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Emerging Rural Mobile Market in India

2009-10-03T15:54:00.002+05:30

The Indian mobile market has continued to witness rapid increase in its subscriber base over the past few years, largely due to the declining mobile tariffs and availability of low cost handsets in the country. The country saw addition of an average of around 10 Million subscribers per month in its mobile subscriber base during 2008 with penetration approaching saturation in urban India. With this, mobile operators in the country are now vying rural India as their next area for growth in the near future. Meanwhile, a number of mobile handset manufacturers have been working to cover the untapped rural mobile market, which will be the major driver for Indian mobile market in coming years.

According to the latest study on sector called, “Emerging Rural Mobile Market in India”, the mobile market in rural India has significant potential with number of subscribers anticipated to grow at a CAGR of around 32% during 2009 to 2012. The report thoroughly discusses about the factor which will drive the growth of rural mobile market over the forecasted period.

The research highlights that the success mantra for rural mobile market in India lies in the operators’ service pricing models coupled with the availability of low cost handsets that support affordable access for rural areas. It is forecasted that sales of mobile handsets in rural India will grow at CAGR of around 17% from 2009 to 2012. Availability of low-cost battery efficient handsets will drive the future sales in this segment.

Posted on September 9, 2009 by market report

Source:http://www.articleshub.org/article/2017/Emerging-Rural-Mobile-Market-in-India.html

Precautions for Social Media Campaign

2009-08-05T19:05:00.004+05:30

5 social media campaign killers

Campaign killer No. 1: Putting tactics ahead of strategy
You come to work one morning, and there's a forwarded email newsletter from someone in executive management sitting in your inbox, accompanied by a single question -- "What are we doing on Twitter?"
It doesn't have to be Twitter. It can be any social media vehicle. The problem arises when that simple question causes a major fire drill within marketing to figure out Twitter without the benefit of an overarching social media strategy.

Marketing departments often experience a lot of pressure to operate both reactively and tactically. After all, every moment that you're not on Twitter represents an opportunity for a competitor to figure out how to leverage the channel to steal market share.
Additionally, if senior management asks about a specific vehicle, it's usually because they think there's some merit in being there -- why disappoint? Further, many companies have difficulty figuring out who should be in charge of social media within the organization. Someone else from another department (customer service? corporate communications?) could propose a Twitter program before marketing does and end up steering social media programs going forward.
If any of these things are going on within your company, it's tempting to try to figure out the tactic before the strategy is in place. Don't.

An approved social media strategy is a must before any significant programs go live. Without it, companies can't effectively evaluate vehicles, figure out how their contribution to the mix builds the business, or measure their effectiveness. In such a vacuum, tactical programs can at best hope to be dismissed as mere experiments or at worst be deemed dismal failures that didn't produce favorable ROI.
Of course, if you already have a social media strategy in place before the questions come, dealing with them is relatively easy.

Campaign killer No. 2 :Dishonesty
Here's one of the fundamental axioms behind Underscore's playbook when we give social media advice to clients. If the client refuses to adopt it, we stop work:
You will never use [social media] to:
· Obscure the truth
· Spread an untruth
· Propagate rumors with a reckless disregard for the truth

It's a strong stance to take against dishonesty, but it's best for everyone in the end. Why, though?
Putting aside any ethical issues for a second, the internet follows a model where millions of people can contribute their own commentary and fact-checking to any two-way dialogue. In a distributed fashion, skeptics will quickly discover and tear apart any factually incorrect statements or attempts to mislead.
If you were to use social media techniques to propagate a statement that your company made $50 million in sales last year when you really made $20 million, know that there's no shortage of internet users who will refer back to publicly available information to refute your claim and call you on the carpet for making it. Continuing to assert an untruth when you should be copping to a mistake will just make it worse.

Campaign killer No. 3 :Commitment issues
You usually hear the term "commitment issues" in relationship advice columns, but I use this term to describe a social media campaign killer that can be particularly deadly.
Most social media vehicles require an indefinite commitment on the part of the marketer. That is, once you turn the mic on, it's difficult to turn it off without experiencing some form of backlash from people who want to interact with a brand or company. Thus, it's absolutely critical that marketers understand the magnitude of their commitment to the social space before they make it.

Abandoning a Twitter account, even if it's just for a few weeks, can cause speculation about your commitment to followers and fans. Just like you might wonder what happened to a friend who suddenly stopped posting Facebook status updates after months of telling you what he's up to every 15 minutes, people wonder what happened to brands when they suddenly stop contributing.

The best way to ensure that commitment issues are addressed is to give marketers a very detailed picture of what the commitment to a given social media vehicle will entail. Will opening up the channel require near-constant monitoring? How about the expectation of frequency of posting? What percentage of posts will be expected to be brand news and what percentage will be conversation with brand fans? What's the expectation for brand turnaround if someone asks a question? 24 hours? 24 minutes?

These are all critical questions if a marketer is to adequately understand what commitments are necessary to adequately leverage a particular vehicle. They need to be asked up front, and just as importantly, they need to be part of a cost-benefit analysis so that marketers can ensure individual vehicles don't become money pits that gobble up needed resources faster than anticipated.
It's also key for marketers to understand what could happen if they suddenly do need to turn the microphone off for legal or for other business-critical reasons (a change in control of the company, perhaps).
Failure to do so could result in mismatched expectations between the brand and the brand's fans.

Campaign killer No. 4 : Excessive adspeak
You know corporate happy-talk when you see it. So does everybody else.
If you doubt the ability of the average Joe to spot adspeak and immediately filter it out, just load a web page on your favorite ad-supported site and make note of how quickly your brain figures out which page elements are editorial and which are advertising. Or maybe look to your email inbox and think about how intuitive it is to the human brain what is signal and what is channel noise.

People use the internet to communicate with human beings, not ad copy. That's why the most successful campaigns in the social media space are built around the personalities of people who work at the company, not the company mascot, a ghostwriter, or some other surrogate for the real thing.
No offense to the copywriters reading iMedia Connection, but when our brands speak in the social media sphere with scripted ad copy, they do two things:
1. They set off our advertising early warning systems, which blunts the message severely and turns people off, and
2. They send a secondary message that the brand views social media as a one-way medium in which the consumer's voice isn't heard.

When we don't speak in authentic voices, it can be counterproductive to a brand. People who seek to connect through social networks do want to align with brands that they like, but this doesn't mean the right approach is to slap up a brand page filled with adspeak.
Remember that social media is all about conversation, not polished, one-way ad messages.

Campaign killer No. 5 :Trusting automation over human beings
This is a tough one for marketers. When dealing with the sometimes overwhelming volume of conversation, our tendency is to want to automate things rather than expend human resources on looking at all the bits and pieces. In many cases, this can be a pitfall.

Don't get me wrong -- in many instances, automation can be good. For example, the use of listening platforms like Radian6 or Cymfony to find relevant brand conversations is a good thing. But we can't automate everything.
Look what happened to Skittles, for example. The brand launched a multi-faceted social media campaign in which people who tweeted about Skittles could find their tweets featured on the Skittles homepage. Before I proceed with my critique, I should say that the Skittles people had their hearts in the right place. Featuring naked conversations about a brand on its own homepage is a step in the right direction with respect to transparency and authenticity.
Which road was it that was paved with good intentions?

Rather than focusing on having an authentic conversation about the brand, enthusiasts and detractors alike found more value in trying to get their mention of the brand on the Skittles homepage. Once they figured out that the technology being used simply posted mentions of the brand to the homepage without prior restraint, the floodgates opened and the emphasis shifted toward using the Skittles homepage as a bullhorn.

Your brand fans know when you're automating things. And it can be a message to them that they're not worth conversing with. It's a neat idea to, for instance, auto-retweet any mention of your brand via your company's Twitter feed, but people quickly figure out this is going on, and the griefers and brand detractors will quickly exploit this.
The rule of thumb is this: If you're considering using automation as a substitute for conversation, don't.

Conclusion: There's a common thread running through all of these campaign killers. They can all be avoided by having a comprehensive social media strategy in place before considering any specific vehicles. If that strategy is aligned with the basic tenets of the social media sphere -- transparency, authenticity, and dedication to conversation, it's comparatively easy to steer clear of the pitfalls.
Source: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/24000.asp

we are looking for matchboxes..

2009-07-12T19:16:00.002+05:30

Rmai wants to archive communication material available at local level, match boxes, packs, soap wrappers, posters, merchandising material...if you think it is unique ,click/scan /post it to us...Best entry may win the prize....

How do you read this budget..

2009-07-09T21:57:00.003+05:30

If I am to go by the vernacular press, it seems Pranav da has opened the bag for rural India. What do you make out of this budget? your views are important to us, write in to us and let the worls know what you think..

New Age Solution for Analysing Rural Market

2009-06-09T21:12:00.001+05:30

http://www.gisdevelopment.net/application/business/mi03031.htm

Interesting Market Statistics

2009-05-19T16:24:00.001+05:30

Here are some interesting market statistics sourced from some leading business dailies and magazines .

Market size of Indian Egg Market : Rs 10,000 crores
Source:Economic Times ( ET) July 26 2008

Total Mobile users in India : 270 million
Source :ET 24 June 2008

Mobile Ad market size : Rs 40 crore
Source:ET 24 June 2008

Courier Market Size : Rs 5000 crore.
Source:ET 26 June 2008

Indian mobile handset market size : Rs 15,000 crore
Source:ET 26 July 2008

Indian Taxi business market size : Rs 9000 crore
Source:ET 23 June 2008

Number of Taxis in Indian roads : Approximately 2,35,000
Source:ET 23 June 2008

Number of electric scooters in Indian roads : 1.10 lakh
Source:ET 23 June 2008

Kid's Apparel Market in India : Rs 27,000 crore.

Organized Kids apparel market : Rs 500 crore
Source:Business Line

Indian stationary market size : Rs 9000 crore
Source:Business Line July 31 2008

Notebook ( paper) market size : Rs 3000 crore
Source:Business Line July 31 2008

Home Interior market size : $ 9 billion

Magazine Advertising market size : $ 302 million
Source:Business Line July 31 2008

Indian Wine Market : 1 mn cases
Source:Economic Times

Pencil Market size in India : Rs 400 crore
Source:Business Line 31 July 2008

Printer and Copier Market size : Rs 1800 crore
Source:Business Line 31 July 2008

Wedding Management Industry Market size : Rs 400 crore
Source:ET July 31 2008

Uniform Industry market size : Rs 10,000 crore
Source: ET 31 July 2008

When rural market has potential,then what is stopping marketers??

2009-04-25T09:52:00.004+05:30

The Census defined urban India as - "All the places that fall within the administrative limits of a municipal corporation, municipality, cantonment board etc or have a population of at least 5,000 and have at least 75 per cent male working population in outside the primary sector and have a population density of at least 400 per square kilometer.

"Rural India, on the other hand, comprises all places that are not urban!"
Facts:
The Indian rural market today accounts for only about Rs 8 billion of the total ad pie of Rs 120 billion, thus claiming 6.6 per cent of the total share.
53 per cent - FMCG sector,
59 per cent durables sale,
100 per cent agricultural products

When one zeroes in on the companies that focus on the rural market, a mere handful names come to mind. Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) is top of the mind with their successful rural marketing projects like 'Project Shakti' and 'Operation Bharat'.
The lynchpin of HLL's strategy has been to focus on penetrating the market down the line and focusing on price point. Furthermore, activating the brand in the rural market through activities, which are in line with the brand itself, is what sums up HLL's agenda as far as the rural market is concerned

Amul is another case in point of aggressive rural marketing. Some of the other corporates that are slowly making headway in this area are Coca Cola India, Colgate, Eveready Batteries, LG Electronics, Philips, BSNL, Life Insurance Corporation, Cavin Kare, Britannia and Hero Honda to name a few.

Until some years ago, the agenda for rural market was to take a short-cut route by pushing urban communication to the rural market by merely transliterating the ad copy. Hence advertising that is rooted in urban sensitivities didn't touch the hearts and minds of the rural consumer.

While, this is definitely changing, the process is slow.

The greatest challenge for advertisers and marketers continues to be in finding the right mix that will have a pan-Indian rural appeal. Coca Cola, with their Aamir Khan ad campaign succeeded in providing just that (yara da tashan).

Corporates are still apprehensive to "Go Rural." A few agencies that are trying to create awareness about the rural market and its importance are O&M Outreach, Sampark Marketing and Advertising Solutions Pvt Ltd, MART, Rural Relations, Linterland and RC&M, to name a few.
Also, the first four agencies mentioned above have come together to form The Rural Network. The paramount objective of the Network is to get clients who are looking for a national strategy in rural marketing and help them in executing it across different regions.

Interestingly, the rural market is growing at a far greater speed than its urban counterpart. "All the data provided by various agencies like NCAER, Francis Kanoi etc shows that rural markets are growing faster than urban markets in certain product categories at least.

"In 2000, ITC took an initiative to develop direct contact with farmers who lived in far-flung villages in Madhya Pradesh. ITC's E-choupal was the result of this initiative."

Clearly the main challenge that one faces while dealing with rural marketing is the basic understanding of the rural consumer who is very different from his urban counterpart. Also distribution remains to be the single largest problem marketers face today when it comes to going rural.
"Reaching your product to remote locations spread over 600,000 villages and poor infrastructure - roads, telecommunication etc and lower levels of literacy are a few hinges that come in the way of marketers to reach the rural market

Citing other challenges in rural marketing, Campaigns have to be tailor made for each product category and each of the regions where the campaign is to be executed. Therefore a thorough knowledge of the nuances of language, dialects and familiarity with prevailing customs in the regions that you want to work for is essential.
The other challenge is the reach and the available means of reaching out to these markets, hence the video van is one of the very effective means of reaching out physically to the rural consumers."

The fact of the matter remains that when compared to the Indian urban society, which is turning into a consumerism society; the rural consumer will always remain driven by his needs first and will therefore be cost conscious and thrifty in his spending habits.
"Decision-making is still conscious and deliberated among the rural community. But nevertheless, the future no doubt lies in the rural markets, since the size of the rural market is growing at a good pace.

"Although the melting of the urban - rural divide will take a while, this is not for want of the availability of the means but for want of the rural consumer's mindset to change; which has its own logic, which is driven by tradition, custom and values that are difficult to shed," he points out.

For HLL, a one rupee or a five rupee sachet or the Kutti Hamam (the small Hamam) helps in giving the consumers a trial opportunity. While it does help in generate volume but not in terms of values. "Till the time that volume - value equation is managed better, the CPC (cost per contact) is preventing anybody to look at rural at a large scale activation programme

So the fact remains that the rural market in India has great potential, which is just waiting to be tapped. Progress has been made in this area by some, but there seems to be a long way for marketers to go in order to derive and reap maximum benefits. Moreover, rural India is not so poor as it used to be a decade or so back. Things are sure a changing!

Need to reach rural Indian consumer?

2009-04-20T22:50:00.002+05:30

Think mobile advertising! !!

Most of you are aware that India in the midst of mobile revolution. Mobile subscribers in India are growing at nearly 100% year on year and rural subscriber growth is taking lion’s share of it.
Recently TRAI announced that India has reached 250 million subscriber targets much before scheduled time. This pace of growth is expected to remain for atleast a few years from now.

Traditional advertising is now giving way to mobile advertising, which is more personal and better targeted. The conversion rate for mobile advertisement is expected to be much higher than print or TV advertising.This opens up a huge avenue for advertisers to market their product or get their message across.

Take the example of Fair & Lovely scholarships ad campaign, promoted via Reliance Mobile, which got selected as a finalist for the US-based 2007 Mobile Marketing Association Awards. (via agencyFaqs).

Reliance Mobile — which has an active subscriber base of over 35 million and 20 million Reliance World application enabled hand-sets — executed a pan India ad campaign from mid August to mid September, 2007, on Reliance Mobile phone network.

1) Clickable banner ads in various languages and a special Fair & Lovely Scholarship Zone was created for R World. The banner ads were linked to a microsite where interested students were supposed to provide their details like annual family income and the course they intend to pursue.

2) SMS marketing using Short Code (51234) and Instant Voice Response (IVR) system in some cities were also used to inform students about the scholarships.

Fair & Lovely scholarships mobile ad campaign generated around 50,000 leads out of which 60 per cent were from tier II and III cities and 40 per cent from urban cities
So next time you are thinking of reaching the villages and small town audience in India , Think Mobile !

Results of District Level Houshold Survey - III 2007-08 (DLHS - III)

2009-03-06T09:08:00.000+05:30

useful link

http://mohfw.nic.in/dlhs/dlhs08_release_1.htm

this data throws a lot of light on house hold numbers. have a look

RMAI is Teaching

2009-03-06T08:54:00.003+05:30

This is for the benefit of all educational Institutes , RMAI is offering full credit courses at MICA , S P Jain Inst. Register Yourself and get benefit of best faculty recahing out to your students.
RMAI is also giving out summer projects through fellow members, Institutes can register for group projects also.

Your friendly blog

2009-03-06T06:54:00.002+05:30

This blog can only survive if we all belive in sharing information around us . The events you get to know of , the campaigns you are doing and get to know of. Please send your contribution.
Now the blog will be updated every MONDAY. so make it a habit to visit us once a week, now that is not asking for too much...

meltdown in rural land

2009-03-06T06:53:00.001+05:30

RMAI – MART initiative
5h March ,2009 . New Delhi.

Post Mumbai he event was a success story. With fellow members taking time out we had some prestigious company of clients and academicians. As always, some important questions put up by people from media . Though the study was a merely an indicator but it dealt with the subject by picking up secondary threads and putting the larger picture open for discussion.

International journal of rural management

2009-03-06T06:52:00.001+05:30

This issue of the journal of creative communications published by sage publications has articles by Tej K Singh . A name that is familiar for his linguistic findings on rural media.
Surprisingly the issue also announces the international journal of rural management. For those who are not familiar with sage publications please log on to their web site
http://irm.sagepub.com/
sage has some excellent books on media, communication and social and developmental communication.
The inaugural issue deals with case study of apna bazaar , text and context of rural development programmes in India.
Journal is being edited by Mr Debiprasad Mishra of IRMA , Gujrat

2009-02-18T13:58:00.003+05:30

Will the economic melt down effect rural india? RMAI with the help of MART put a research presenationto clients and agencies. I was a very interactive session and a house full audience.

Press has already reported the story, just click on any of the links

RMAI has appeared in the following media:

http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2009/newsfullstory.php?id=1234871271

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/17/stories/2009021751401700.htm

http://www.afaqs.com/perl/news/story.html?sid=23356

http://www.eventfaqs.com/index.php?rlink=topstory/top_stories_inner.php&csrid=1340

forth coming events

2009-02-04T06:33:00.003+05:30

Our president Mr Rajan informs us that there has been some querries as to how to send your contributions for the blog. It is very simple just mail it to ramaiblog@gmail.com.
Rakesh Jhanjee from Punjab informs me that HOLA MOHALLA a fair in punjab is all set to take place in March first week, it is attended by about 10 lac people . So Brands lookinf for a connect in punjab can serach for deatails.
Rural olympics at killaraipur is now been postponed and will happen from 12th of Feb
Suraj kund crafts mela in gurgaon is on till the 15th Feb

January- flip of Mela Calendar

2009-01-21T05:54:00.005+05:30

Here is a piece from IMPACT , masters of Melas(fairs and Festivals)

January is full of Mela Events all across India. In south Melas centre around Pongal, while in north around pious month Magh.
Along with Allahabad Mag Mela You can reach out to millions of audiences in unison at Gorkpur Khichidi Mela, 300 KMS away from Allahabad. Famous Gorakhnath Temple comes alive with believers of Nath Sampraday from all across UP & Bihar. The Mela at district town Gorkhpur becomes hub of trade & commercial activities. With religious orchestras, joyrides, food stalls the temple compound has designated exhibition area for companies to put up stalls.
Out here in Punjab 3 day long Maghi Muktsar Mela in Mukhtsar receives 5 lac & more visitors in span of 3 days.
Celebrating the sacrifice of 40 followers’it starts 1 day prior to Lohri. A typical Mela with circus, soulful Kirtan groups & langar has agri,durable & auto brands wooing the prosperous vibrant rural visitors from Punjab.
Visitors of varied profile have varied reason to come in these Melas- not all come for pure religious reason- for some it is time to unwind with family & friends – for others its entertainment or simply what is new…?
No thumb rule participation plan for Melas…..
For example Visibility thru banners in Allahabad Mela – not advisable, you are taking cudgels with law (locally prohibited), the same banners can be a medium of visibility for Khichidi mela Gorkhpur. With vending points beyond Ghats for a beverage brand could be a hit idea in Allahabad mela but in Maghi Mukhtsar same initiative will have no takers due to free langer.
Avenues of doing wonders are vast! But Typicality & past trends of each Mela need to be taken into consideration, this helps to devise an effective brand participation plan

THANKYOU TEAM IMPACT: CAN WE HAVE A LIST OF FORTH COMING MELAS

RMAI on NDTV

2009-01-09T10:07:00.001+05:30

Nikhil from MART sends this information...

We are pleased to inform you that ‘All About Ads’ on NDTV Profit will focus on rural marketing in the program to be aired on 11th Jan at 1.30 PM (repeat telecast on 15th Jan at 5.30PM). The program content covers the Rural Marketing Association of India, Awards 2008 in which the winning rural initiatives will be presented
Thank you nikhil

A salute to rural relations team

2009-01-08T07:27:00.002+05:30

I reproduce and article in times of India with due credit to them as it is in the larger interest

Gouri Agtey Athale PUNE : AN EXTENSION from getting people to donate personal computers to village schools is to get them to donate a library, specially when all it costs is Rs 5,000. The only condition is that the donation has to be in the name of a woman and the library will be monitored by a school girl. “Our target is to open a library on the basis of a single donation every other day. We began in November and so far have libraries in 14 village schools across the state,” said Rural Relations’ founder, Pradeep Lokhande. The organisation is a 15-year old marketing company with a presence in 11 states. The Rs 5,000 donation allows the authority to buy 180 books actually worth Rs 7,000, thanks to discounts. Under the Gyan-Key (the key to opening up a world of learning) project, a list of books is given to the prospective donor, indicating the range of subjects and genres. “On an average, schools work 200 days every year so 180 books, which form a substantial collection, do go around the school. Moreover, students in a village school come from surrounding hamlets and this means that the books go really far in terms of the audience being reached,” Mr Lokhande said. Having started off with the idea of getting people to donate computers to village schools, Mr Lokhande said the focus is on the secondary school student, the 11-18 year old. “The Gyan-key library has been set up to create a fondness for reading especially since communication skills are reducing through television watching which is a one-way communication. Children have to be shown there is a lot they can learn through reading non-curriculum books,” Mr Lokhande said. The scheme has received a ‘global’ response, with donors sending off their drafts from as far away as New Zealand and the US. Although the scheme will not turn down individual book donations, he said. “People donating a book or two is not going to be enough. The donation of this sum means that students get a substantial number of books, enough to build a library in one go,” he added. Mr Lokhande is tying in several of his projects into this one. He is hoping to instil self-confidence among girl students by making them monitors of the library, while building a relationship with an urban woman, the donor. Moreover, under the ongoing Non-Resident Villager (NRV) project, which assumes that everyone comes from a village howsoever long ago, an NRV can donate such a library to the village of her choice. For donors like Vinayak Raskar, who owns an advertising agency in Pune, donating Rs 5,000 is not a very large sum, which he has given in the name of his mother, Shakuntala Raskar. “In a village, the ratio is 1:10, which means that if one child reads a book, he discusses it with 10 other people,” Mr Raskar said. For him, as for other donors, it is word of mouth publicity, since other friends have donated after hearing of his donation. gouri.athale@timesgroup.com

Concepts and Practices

2009-01-02T09:49:00.002+05:30

Rural marketing book by Balram Dogra and karminder ghuman is being talked about a lot these days. A whole lot of case studies make this book insightful. Book is published by TATA Mc Graw Hill and is available through out.

Targeting the non urban consumer

2009-01-02T09:44:00.002+05:30

The second edition of Sanal Kumar velayudhan's book has sevral insights that are helpful. written in very easy to understand format I must say,He is a professor at IIM Kozhikode. Book contains patterns of rural behaviour, profile of market, promotion, distribution and communication. also covers haats and melas. It also covers emerging cahnnels giving access to rural markets. Published by response at Sage publications , you can order it for Rs295.

Rural marketing Books

2009-01-02T09:38:00.002+05:30

Well, First of all thanks for such a huge response, more than appreciaition one is looking for content and participation from every one. here is the series of books whic we have laid our hands on. We neither recomend any nor force you to buy, pure information make your choice..The first in the series is the most talked book by Mr. Pradeep kashyap and S. Raut. Book is piblished by biztantra and distributed by dreamtech (bt@ dreamtechpress.com) for Rs 379/. The book has been recomended by vetrans as it is written by one. This is also taken as text book. has sevral case studies and a VCD to support.

May this year.....

2009-01-02T09:23:00.005+05:30

All the fishes of the same pond live happily, meet and discuss, provide enough space for every one to swim. Create an ecosystem that is healthy clean and pollution free, nature gives the best message as depicted in this Madhubani painting fron north Bihar...thankyou flickr.com
A very very Happy New Year to you

Do you know in BIHAR 1st of Jan is celebrated as PICNIC day? How is it celebrated in your state, share with us.

Bus Branding

2008-12-31T18:41:00.002+05:30

Nothing new? well we know that but the point we are making is a complete bus branding is a better option than just the pannelstrip. it stands out. Depending on your needs you can choose buses that serve inter district or state.

use it as you like

2008-12-31T18:36:00.002+05:30

This is a common site when you have a new film release or show room being inaugrated. Circus and Magic show guys use it quite often. With a small microphone or player system it is a complete audio visual medium. A small tip- do not keep moving, be at a place ,let people hear you and then move out.

mobile utility-service

2008-12-31T18:30:00.002+05:30

In our series of using local forms of transport cycle rickshaw is presented in many ways. This is a self sustaining model. You buy the rickshaw and make the employment model. the daily earnings will repay for rickshaw as well as look after the family of the puller. If your company policy allows please do an insurance for both. it is just a small jesture ou can extend and get his loyalty for life time. A family medical policy can be of great incentive to them

ADV- Animal driven Vehicles

2008-12-31T18:26:00.002+05:30

Well not a regular feature but at times this traditional local transport is used for advertising in rural area. It has its own benefits. you can take it to places where your bigger vehicles can not go. Due to slow speed even large messages can be read. If you do use the media please ensure that the animal is not tortured, well fed and given rest. The owner may be greedy but the animal needs care.

scooter backs

2008-12-31T18:21:00.002+05:30

These scooter back wheel covers are a good frequency multipliers. On an average a scooter does about twenty kilometer of running even in a small town, exposing your communication to others who are on road. This works as a reminder media unless creative is brilliant enough to catch your attention. An inexpensive medium has a life of about six months which is not at all bad for the job it does. Experts say one visual and three to four words should be the limit.

Price on a wall painting

2008-12-30T12:38:00.002+05:30

You do some good some bad job. This painting was done in May 2007. Not too sure but is the price same? with ups and downs of markets, taxes and VATS ( which I understand Nothingh) it is quite possible that the price has changed. Elders have always advused us not to put price on a wall painting. But some times one gives up !!! don't we all know why?

Good media lasts long

2008-12-30T12:29:00.002+05:30

One of our contributor has contributed with this image. Ogilvy did some wall tiles years ago on shop fronts of cement dealers. After so many years the tiles have remained , the other comapny has come an painted the shop though but his one reamains. Shop keeper refuses to part with it. What I am surprised with is the printing that has not faded as yet. One wonders why we have stopped innovating. Tiles have been used by coffee and whisky brands in south. An effective and long lasting medium must say.

A barber's place is where men go...

2008-12-30T12:24:00.002+05:30

well nothing new in that, but one wonders why the barber or his place has not been used as a route to give out messages. people wait for their turn, listen to radio or TV and also talk to him. ( shall we say listen to him, with razor in his hand I will not take chances). Sounds great place for some product placement. Financial products, new mobile launches and if I am to look into his DNA just the right person for a word of mouth campaign. ideas dont come for free Bigwords a word of mouth agency is already into it. log on to bigwords.in and find out.

More women at haats

2008-12-30T12:19:00.002+05:30

The weekly markets are gathering more women reports one of our friends. Reasons , men have gone to other cities /states to earn money. They leave behind chldren old and women. The effect has also brought along a change in stuff that is sold in these markets, more cosmetics, readymade garments and silver ornaments. Now haats are not only men population. also in terms of shop layout the women corner is provided a peaceful corner. Point well understood.

Bags as medium

2008-12-30T12:15:00.002+05:30

Oh yes!! only when I see this I can recall people (mostly traders) using these branded bags. Tea and Beedi companies have used it. Now that I recall we have also seen some mouth freshners and gutkhas using it. Well they are sold in the market as well as given as gifts. Point is they are a moving and utility medium, what say?

POP- in rural

2008-12-30T12:03:00.002+05:30

It must be great task to devlop a POP material that catches attention, comunicate at the same time has retailers interest in the mind. Our team came across one such material. lovely work. We often see POS material with electricity connections and wires making it non usable. Also transportaion to deep down markets is it self tough. Share your thoughts and get published on the blog , journal and the web site.

Video theatres

2008-12-30T05:01:00.002+05:30

In small villages these video theatres do brisk buisness. A cd is projectd with a blasting sound system to an audence that range between 75 to125. mostly has semi or soft porn dubbed movies but day time shows are religious or good new releases. These cinema halls are quite famous and part of entertainment cycle. There is enough space aroound to create visibility and best is to run a product promotion and reward audience with cinema tickets. the bigger version of these haals are located at tehsil level if you want an organised veiwing. But this media option is wortha try.

Rural books as medium

2008-12-29T15:01:00.002+05:30

I am delighted with the information flow that is happening. have you ever used rural story or do it your self books. These books are very popular and even sold in haats and bus stands. often they are religious in nature or stories from culture and historial back ground.

You can ride on these publication, create readership or publish few of your own. This wil reach to the desired audience. My request if you have used it before do let us know.

Magh Mela Allahabad

2008-12-29T09:28:00.003+05:30

Will you be there for the holy dip on mauni amavsya. Like any other year this month long festival is celebrated with various bathing dates. People pour in from UP , BIHAR, RAJ, MP crowds satrt swelling up from the first week jan for the SANKRANT SNAN which is on 14th of jan. There are sevral shops and FMCG companies put their stalls. On their way back these pilgrims buy things for people back home. There are provisions for you to sponsor static way boards, towers, banners, Hot tea shops. You can set up stalls, but my mantra to you is "mela is about moving people- Either stop them by stealing their moment or walk with them." See you at triveni ghaats, should you need more information call sanjay Kaul at IMPACT. His team is always ready to serve with smile. after all they are not called the experts for nothing.

Gas balloons

2008-12-29T07:10:00.002+05:30

Ideally a gas balloon should be used to help people understand the location or as a land mark. Say in a mela if you are lost at least you can look up and reach to the balloon under which you have the stall. but Unicef has been using it as a date communicator for pulse polio. your suggesstions and comments are welcome.

Beauty on the road

2008-12-29T07:06:00.002+05:30

One of our team memebers spotted this beauty on the road. A water tanker with a social message jal hi jewwan hai. Fine rural art on a tanker that you can not take your eyes off.

By the way have you used fuel or water tankers as medium? Please share your experince with us.

Branding of local transport increases reach and frequency

2008-12-29T06:55:00.002+05:30

It is a well known fact that deep and wide reach with multiple frequency builds the brand and its message. Cycle rickshaw can be a very vital mesium in such need. It can go into lanes and by lanes additionaly it can play jingles and distribute brand communication. Not expensive much it can give a huge coverage. say if you keep three in evry district cost of supervison and monitoring can come down and with a pre defined route plan it can do wonders.

TEK Management is offering this service for entire UP and BIHAR

Headlines From The Heartland

2008-12-25T21:53:00.000+05:30

This book from Sevanti Ninan, talks of the small time news papers spread across the country. In 1990's a newspaper revolution began, blowing across northern and central India. When Literacy rose, communication expanded, and purchasing power climbed in these speaking states, newspaper, followed-picking up reader in small town and villages.

The book is an eye opner for those who still talk of media dark areas. Sevanti needs no introduction, She is the editor of media watch website, thehoot.org. she is a news paper columnist, researcher and foremost media analysts.

Book can be purchased from sage publications on line.

India Post

2008-12-25T19:48:00.000+05:30

Have you ever used India Post to advertise your brands and services. Meghdoot posters provide a good space to place your message. You can sponsor the Box, or the postman dress. log on to India Post web site for details.

AWARDS FUNCTION

2008-12-24T06:06:00.000+05:30

22nd DEC MUMBAI- RMAI awards for excellence in rural markets concluded.

following links give you stories

http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2008/newsfullstory.php?id=1230030570

http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/innernews.asp?storyId=88138&lmn=1&cat=5

http://www.afaqs.com/main1.html

http://www.afaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=22954

http://www.afaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=22953

http://www.eventfaqs.com/index.php?rlink=topstory/top_stories_inner.php&csrid=1158

http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?section_id=3&news_id=33482&tag=28438&pict=2

WELCOME

2008-12-23T22:46:00.000+05:30

Here we are. RMAI belives in sharing knowledge, news and information. This plat form has been created for every one who has the same vision. Just mail in your entry to us at rmaiblog@gmail.com and if found suitable (which we are sure it will) you will be on this page.

Needless to say that without your support this blog will not get enough publicity. let every one know and encourage every one to contribute.
Have a Good day.