing attitudes of consumers.) People in rural India no longer use charcoal powder or neem twig to brush their teeth; most of them demand branded toothpastes these days. This change in the behavioral and buying patterns of rural consumers has indeed forced marketers to give a serious thought about rural markets. Communicating and advertising to rural markets, however, has to fundamentally change since conventional methods of advertising which are targeted at urban consumers will not work in these markets.

Experts believe that the Indian rural markets are gunning for faster growth and the time is ripe for companies to serve these markets. Several multinational companies which have ignored the rural markets earlier are now vying for a share of the rural market. As part of their efforts to reach these markets, companies have been investing money in attractive sales and marketing programs. FMCG companies like HLL, P&G are eyeing these markets and are spending immensely to establish themselves in these markets. Advertising campaigns for rural market have gained so much importance to the extent that some ad agencies have started separate divisions which deal with providing solutions (both marketing and advertising) for rural markets. Agencies like Lintas (Linterland), Grey Worldwide (Mediacom), O&M (Ogilvy Reach), and WPP (Broadmind) have started their divisions and there are also some agencies that specialize in the rural advertising solutions. They are Anugrah Madison, MART, Sampark Marketing and Advertising Solutions and so on.

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