Group B2- Radicals- Source- Rural marketing

1. Coco-Cola goes Rural.

By- Kaushik Narayan

Review:- The article talks about Coco-colas new campaign called “project Unnati” which states that coco-cola will tie up with jain irrigation which will collaborate and work together to double the yield of mango. The company is going to train farmers from village and will educate them regarding how to double agricultural produce. This project will be in a demo mode. They will train 50000 farmers in 100 farms as a part of pilot testing. This project unnati will be train farmers on specialized buses which will provide the farmers a on the go training. This training will be based on “ultra-high density plantation techniques” which will help farmers to double the mango yield. The first phase of project had an initial investment  2 million dollars. The training module is designed by coco-cola university and will use their expertise to impart skills in the farmers.

2. Idea on transit to rural Karnataka

By- Utsav Joshi

Abstract: With an aim to increase its presence in the rural areas of Karnataka, Idea Cellular has launched a massive out of home campaign that began in January and will continue till the end of March.

The campaign uses transit media such as state government buses and water tankers branded with the Idea logo and a message in Kannada saying 'Idea Network Connects More than 21,000 Towns and Villages across Karnataka'. Idea has painted 200 buses and 60 tankers that carry water in six to eight districts.

The telecom brand aims to create awareness about its seamless coverage and network across rural Karnataka. The campaign is spread over 80 towns of South India, including Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns that provide a potential market beyond the over-penetrated metros.

The main consideration for this campaign was to increase reach and exposure to the rural population with minimum logistic hassle.

Idea is the 3rd largest mobile services operator in India with a subscriber base of over 117 million. It operates across all 22 service areas with 2G services and 3G services spread over 3,000 towns and 10,000 villages. Recently, it launched a major outdoor activity at Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.

Implication: Idea cellular is now focusing on rural market (Tier II and III cities) for which it has devised innovative strategies so that it can reach to masses.

3. Future Group ties up with NIF to promote rural innovation

By – Sangeeta Keni

Abstract: Some 10,000 innovative devices are developed every year in the country, but most of them of them don’t go beyond the prototype stage.

Kishore Biyani-backed future group has partnered with Ahmedabad- based national innovation foundation to start a separate company called ‘Idea India Ka Innovation Pvt. Ltd.’, that will hold the intellectual property rights (I Pr) for the products it will back. The company will back these innovative products, which range from quirky agricultural implements to clever consumer electronics modifications.

The Group is stumping up Rs. 5 crore for the effort to develop rural inventions into marketable products. Other initiatives include around Rs. 72 crore government- backed venture fund, specifically targeted at the rural innovators. The money involved is modest, and experts say it will be quite a while before rural inventors manage to arouse the interest of venture capital funds.