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The Rediff Business Special/Shobha Warrier

There was a time not very long ago when the marketing circles talked about nothing but the Great Indian Middle Class. The focus has now shifted on to "a bigger market", Rural India aka Bharat. Manufacturers, marketers, makers of consumer durables…everyone, from multinational Coca-Cola to small-town garment unit, is making a beeline for Bharat. This has spawned a new demand for Bharat-friendly advertising agencies because for long, mass communications in India have suffered from a distinct bias for the urban consumer.

The Madras-based Anugrah Madison is one of the few agencies that specialise in advertising in rural areas. The agency has been in the news of late for winning awards for excellence in rural advertising.

A visit to AM, marked by interaction with its functionaries, offers rare insights into the Rural Indian Market. R V Rajan, managing director, is eminently qualified to speak on the subject. Rajan came to Madras in 1974 as a senior vice-president (south), Grand Canyon Echart. His job entailed frequent travels to rural markets. Sixty per cent of his clients like Shaw Wallace (fertilisers and agro-chemicals) and MRF (bullock cart and tractor tyres) had operations in rural areas; their customers were farmers.

In 1986, Rajan started his own agency Anugrah. His contacts became his patrons.

Consumer electronics major Philips was then seeking to sell both black & white and colour televisions and music systems in rural India. The time coincided with ad major Madison's search for an agency that specialised in rural advertising. Presto, Anugrah Madison was born. Thirteen years on, Rajan says he has not had enough of Rural India. "We will not canvas for work in the urban market. If it comes to us, we will do it," he says.

Back to Philips. For five decades, the brand catered to high-end segments of the market, though its audio products were ubiquitous in rural areas. The era of television had dawned and BPL was the market leader in 1985-95.

"It was a very interesting case study for us. We had to leverage the strength Philips had in the field of audio for pushing its television sales in rural India," recalls Rajan.

Sporting icon Sachin Tendulkar was the mascot of Philips then. Adverts featuring Tendulkar were very popular among the urban people. However, an AM survey revealed that matinee idol 'Superstar' Rajnikant was more popular among Tamil Nadu's rural masses than Tendulkar.

But AM did not scramble to sign on the movie star. Instead, it promoted Philips television as Enga Veettu Superstar (Tamil, for superstar of the family). There was no mention of Rajnikant, nor was his photo used anywhere in the advert. The very word 'superstar' was enough to remind people of Rajnikant.

Rajan ruled out ads on satellite television channels: dish antennae were yet to sprout on rural rooftops. "It is difficult to attract the rural market. Unlike the urban market where the aspiration levels and behaviour patterns of the people, especially the youth, are the same all over the country, rural India behaves differently. What appeals to the rural people in Tamil Nadu may not appeal to those in Andhra Pradesh. For example, the slogan Enga Veettu Superstar will not appeal to the Andhra people because their superstar was the late N T Rama Rao. The reigning actor is Chiranjeevi who is the 'Megastar'. So, we changed our slogan to megastar."

AM's executives would spend a great deal of time in rural areas, interacting with villagers, eating their food, drinking their drinks, talking their lingo and generally observing each and every aspect of life. They discovered that cinema is an inextricable part of life. Typically, life in a south Indian village moves at a leisurely pace. So fast-paced adverts won't work -- that was a lesson.

Educating the rural market is more challenging, says Rajan. "It is easy to influence urban people because of their exposure to television and periodicals. But in rural areas, an ad agency has to develop direct contact with the people."

Anugrah Madison discovered that women and children were found to be the demand generators, but it was man who decided the brand. He did that after consultations with other male members in society. The rural market was two-tiered: the higher end comprised opinion-leaders. The Old Order was made up of successful farmers, village legislature members and elders. The New Order comprised youngsters who go to the nearest town to study in a college or work. These are the people who come back to the village with news about the latest consumer products, the most popular brands and "in-things".

Anugrah Madison would organise "Philips Super Shows" in towns like Salem, Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tirunelveli. Opinion leaders and Philips dealers would be heard out. The general public would be invited to have a dekko at the latest products. The people would get enthralled by their favourite film stars' shows on the television sets. Word of mouth publicity would later update the entire village.

Next strategy was to communicate directly with the masses through wall paintings, radio, regional press and rural cinema. A van equipped with audio-visual gadgetry would tour 4,000 villages. "The government had by then popularised vans which were used to propagate the family planning programme. We knew vans were the most effective interactive medium you could have in rural areas," remembers Rajan.

Advertisment colouring competitions for children and jingle singing opportunities for aspirants followed.

At the end of the six-months-long campaign, sales of Philips colour televisions went up by 27 per cent, those of B&W sets by 15 per cent and of audio products by 60 per cent. All this at a time when the consumer durables market was recording a negative growth. "But Philips registered a positive growth in places where we ran campaign," recalls Rajan.

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