India's rural market is not new to marketers. Almost a decade ago, management expert C.K. Prahalad urged companies consider the revenue potential of bottom-of-the-pyramid customers. In 2007, McKinsey & Co. highlighted the opportunities that exist in rural India in its report, "The 'Bird of Gold': The Rise of India's Consumer Market." In the past few years, many companies have seen these predictions bear fruit, and started banking on the rural economy to provide a cushion for any slowdown experienced in urban India.
Now, a recent study by management consulting firm Accenture titled, "Profitably Selling to India's Rural Customers: Hidden Lessons From the Masters," suggests that more than two-thirds of companies in India are looking to rapidly expand their businesses in rural markets - more firms than any time ever in the country's history.
The report notes that increasing income, higher aspirations and better infrastructure are resulting in a better business environment in rural India. Since 2000, GDP has grown faster in rural India than in urban areas - a 6.2% compound average growth rate (CAGR) compared with 4.7% in the cities. Between 2010 and 2012, spending in rural India was $69 billion, while $55 billion was spent by the nation's urban population.
The report cautions, however, that simply having a presence in rural India is not adequate to attract consumers living there; companies need to acquire "deep customer and market insights" and develop "transformational strategies to master these markets." According to the report, a typical mistake that companies tend to make is to treat rural consumers as a single homogenous market. They also tend to offer the same value proposition to rural consumers as they do to their urban counterparts.
A few months ago, at a Nielsen India conference titled, "Consumer 360 India," held in New Delhi, speakers noted that there are several wrong notions regarding rural consumers. Prashant Singh, vice president of Nielsen India, said: "Contrary to the myth that rural Indians prefer [products packaged in] small packs and sachets, the consumers there actually prefer the large packs, [which] offer value for money."
According to Accenture, three key enablers for reaching, acquiring and retaining rural customers are as follows: adapting organizational structure and leadership buy-in, creating a winning talent management strategy, and using technology to create advantage. Sanjay Dawar, managing director of Accenture's business consulting practice in India, suggests that "the unprecedented speed of change in rural markets also demands unprecedented agility."
Dawar notes that rural markets lack adequate physical and social infrastructure and therefore distribution of services across these markets is very costly and challenging. "Companies expanding in rural markets should therefore focus their geographic reach and more effectively invest in understanding the segment-specific nuances in those areas. They should then prioritize their channel partnership strategy to strengthen the capabilities and reliability needed to reach customers in the last mile."
Those who have been most successful in these markets have gone beyond the traditional selling approaches, Dawar points out, adding that collaboration will also play a critical role. "To expand their reach while optimizing resources, companies will have to pursue non-traditional partnerships, even with competitors, and work with local organizations as channel partners to capture scale opportunities early on."
The report further notes that "companies that have proved most successful in rural markets have helped improve rural consumers' standard of living - by creating jobs, building social infrastructure or providing business opportunities." It suggests that to foster these kinds of improvements, "companies need to align their long-term interests with the community's development to gain its trust and commitment. This alignment builds synergistic relationships based on shared goals and aspirations."
Com Truise transforms the throbbing blue eyed soul of Midnight to Monaco into an anxious, 3AM club banger. In typical Truise fashion the song opens with interwoven drum samples fracturing beneath spaced out arpeggiators. What holds the track together is the pop style, nightclub vocals, from Midnight to Monaco, recalling 90s acts like Soul Decision. Cruise is a master of refashioning old sounds and bringing a new perspective to 80's synths. Not unlike a glitchier, Jan Hammer tune, this is a real nighttime song for the summer. Check it:
Thick and foggy, Beverly's latest single is pure guitar pop at its best. Like a sleepier Paula Cole song, played near an idling chainsaw, this tune is both delicate and jagged. There are hints of Lush here, yet less of the psychedelia and more of the moonscaped pop. It would be easy to label a song like this as shoegaze, but it feels much more like a forgotten cut off Gish, or Belong. While everyone waits for the summer club bangers to trickle onto the net, its nice to grasp onto some serious rawk. The video captures a jaded songstress dealing with heartbreak in a rural town. Slow-motion shots of hip locals at the bar and fall folliage take on an almost sinister vibe here, though its hard to place quite why. Take a look and have listen right here:
As Yumi Zouma sails closer to the release of the their debut LP, they drop this breezy new single, Keep It Close To Me. With a propulsive beat and cloud-like chord progression, Zouma maintain their own brand of glassy-disco. Like Saint Etienne, Yumi Zouma has a keen sense of how to blend the best aspects of house and twee for light, yet poignant pop songs. Look out for new tunes from the New Zealanders this Spring and hopefully it will help us all inch closer to Summer!!
Here's a new clip from the Swedish darkwave connoisseurs, Lust for Youth. Preparing for their new LP, Compassion, out tomorrow, LFY have been peppering the web with infectious singles. Sudden Ambitions, feels very Lust For Youth. The mid tempo appregiators, the baritone drawl, and trebbly bass reminiscent of New Order, are all hallmark qualities of recent tracks from the group. What makes Lust for Youth most interesting is not their effortless ability to recreate goth-pop music from the 80s, but more their continued production of solid, head-bob worthy, pop tunes. The vacancy left in their music allows for icy stabs to really undulate through the melody, and singer Hannes Norrvide’s voice to command the listeners attention. This is a group that will surely continue to grow its audience. I'd watch for them to be playing much larger stages this summer and into the future. The video here has a very Tough Alliance vibe, with shadowy projections against the band, and a fascination with team swiming. Have a gander:
Cryptic and sensual, Shocking Pinks, latest single is the sort of song you crave from a group like this. Double Vision is quite literally two competing tonal themes working harmoniously together. The drums erupt in stuttering bursts, reminiscent of Kanye's Paranoid, before giving way to an infectious, off kilter bass groove. It seems like the beginning of a stark disco track, but before long the whole tune is echoing with liquid guitars and synths. This combination of dance music and atmospheric sounds is nothing new for Shocking Pinks, its simply that it works so well here. This is a tune I can't get enough of, and whether there is another version of Double Vision or not, this is only one that matters. Its time to let go of the winter and slink in the Spring, and what better way to do so than with this mopey, club banger:
Its not a new year, without out a new track from Part Time! Mr Loca sets sail with a breezy ballad about giving up the ghost of a past babe. Lush guitar strokes and harmonized "ooOo's" bring to mind The Field Mice, or earlier, Donnie and Joe Emmerson. As usual Part Time is easy listening and It's Alright With Me is another track that will lodge in your skull.
Long running Big Beat Mancunians, The Chemical Brothers finally put forth a clip for their reinvigorated single Wide Open. Wide Open, in typical Chemical Brothers' fashion is expansive with its sound, as large square and saw synth tones punctuate a melody around Beck's voice. The vibe here is far from abrasive, with a warm, repetitive progression that recalls Royksopp, or Gui Boratto. The video is a stirring visualization of dancer's metamorphosis from a human, to a porous elasticated being. It's a slightly unnerving transition from organic to synthetic person, yet the dancer's elegant movements remind us that she has remained human, despite such drastic change. Its a scene that brings to mind the film, Ex Machina, where a robotic woman endeavors to discover her true place among the human race and in the end still falls somewhere between man and machine (even after globbing on bits of skin to cover-up her metal parts). Beck, who's disconcerted drawl is typically associated with guitar based songs, lends himself perfectly to this mid-tempo electronica, using his voice as an almost extra layer of instrumentation, rather than a stand-alone part of the song. It's really a gorgeous track, with an addictive quality not unlike Julian Casablancas's work with Daft Punk. Check it now: