What are the lessons from the foray of the Reliance brand into rural India?
Seventy percent of India is still rural, but at the end of day, we are dealing with consumers. It’s only that they speak different languages. They have aspirations, needs, wants and desires like all of us in urban markets. Only thing is, they might want to own a mobile phone instead of an iPod at this point of time. The rapid penetration of FMCG brands, e-choupals and the strong growths seen in telecom and micro-financing is a case in point on the large rural market opportunity. However, the brand messaging, tonality and imagery should be in line with aspirations and appeal to rural consumers, yet it should be single-minded. More India business stories Brand makeovers have been the order of the day of late… Brand makeovers need to be holistic and not superficial, in my view. Just changing a typeface or a logo is not enough. The change needs to go deep within the organisation and touch employees and functions. Otherwise it becomes just a communication change at a superficial level with
