Recognising the growing importance of rural communications in India, leading advertising majors are strengthening their rural advertising wings to woo advertisers. To start with, Ogilvy & Mather India (O&M) is investing on technological services to communicate and interact with rural consumers. Currently, Ogilvy Outreach, rural wing of O&M handles Hindustan Unilever?s rural communication account.
On the other hand, Linterland, Lowe?s rural wing is extending its manpower and database to meet the evolving needs of clients. In their head-on battle in rural markets, O&M and Lowe are drawing up fresh action plans to connect with rural audience in India. Yet another ad major, Mudra Max is also planning to invest in human resources and technology to handle new rural accounts. The accent seems to be on ?rural communications through new media? in the Indian ad industry.
According to industry analysts, many Indian companies primarily FMCG majors are expanding their reach to rural markets this year. ?Realising the impact of major technological developments in rural India, advertising agencies are now updating their offerings and services. Primarily, ad agencies are relying on mobile phones to connect with rural folks,? said an analyst based in Mumbai.
On the agency?s rural strategy, Charles Cadell, CEO of Lowe Lintas said, ?We are investing behind our rural planning tool ?Lin Compass? by adding more data’s to it. Also we are adding muscle to our manpower at Linterland. In addition, Lowe Lintas is strengthening its contractor network across the country.? With our network, we now cover all villages across the country,? he added.
O&M is looking at ways and means to connect with rural audience though mobile phones. ?Our core focus is on communicate and interactive with consumers. For the purpose, we are investing behind technological products. Also, we are adding resources across diverse disciplines to beef up our operations,? Samir Gupte, country head, Ogilvy Outreach.
According Anurag Gupta, president-strategic initiatives & integration, Mudra Group, rural consumers are changing rapidly with the advent of mobile phones and cable television. ?We are investing huge amount of money in getting the right kind of talent to devise effective rural communications,? he added.