Across categories, appetite of consumption of products and services in rural India has been increasing. With growth in technology, telecommunications and transport rural India is becoming an equally important, if not more lucrative market, than urban India.
FMCG/ FMCD categories like soaps, TVs, fans, etc. are deriving between 35-70% of sales from rural India. Mobile phone subscriber base in rural India is expected to grow by a CAGR of 35% for the next few years. Rural India market is becoming more and more attractive a large number of industries and companies.
Yet, knowledge about rural India among marketers and communication professionals remains low. Marketing is still seen with an urban flavor. Stereotypes and assumptions of rural India‟s based on popular culture inform today‟s marketers‟ decisions. This rural research was a perfect opportunity to live in and understand rural India better.
A village, Valluru in Andhra Pradesh, was chosen by this team. An ethnographic research was carried out for 7+ days of time to study this village on multiple axes and parameters ranging from resources, economy, culture, social structure and consumption habits. Communication need areas were also identified and strategies to tackle the same were suggested.