We all have witnessed the successful launch of 9X Jhakkas, Maharashtra’s first ever Marathi music channel. Ever wondered what has made its launch so successful? The credit of this successful launch goes to the innovative marketing concept and planned execution of it by Vritti i-Media…
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We all have witnessed the successful launch of 9X Jhakas, Maharashtra’s first ever Marathi music channel. Ever wondered what has made its launch so successful? The credit of this successful launch goes to the innovative marketing concept and planned execution of it by Vritti i-Media.
Challenge
The challenge before Vritti i-Media was to carry out an impactful awareness campaign for the channel, covering key TAM cities of Maharashtra. The need was to come up with a concept which has not been explored before. An innovative yet effectual campaign had to be designed by Vritti i-Media to convey the motto of the channel – ‘Life Banwel Jhakas’, which was also conceptualized by Vritti i-Media.
Solution
With the motive to make lives of people in Maharashtra Jhakaas, along with promoting the brand image of the channel, Vritti i-Media planned a free ride and unlimited entertainment to passengers travelling interstate (within Maharashtra).
Execution
On behalf of 9X Jhakaas, Vritti i-Media offered a free ride to all the travellers on ‘9X Jhakaas’ Branded ST Bus of MSRTC, which was moving from one town to another in Maharashtra. This 10-day campaign started from Pune toured places like Satara, Kolhapur, Sangli, Pandharpur, Solapur, Latur, Osmanabad, Beed, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Shirdi, Nashik, Mumbai and finally back to Pune. To publicize this campaign, Vritti i-Media made audio announcement at ST Bus stands, placed signboards and distributed leaflets to make travellers aware of this event and encourage them to board the bus. Inside the ST Bus they kept a LCD TV, on which 9X Jhakaas channel was played. Various quiz programs and other contests were conducted for travellers of this bus and the winners of these contests received goodies. Vritti i-media also made it a point to give a 2012 calendar and a 9x Jhakaas Branded Cap to every person in the bus. More than 4000 caps and calendars were distributed during this exercise to the travellers and many more to the people at various stoppages of the bus.
Result
Vritti i-media understood the requirement well and gave its client the right proposition to derive maximum mileage from the campaign. It has won several accolades to them from the client. This campaign has helped the channel to connect with 5000+ traveller of the bus and also helped their brand reach out to lakhs of people at the bus stands and on the streets. The audio announcement and the sign boards at bus stands helped in attracting people to take the bus ride. “Overall the campaign was well managed and orchestrated by Vritti i-Media and we would like to appreciate the entire team,” said the client.
Pandharpur, located on the banks of the Bhima River, is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in Maharashtra and features the renowned Lord Vitthal Temple. Vithoba, Pandurang and Pandharinath, as he is known among his ardent devotees, are the alternative names of Lord Vitthal, considered an incarnation of Vishnu in Hinduism. Every year, thousands undertake a 220 km-walk from Alandi Dehu to Pandharpur to do a ‘darshan’ of Vithoba and Rukmini, his consort.
The Insight
The holy site hosts four annual pilgrimages or ‘yatras’ of Hindu devotees; among them, the pilgrimage in the month of Ashad in the Hindu calendar (Aashadhi Ekadashi), or the months of June-July as per the Gregorian calendar, attracts the highest number of pilgrims. The number hovers around 20 to 22 lakh devotees, belonging to a variety of castes and creeds. The pilgrimage in the Hindu month of Kārtik or during the October-November period attracts the next highest number of pilgrims. Since devotees across states like Maharashtra and Karnataka resolve to visit Pandharpur at least once annually, the festivities become an apt platform for advertising directly to masses that belong to all the strata of society, particularly those from non-metro regions. Resolving the problematic issue of bringing brands through advertising to the non-metro and media-oblivious masses, Vritti i-Media has successfully created its niche in all major Pandharpur events over the last three years. By doing this, they have been able to introduce MNC brands and pan-India products and services to micro-segments. With a relevant application of information technology and tie-ups with the ‘Devasasthan Samiti,’ as well as the Police and District administrations, Vritti i-Media has been able to successfully pull off this breakthrough advertising feat.
Modus Operandi
In order to achieve this never-before milestone
for non-metro advertising, Vritti i-Media relied on its innovative ad-platforms comprising audio advertisements at MSRTC bus-stands across Maharashtra; audio-video ads at expressway- and highway-hotels; Gantries; T-shirts; SMS campaigns; outdoor media services like hoardings, pole-kiosks and bus panels, as well as event and conference management. In order to draw audience attention, Vritti made announcements for bus departures, bus numbers and platform displays merge with its special audio ad announcements. In a similar way, it also disseminated crucial information like police instructions regarding traffic directions as well as ‘devsthan’ instructions for ‘darshan’ arrangements. Provisions for missing-persons’ display were also made. Maps of Pandharpur were distributed to ease the movement of devotees, while direction boards were also put up. Finally, a SMS system for rapid communication within groups was put in place. It took huge investment and efforts for Vritti i-Media to successfully set up this entire system at two locations spread across 35 acre. Enabling IT solutions has been a tough task.
Summing Up
On a regular pilgrimage day, an average of 5,000 devotees visits Pandharpur. Considering that 60% visitors are middle-aged persons and 25% are students or young professionals, it makes ample sense for brands, products and services to gain visibility among these masses. These demographics are highly receptive to advertising and can dictate purchasing choices. By using a variety of attractive and eye-grabbing advertising and promotional media, such as hoardings, events, kiosks, public announcement systems, LCD displays, among others, the company has etched its forte in bridging the communication gap between corporate India and India’s hinterlands through its efforts at Pandharpur.
Decades after liberalisation, rural India continues to face a debilitating challenge of deficient electrification. India is estimated to be the most power-deprived country in the world with about 400 million Indians living in darkness every night. With a national policy which is fast changing to adopt a holistic green energy programme, quick progress is hoped to light up the nation with public and private initiatives. In the meanwhile, as India continues to suffer from power paucity; media devices like computers, phones and TVs may remain unreliable for reaching non-metro folks. But there is no need to worry; a solution lies right around the corner.
With plans of more villages embracing solar power and moving off-grid, there is anxiety over the future trends of mass communication in rural society. In order to reduce and even eliminate dependence on grid and fossil sources of power, the onus is on advertisers in India to think of innovative means to achieve zero foot-print. The traditional medium of billboards/out-of-home (OOH) can present some succour to advertisers. Since OOH has no power needs in the day time, it is a low-carbon footprint media to a large extent. Yet, much may be done to implement frugal engineering practices in OOH. Just as these methods are enabling waves of development at a local-scale by stripping down input costs to create adequate energy for several thousand villages, they have implications for advertising in small towns as well.
For evening lighting, billboards and OOH media companies need to move away from outdated means of lighting like diesel generators. With high cost of diesel and labour (required to manage the machinery), it has become an expensive option in comparison to other cost-effective means like solar and biogas. Villages in Bihar are already utilising abundant farm waste, like rice husk, to generate electricity; enough to light homes and civic spaces. Not to mention, diesel is also responsible for the creation of fumes and noise, thus causing pollution. Environmental departments in states like West Bengal are already mandating a conversion of diesel-run billboard lighting. Such impetus from the policy side is aimed at encouraging advertisers to reduce their dependence on grids and replicate these set ups in all rural locations of advertising interest.
However, conventional OOH medium is increasingly losing its charm due to the observation that its impact is immeasurable and that controlling content on it is a hassling and tedious process. To beat such limitations, OOH has evolved and as a result, new routes of dynamic audio-visual media have emerged.
Since liberalisation, when the economy was seen turning over a new leaf, SMEs have spearheaded India’s technical and service expertise in several industries. By operating in every tier of workmanship—from servicing suppliers to servicing consumers—SMEs have fit like a piece of a jigsaw into the rich tapestry of the Indian economy. The rallying support of local folks that have been receptive to their quality offerings, are among the main reasons of their success. But what happens when such SMEs want to grow? How do they appeal for acceptance across districts and dialects?
At such points in their growth stories, SMEs must consider innovative, affordable advertising methods that help them get there. The opportunity to strike gold in non-metro markets emerges from the fact that it translates to a population of 800 million consumers that display low brand loyalty today. Audio advertising and OOH (that is predominantly pictorial) is perfect to reach such markets because of a set of factors. For instance low literacy does not allow full utilisation of the medium of print, while TV is dependent on unsteady power supply. Conversing with the audience in their language, at a time convenient to them is therefore a relevant solution.
A pertinent example of such an advertising strategy is Vritti i-Media’s innovative audio advertising solution for advertisers. The company has tied up with the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) with a view to broadcast advertisements at district bus terminals. They are the sole agency authorised to run audio commercials alongside arrival/departure announcements. This arrangement enables them to create recall among passengers frequenting travelling on these bus routes. These advertisements penetrate more than 80 locations in rural Maharashtra reaching 103 million people. The cost of using this medium per person is 10% of other media, despite its phenomenal impact on those passengers that are eagerly awaiting such announcements. These ads play 16 hours a day and may be heard up to a 100-meter periphery.
SMEs also get to choose from a bouquet of options. Transit advertising or advertising at food malls (on highways) are beginning to see success. An instance of transit advertising was the 9X Jhakaas campaign conducted at ST Depots in Maharashtra. Travellers could watch the channel’s shows on a TV mounted in the busses. They were offered not only a free ride in those buses, but also given goodies and prizes. In this way, thinking out of the box can enable SMEs to spread their word far and wide through such dynamic and innovative means.
Innovation is an integral part of advertising. Consumer interests and behavior is liable to undergo a change with time. Hence, the modes of reaching and interacting with them also evolve with each passing day. Advertisers and creative minds see no boundary of media. What better example than the recent use of the public address systems in the country.
Public address systems at different locations of India have been used very innovatively to attract audience attention and even strongly put across a message. Not only have these initiatives successfully reached the masses but also created ripples of conversations amongst the consumer network. Here are a few interesting examples:
Three years from the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, a group of local Mumbaikars took up the initiative of spreading the message of peace and celebrate the ‘never stop’ attitude of Mumbaikars through a Flash mob at CST Station. The Public announcement system at SCT station was innovatively used to gather public attention and instantly involve them in the act. Within no time hundreds joined the movement, some by tapping their feet, some grooving with the crowd and some by clapping and cheering. The initiative not only helped in spreading the message effectively but also created millions of conversations online as well as offline.
The Public announcement systems at the MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation) bus stands in Maharashtra have been recently used by brands to reach the biggest consumer market of India i.e. the rural and semi-urban consumers. Last year, SBI bank ran a 20 day advertising campaign for loans using the PA system at MSRTC bus stands in Maharashtra. While the 20 day campaign generated Rs 550 crore worth of enquiries, the communication also gave examples of a sarpanch (headman) of a village talking about availing loans and repaying on time. That way SBI was able to touch upon NPAs (non-performing assets) arising out of non-payments.
The MSRTC bus announcement system is also being used by the agriculture department of Maharashtra to broadcast vital information about crop management and farming to farmers who comprise a large chunk of the MSRTC commuters.
Another exemplary campaign thought of using 
the Public Address Systems is the Bingo ad campaign executed at various Indian railway stations across India. The campaign aimed at informing the masses about the 25% extra chips given in every Rs. 5 pack of Bingo. Unlike competition, Bingo went with the non- traditional way of informing its consumers. While the public was waiting at the railway station, Bingo used the public address system to announce its message in the same tone & manner as the railways do. Several unsuspecting commuters thought it was a regular announcement until the Bingo! Trademark tone was heard at the end of the announcement. Besides many hearty laughs, Bingo also generated a 32% increase in volume sales. Amusingly, the people neither missed their message nor their train!
This new medium has proven to be very effective in creating an impact on the consumers. Big brands like SBI and Bingo have believed in this medium due to its certain characteristic features like:
High spread: Being public junctions, advertisers can reach out to a large chunk of masses at a time
High impact: Since the public address systems are meant to relay vital information like bus/ train announcements, people are always hooked on to the announcements, thus ensuring high rate of audience attention.
Flexibility: Advertisers have the flexibility to change the advertisements as per the location, seasons and festivals.
Low cost: As compared to other traditional forms of advertising, this medium offers a relatively lower cost.
On the whole, an advertiser can effectively reach a large population of consumers in a comparatively lesser budget. And due to these attributes of the Public Address system, we see this as an emerging medium of communication in India.
India as an emerging market leader has precipitously uncovered its capability by growing at reasonable rate when the global GDP growth was faltering and panting for support. But, even in developing nations, urban areas are reaching saturation points, and smart companies are quickly moving to un-captured rural areas, which are at a promising stage and provide robust market potential.
Many companies have also initiated manufacturing facilities in rural areas to benefit from government concessions like tax exemption. Some look up to the rural market to promote volume growth, while others have intended to reap benefits of low cost and higher profit margin. But the idea is simple. If growth is the only option to survive, rural market is the only way to grow moving forward. And the companies that have taken the initial leaps have not only benefitted from the first mover advantage, but also gained brand loyalty and better business growth momentum.
BMW and Mercedes have been quick enough to recognize this target market and are reportedly expecting a 30-35% sales boost in 2012 from rural markets. India’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, registered sales of 12.70,000 vehicles in 2010-11, with earnings of Rs. 37,522 crore and a net profit to the tune of Rs. 2,289 crore.
In 2011, the auto industry of India witnessed accumulative sales of 2,973,900 passenger vehicles that comprised cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and multi purpose vehicles (MPVs). Out of the total figure, 2,520,421 vehicles were sold within India while the rest 453,479 units were disseminated outside the country.
Market conditions are extremely slow-moving. High interest rates are dampening the consumer sentiment and this is leading to the entry-level buyers deferring purchases. Responding to this situation, most of the car companies are opening regional car centres which keep one or two cars on display.
Although India is the world’s 2nd fastest growing car market after China, passenger vehicle ownership here is among the lowest in the world, at 12 vehicles for every 1,000 people. While nearly a third of people living in metros own personal transport, the penetration in rural areas is half, at 15 %. This has led industry observers to believe a major proportion of growth would come from rural market.
Hyundai, one among many trying to penetrate the rural market has asked its dealers to identify 5 probable semi-urban and rural sites for selling its latest offering ‘EON (800cc)’ around their outlets. At some places they have set up a practice where a team of salespersons with mobile vans offer demonstrations and test drives. At other places, Hyundai either put up small sales branches which could display up to two cars or two-way sales and service workshops.
Tier II, III and IV cities are increasingly becoming more and more significant. Early entrants into this market are likely to be huge gainers and a classic example of this is Ford India’s FIGO which draws 60 % of its sales from Semi urban areas.
India has long glowing heritage of beauty. Specifically Indian women have been conscious beautifying and grooming themselves. In fact the Indian cosmetic market growth is accredited to female consumers. However, it was interesting to know that men and women from rural areas are also contributing to the growing demand of cosmetics in India. According to a recent research report by RNCOS on the Indian Cosmetic Sector, Indian rural population has been increasingly shifting towards more cosmetic products. It is also anticipated that the market will surge at a CAGR of nearly 19% till 2014.
The rural folks in India have 
gradually become conscious about their dressing and looks. Increasing western exposure, media awareness, penetration of local brands and most importantly, rise in incomes has resulted in higher rural market spends in the cosmetic category. Even the mind set of male consumers is changing. The fast emerging men’s grooming products market has also boosted the cosmetic sector. There is a rise in demand for essential everyday items like bath and shower products, hair care, oral hygiene and skin care products. Realizing the wide potential in rural markets, the cosmetic companies have invested heavily on promoting product visibility among rural folk, which has increased the demand for bar soap, talcum powder, lipstick, tooth powder and hair oil in these areas. The Indian rural market comprises of nearly 828 Million people i.e. 70% of the overall country population. These people generally prefer unorganized market to buy a cosmetic product, which usually belongs to domestic players. Although the penetration of the cosmetic products in these areas is continuously increasing, international players are facing quite reluctant environment due to the lack of consumer confidence.
Domestic players in this sector are giving stiff competition to global players in rural markets. With increased demand and consumer awareness, these players have even upgraded their production quality and technology to retain profits in future. On the other hand, big brands have opted for various innovative strategies to lure the rural consumers. One of the most effective strategies is the sachet format which helps the consumers to try new products at cheaper costs. Companies are focusing to expand their product portfolio in various ranges of products, thus giving an array of choices to the consumers. With the objective of increasing brand recognition and reliability in these markets, companies have come up with innovative consumer engagement activities like the FAL (Fair and Lovely) Vani initiative by HUL and more.
At present, the industry size is worth Rs 10,000 crore, the study by industry body Assocham said. The figures are predicted to increase drastically with rising rural consumer spends in this category. It’s uncertain if domestic players will continue to rule the rural landscapes or global players will take away the pie. But certainly the whole phenomenon has resulted in availing high quality cosmetics products at reduced prices to the consumers.
Client: Hindustan Unilever- New Wheel Detergent
HUL used Vritti i-Media’s audio advertising 
network at Nashik & CBS (Thakkar Bazar) S T stands in Maharashtra in August, 2010 to increase recall of its washing detergent, New Wheel bar. The campaign was targeted towards women, specifically, housewives from the age group of 20- 50 yrs.
In order to assess the success of the campaign, Vritti i-Media conducted a survey through Genesis, a market research firm. Interestingly, the survey showed extremely high recall on the advertisement even though the campaign commenced just 4 days before the survey.Surprisingly, 80% of the respondents even completed the New Wheel punchline correctly.
You can also take a look at the survey findings in the Details research report below:
To know more about Vritti i-Media’s audio advertising solution in Maharashtra, visit: www.vrittiimedia.com
Take a dive into an intense 
rural marketing session with the Rural Marketing Guru- Mr. Pradeep Kashyap, founder, MART, a consulting practice on emerging markets specialising in understanding of ‘base of the pyramid’ markets.
Can you explain what you do and what your organisation MART is all about?
I have worked with the corporate sector for 20 years. I eventually recognized my strength in the marketing area and observed that its application was completely missing in the social and developmental sector. Initially nobody believed that you needed marketing in the social sector. This led me to establish MART as an organization in 1993. It became a partnership in 2003. At MART we follow the philosophy of a ‘social heart’ and a ‘business mind’.
Where does rural marketing fit into the grand scheme of things today?
Rural marketing has already arrived in the world of business and is one of the single largest segments of activity. Previously, we faced the challenge of making the corporate world accept the importance of rural marketing. However, today companies are taking pains to tap into unexplored sections of the Indian society.
What changes have you observed in rural markets over the past two decades?
A visible microfinance movement is the one major change in the rural sector, which has helped empower rural women. The second major change is that women have been given 30% reservation in village panchayats. Improvement in road connectivity is the third major change in villages. While the first 50 years of independence saw only 40% road connectivity between villages, an additional 30% road construction has happened over the past ten years. Education has increased in villages. Finally, technology and media reach in villages has also experienced a dramatic rise.
How are companies responding to this?
Although global companies are not yet ready to reach out to Indian rural markets, local companies have started various schemes to tap the market. For example, because electricity is one of the major problems faced in rural India, local companies such as Jolly TV in Uttar Pradesh are producing televisions which run on rechargeable battery systems. Such innovations help rural consumers use products even during electricity cuts, thus expanding the scope of marketing in rural areas.
How does rural marketing help in empowering women in villages?
In most cases, rural women do not work, and even if they do, they are involved in seasonal activity making for low income. Through MART, we help these women gain bargaining power so that they can get appropriate prices for their produce. The first step towards this objective is to organise the women into collectives by identifying definite clusters based on the products they make, the consumers for the products, etc. This helps them aggregate their produce. Also, we teach them value addition by helping them understand the importance of drying, cleaning, sorting and packaging their products. All these aspects ultimately provide them access to wider markets.
If a young management graduate were to join the rural marketing profession today, what kind of a work scope is he looking at?
Rural marketing is the single largest sector today in terms of population it impacts. It caters to roughly 800 million people in India. The opportunity in the field is great and companies across the world are beginning to understand it. While the urban market deals majorly with a replacement policy, where old branded products are continuously replaced with new branded products, the rural market is still untapped. There is no penetration of any sort of brands into these markets. This offers great scope to companies.
What are the most challenging aspects of working in rural marketing?
Firstly, most of us are still victims to an urban mindset. We tend to not understand the mindset of the rural consumer. Secondly, even if companies reach close to understanding rural consumers, they face great difficulty in finding distribution options to the rural sections. Finally, 50% of the rural markets are still media-dark sections of the society. The people living in these areas do not have access to televisions or newspapers. This makes the consumer unaware of what new innovative things the world has to offer.
As the country undergoes urbanisation, will rural marketing become irrelevant over time?
When we got our independence, the census survey claimed that 84% of the country’s population was living in rural areas. In the 1991-2001 census the number came down to 74% and the recent 2011 census marks it at 68%. Despite all the big talk about urbanisation, 62% of the country’s population will still be living in villages by 2021. It is also a myth that the country is urbanising rapidly. In most metropolitan cities, population growth is slowing down. While Delhi saw a population growth of 32% in the 2001 census, the growth came down to 20% in 2011. Most people who migrate prefer to shift to smaller cities since there are more growth options there.
How will the proposed Foreign Direct Investment in Retail change rural marketing?
According to the draft policy, big retailers cannot enter towns and villages where the population is less than 5 lakhs. Since most of the rural population lives in small clusters, FDI will have zero impact on the 800 million people in rural markets.
For youngsters looking to join rural marketing, what are the three big opportunities waiting to be tapped?
Firstly, for the next 10 years, the rural segment is going to literally drive the Indian markets. That translates to great opportunity. Secondly, there is not enough knowledge generation within rural marketing today. As educated young graduates enter rural marketing, the amount of knowledge of various practices inside the discipline will increase. Finally, and most importantly, rural marketing offers limitless opportunities to youngsters in terms of innovation in rural distribution, promotion and so on. It is a virgin market which will provide youngsters an opportunity to innovate.
Source: Pagal Guy
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