Branding - an essential ingredient for rural marketing in Indian scenario

Endorsement of brands in rural markets seeks special attention. Communal and backward circumstances pose a challenging and daunting task the forces of personal selling and instill a greater effort towards the same. The word of mouth is an important message carrier in rural areas. Moreover the opinion leaders are the majority which highly sways a part of promotion strategy towards the rural sectors. Mass media also plays a very crucial role in promoting different product strategies in the backward areas. The know-how of agricultural input industry can act as a rule for the marketing efforts of consumer durable and non-durable companies. Moreover the Indian established Industries have an upper hand in this aspect as compared to MNC's which are a little naïve in this regard. It is believed that existing and established Indian brands have tough brand equity, consumer demand-pull and committed dealer network created over a long span of time which adds as an advantage towards brand pushing in rural sectors. Majority companies are trying to elicit augmentation in rural areas since they are now acquainted with the idea that rural population is also equipped with better position and disposable income. Further the availability of low rate finance in Indian has triggered the affordability of purchasing the expensive goods by the rural people. Hence marketer should recognize the price sensitivity of an end user in a rural area. Thus this paper is a small attempt made towards promoting of brands in the rural markets since good branding strikes a chord with viewers and helps them relate with the product and reflect their aspirations.