Rural marketing and its Significance

07.28.2010 · Posted in Business

Rural marketing and its Significance

Rural marketing and its Significance

Introduction
Rural marketing involves delivering manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural producers or consumers
so as to soak up the massive size of the untapped rural market. In today’s congested and difficult markets, both
local and global, all FMCG as well as other companies search for new opportunities, consumers and markets. The
800 million potential consumers in rural India presented both an opportunity and a problem, as this market has
been characterized by unbalanced growth and infrastructural problems. Thus looking at the opportunities which
rural markets offer to the marketers it seems that the future is very promising for those who can comprehend the
dynamics of rural markets and exploit them to their ideal advantage.

Significance
In current years, rural markets have acquired significance in countries like China and India, as the overall growth
of the economy has resulted into substantial increase in the purchasing power of the rural communities. On
statement of the green revolution in India, the rural areas are consuming a massive quantity of industrial and
urban manufactured products. In this context, a special marketing strategy, namely, rural marketing has taken
shape. Sometimes, rural marketing is confused with agricultural marketing– the later denotes marketing of
produce of the rural areas to the urban consumers or industrial consumers, whereas rural marketing involves
delivering manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural producers or consumers. Also, when we think
about the scenario of India and China, there is a picture that comes out, massive market for the developed
products as well as the fag support. This has led to the change in the mindset of the marketers to move to these
parts of the world.

Strategies
Dynamics of rural markets differ from other market types, and similarly rural marketing strategies are also
significantly different from the marketing strategies aimed at an urban or industrial consumer. This, along with
several other related issues, have been subject matter of intense discussions and debate in countries like India and
China and focus of even international symposia organized in these countries

Conclusion
Rural markets, as part of any economy, have untapped potential. There are several difficulties confronting the effort to
fully explore rural markets. The concept of rural markets in India, as also in several other countries, like China, is still in
evolving shape, and the sector poses a variety of challenges, including understanding the dynamics of the rural markets
and strategies to supply and satisfy the rural consumers.