Rural market of India

Rural India

Rural Branding

Biswa Chakrabarti.
February 17, 2019.

NMIMS, School of Business Management.

Session 15
Branding
Rural India

The process involved in creating a unique name and

image for a product in the consumers' mind, with a
consistent theme.

Branding aims to establish a significant and

differentiated identity that attracts and retains customers.
Rural Branding
Rural India

Rural Branding is the process of creating and

disseminating the Brand Name/ Identity, so that it is
instantly understood and recognized by the rural
consumer.

Brands in rural areas quite often are recognized by

symbols and colours due to high illiteracy.

e.g. Billi wala Battery, Laal chai Patta.

Rural Branding
Brand Building Process - Steps
Rural India
Brand Name Development

Creating a Brand Identity

Enhancing Recognition

Building a brand Image

Countering Spurious
Brand Building Process - Steps
Rural India
Brand Name Development

A brand name can be defined as a Name, a Symbol, a

graphic or a combination of them.

This is intended to identify goods and services of one

seller to a group of buyers, and to differentiate them from
those of competitors.
Brand Building Process - Steps
Rural India

Creating a Brand Identity

The Brand identity be such that it creates an image about

the brand and thereby creates an identity.

Brand identity can address the need of the consumer, or

create an emotional connect with the consumer, or simply
Describe a product with a historical connect with the
founder or an event.

Examples: ………..
Galvanised Corrugated sheet of
ISPAT Industries:
ISPAT KAVACH :
A shield – indicating “protection”.

Galvanised corrugated sheet of JSW :

JSW VISHWAS :
Indicating “Trust” or “Confidence”

Galvanised Corrugated sheet of

Tata Steel :
TATA SHAKTI : Indicating “Strength”
Name of the Founder as a brand, with
Radio waves to show its connect with
Radio.

Upfront Benefit positioning

 Emotionally connected brand name

Feature based brand name

Brand Building Process - Steps
Rural India
Enhancing Recognition

Emblems and Logos help in enhancing brand recognition

in the Rural markets.

A big portion of Rural consumers recognize a brand

pictorially. These brands are known by the visuals.

e.g. Billi wala Battery, Laal Saboon, Laal chai Patta,

Ladka wala paint, Ghadi – Chap powder,
 examples of how the core of the Brand format is being
maintained over time. Product has become modern and
urbanised, but colour identity unchanged:
 examples of how the core of the Brand format is being
maintained over time. Product has become modern and
urbanised, but colour identity unchanged:
 examples of how the core of the Brand format is being
maintained over time. Product has become modern and
urbanised, but colour identity unchanged:
Brand Building Process - Steps
Rural India
Building a brand Image

A brand should have a personality on its own.

It should emote, empathize, and talk to its consumers.

Examples ……………
 Mahindra Bhoomiputra

Mahindra Sarpanch
Brand Building Process - Steps
Rural India

Countering Spurious

Spurious brands is a big threat in establishing goodwill of

an ‘Original Brand’.

Spurious products, bearing spurious brands flood the

Rural Markets taking the advantage of lower Literacy and
awareness.

Spurious products, are available at very lower price and

therefore hugely compromising on the specification or
contents.
Selling Spurious brands is purely “illegal”.
 Rural India

Different Forms of Spurious

Look - alike Spell - alike Duplicate

 Rural India

Look Alike

These are products that are similar in Colour, Shape, Size

of leading brands. But, they have different brand names
and that makes legal action to prolong and get
complicated.

The quality and content of such products may be of

acceptable standard, but at a cheaper price. They enjoy
the pull created by the original brand.

Examples: ‘Lalita Amla’ in place ‘Dabur Amla’

 Rural India

Spell Alike

Spell alike products are more dubious than look alike. The
packaging is identical to that of the original brand.
Spell alike products play on the spelling of the original
brand. It is again illegal from Trade mark act.

Examples: ‘Viggo in place of Vicks.

 Rural India

Duplicate

This category is 100% fake. They carry all details of an

original brand. There is no rooms to understand whether it
is Original or not, till it is used.
Spurious Brands
Features Duplicates Spell-alikes Look-alikes Rural India

Brand name Original Misspelt Different

Pack appearance Replica Identical Similar
Manufacturer’s Original Incomplete Own name
address
Price M.R.P. 40% less 10-15% less
Margins 200-300% 100-150% 60-70%
Quality Very poor Poor Reasonable
Intent To cheat To mislead To freeload
Consumer mindset Unaware Unaware Want cheaper
products
Identify None Only literate Majority
Offer None Discounts Schemes
Source: MART Knowledge centre
 Rural India

Strategies to Counter Spurious Brands

A. Setting up a special task force within the company.

Informers can be incentivized. Legal dept to act. Raids
with police help.
B. Upgrading packaging-
- means of printing
- Colours used (like a 5th colour, 6th colour, out of CMYK)
- Moulded containers

C. Better Rural Distribution network

D. awareness- end consumer and channel partners both

 Rural India

Thank You