Product Decisions:
1. Small Unit Packaging:
Small packs are preferred due to the following reasons:
i. Small packs help the rural consumer to pick the product at affordable price.
ii. Individual use products like shampoo; toilet soaps, etc. are bought in smaller size.
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iii. Small packs are easy to display and they increase the visual appeal.
iv. Small packs are convenient to retailer to do his business.
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To illustrate, Cavin Kare introduced shampoo in 4 ml sachets at 0.50 paise, Rasna is now available in sachet at Rs 1, Ponds introduced 20 gm talcum powder, and Tiger biscuit is available in four biscuits pack at Rs 1.
2. New Product Design:
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The products are designed as per the rural lifestyle.
To illustrate, PVC shoes and chappals are designed to work in adverse conditions, LG electronics launched “Sampoorna” TV that can withstand power fluctuations, and Philips introduced small refrigerators especially for rural consumers.
3. Sturdy Products:
Sturdiness of a product is an important factor for rural consumers. The rural consumers believe that heavier the product higher the power and durability. To illustrate, Bullet motorcycle is popular in village due to its ruggedness, Escorts has positioned their motorcycle “Rajdoot” as a tough vehicle, Rural consumer prefer dry battery cell, which are heavy, and Eveready found that heavy brass torches (Jeevan Saathi) were more popular with farmers, because of sturdiness and the salvage value.
4. Utility Oriented Products:
Rural consumers are more concerned with the utility of the product and its appearance. To illustrate, Philips introduced low cost radio “Bahadur” with only medium wave receiver, which was failed and found that rural consumer purchase radio not only for news but also for entertainment.
5. Brand Name:
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Rural consumers are more brand loyalists than urban consumer. The brand name should instantly be understood by the rural consumers. Rural consumers are unfamiliar with English and absurd names. Even the brand names are localized in day today speaking. To illustrate, Everyday battery with a cat symbol – rural consumers remember it as ‘billi wali battery’, Lifebuoy soap – rural consumers remember it as ‘lal saboon’, and Mahindra tractor’s brand ‘Bhumiputra’. Slogan of Red Label Tea “jiyo mere lal” proved very effective to promote sale.
Thus, the rural customers want products to be simple, easy to use, visually identifiable and affordable. New product development helps the marketer to attract the customers. Godrej came out with Chotu Cool, a refrigerator; HPCL came out with a 5kg cooking-gas cylinder; Jugad, a rural transport in North India, was devised by a new entrepreneur; Washing machine was used to skim butter from curd; and banks developed Kisan Credit cards.
For packaging, plastic and tetra packs are new mediums; and low- and high-density polyethylene bags and films are also used. Plastic packaging helps in waterproofing, provides effective barriers to vapours, lightweight, and is sunlight resistant.
Duplicate and Counterfeit Products in Rural Markets:
Spurious products are the copy of established brand name at a cost of few thousand rupees and sold it in the rural market. This duplication takes place in all sectors and especially in FMCG, food items and medicines.
Counterfeiting is a kind of duplication where the fake products bear the identical name of the original product, its packaging, graphics, color pattern, design and even same name and address as the genuine manufacturer. A pass-off product is one that comes with a few minor changes from the original product. The slight changes are made to avoid legal problems.