Focussing HNIs of Rural India
Village elites are the progressive rural consumers, boasting high education and awareness levels. They desire the best in product quality, features and aesthetics. These elites are the high net worth farmers who hold large farm lands. They have high net worth in the form of assets and they sell large quantity of produce. Most entrepreneurs of rural India also come from these families but there are some who have built their fortunes by their hard work and struggle. There is another class of HNIs in Tier II and III cities. They are the executives of the corporates or government officials holding high positions. There are families as well where both the husband and wife are into jobs so these families have high incomes. The doctor families or the families whose children are studying in the high end private schools are another way of reaching the HNIs of Rural India. There is one more category of traders in all the small towns and mandis where these traders do all the business of sale and purchase. These families also make a lot of money and have good purchasing power. Focusing on these categories of people in Rural India will certainly help the marketers to reach deep down the pyramid.
The High Net-worth Farmers (HNF):
Every village have the high net worth farmers (HNF). HNFs hold 50% of the village land collectively. These farmers have large asset values and they use all the luxuries and are always in need of the latest products. The purchasing power of these people is much higher than even the average urban middle class. They use half of the total agri inputs used. They have major share of the tractor ownership and they are the families whose houses contain all the required lifestyle facilities. Focusing on HNFs need a complete different strategy. Usually they don’t even attend the farmer meetings where other marginal farmers come. They need special attention and respect for their presence to be heard. But they can be used as influencers in rural India as they are the successful ones in the village and almost everybody comes to them for the advice and everybody want to be close to them. The women in these families are also normally well educated and act as influencers or trend setters in the community. Connecting these families and creating their community would certainly help companies to influence them. Brands can use the special occasions to honour them for better reach in those villages.
The entrepreneur of Rural India:
There are many entrepreneurs in rural India who have started their own professions like millers, small scale industrialists and the mechanical workshop owners, brick kiln owners, etc. These entrepreneurs make a good amount of money and have aspirations to live a good lifestyle. These entrepreneurs can be focused for brand positioning. They are also influencers as they are known in society and have relations with many people in the form of customers, vendors and employees. These families follow all the urban trends and expend on luxuries and expensive lifestyle utilities. The focus on these entrepreneur families could actually help. But connecting and influencing them is a real challenge. They can’t be influenced the way HNFs can be influenced as they already have enough importance and honour in the society. But still they can be called on some business summits or on some family based gatherings for influence. Taking an example, an automobile brand can have an industry specific summit and call the entrepreneurs to showcase the brand during the summit. During the visit they can have a look and feel about the product. These tips may be useful to the marketers.
Senior Executives in Corporates:
Another class is of the executives in corporates like zonal heads, regional heads, etc. This class is the most difficult to influence. But it’s very easy to explain the advantages of brands to them, as they understand it very well. They are brand conscious people, therefore, selling them the brands becomes a challenge. They are well educated, aware and well-travelled people who are well versed with the utilities and the value of the brands. They understand the value of the brand in the form of utility and standard of living. In many of these families, their spouses are also in jobs so the family income is high. They understand the value of education, health and awareness. They invest a lot in the education of their children and also put a lot of money on their health. These families understand nutrition and the value of food so invest a lot on healthy food and good brands available in the market. These families can be focussed via digital and mass media campaigns. One to one could be quite challenging for them as they have less time for such activities. The 360 Degree digital model can be really useful for such people.
Salaried Couple Families:
The rise in women education have led to women doing jobs in government offices, corporates, banks, insurance companies, schools and colleges. These women with jobs create the salaried couples, where both the spouses work and have fixed salaries every month. These families save at least one salary for future and they can use one salary to run the family. These families have larger scope to purchase better things for their children and for themselves. As they have a better family income so the banks and other financial institutions also support them with finance which they take for buying their homes or buying cars in the form of home loans and car loans. Some even use personal loans to buy other lifestyle and utility things. These families’ major expense is on education but they live a decent lifestyle as well. These families can be focused and influenced using digital media, mass media or with personal touch. They are quite influenced with mass media but still they are connected with roots. So there is good impact of culture on them. The cultural fairs and the local market branding could impact them well. Even the peer influencers do work with them well. The retailers can also influence them.
Government Officials:
There is a class of government officials in rural India. They have secure jobs and get salaries always on time and many even get pensions. They are the people working in schools, electricity departments, PSUs, corporations, mandi boards, etc. This class is connected with the culture as well, but enjoy a lifestyle. They have good purchasing power and are influenced by the peer group or by the seniors. They can be influenced via mass media like TV, newspapers and now even with social media like WhatsApp and Facebook. They can also be invited to the functions in some hotels for the product displays. Normally they always go for the marketing fairs so can be influenced there as well. The one to one or door to door campaigns can also work very well on them.
CBSE and ICSE Schools in Rural India:
Rural India understands the meaning of the education and want their children to study in best of the schools. Because of this demand of best education in rural India, we could see a lot of private schools opened across the country. The best schools are affiliated to the CBSE or ICSE boards. The top layer of rural India believes in admitting their children in these schools only. These schools have become a place for marketing different products. Taking an example, stationery companies like Camlin regularly do the painting competitions on national basis in these schools. Colgate promotes its product during the healthy teeth campaign which focusses on the habit of brushing teeth twice on a daily basis. Similar activities happen in these schools connected with the brands. The innovations could help make the children your brand ambassadors. The TV media and one to one campaigns in schools could influence them very well. Many brands can be associated with better education and habit and character building of the children. The brands can even sponsor the annual programs of the schools where the children as well as their parents participate. They can get the chance to interact with the customers as well.
Professionals:
There are professionals in all Tier III and IV towns like lawyers, CAs, doctors, etc. Some families are into the same profession. Most professionals are rich and they make a good amount of money. They are living a good life style and follow the community standards. The purchasing capacity of these professionals and their families is quite good. We could focus on these professionals by sponsoring their events like Lawyer Association meetings or CA Institutes Annual Conference, etc. Brands could connect with them through their professions or through their hobbies. These people have less time to waste so if the brand is connected to their profession, it could work like “coffee for professionals”.
Traders of Rural India:
The role of traders in Rural India’s growth is tremendous. The distributor network of every brand and company, big and small, Indian or multinational, food, medicines, cement, anything which is sold, goes through these traders. The traders are the bricks of the economic structure of this country. They invest money and sell the products to the end customers. This class is the richest class of all and have enough purchasing power. They invest in every way, in property, in stocks and in products. They change professions with time and travel to distant places for business. This class is the class where the brands should focus mostly. The influence of TV and newspaper as well as the interest of using luxury items to show off the wealth is also a part of this class’s culture. Building the brands in this community would make brands much bigger as they are the biggest influencers in the market. The companies use different ways to build these influencers. Different schemes and packages are offered to connect and build distributors.
The HNIs of rural India are the most important part of the commercial activity. Although they are only 30% of the total population but own 70% of the resources of the country. They act as influencers as well. Focusing on these people will certainly help brands to reach the masses.
For more insights Read Book " Rural Market Unleashed " available on Amazon.in