RURAL MARKETING

COCA COLA
BY
Pritish Chugha (9)
Neeraj Kambli (26)
Saurabh Talathi (57)
12/07/21
Prachi Thakur (58)
 CONTENTS

• Company Background

• Coca Cola in India

• Coca Cola going rural

• Coca Cola India's Rural Marketing Strategy

Availability
Affordability
Acceptability
Awareness/Advertising

• Conclusion – Success Story

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 BRANDS IN INDIA

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 CORPORATE QUOTES

We want to be the Hindustan lever limited of the Indian beverage business.

-Sanjeev Gupta, Deputy President – Coca-Cola India in May 2002

The rural market is the significant part of our rural marketing strategies
which enables us to help the consumer link with our product.

-Sanjeev Gupta, Marketing Director – Cola-Cola India, in August 1995

The real market in india is the rural areas. If you crack it, there is a
tremendous potential.
12/07/21 -Nanto Banarjee- Spokeswoman CCI.
 COCA COLA IN INDIA
• Coca cola is among the first MNC’s to enter Rural markets.

• Coca-Cola was the leading soft drink brand in India until 1977

• After a 16-year absence, Coca-Cola returned to India in 1993

• Soft drink sales in India grew 76% between 1998 and 2002, i.e
from 5,670 million bottles to over 10,000 million.

• Soft drinks were considered products only for affluent, but by

2003, 91% of sales were made to middle class.

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 COCA GOING RURAL

According to industry estimates –

• Rural India -74% of population
• The Indian rural market - Rs 8 billion
• FMCG sector – 53%
• Consumer durables – 59%
• Companies ‘going rural’
 Annual per capita consumption –

• India- 6
• Pakistan -17
• Thailand – 73
• Usa -800

• With its large population and low consumption, the rural market
represented a significant opportunity for penetration and a critical
battleground for market dominance.

• In 2001,Coca-Cola recognized that to compete with traditional

refreshments including lemon water, green coconut water, fruit juices, tea,
and lassi, competitive pricing was essential.

• Breaking to this market required innovative thinking and a new strategy.

 COCA COLA INDIA'S RURAL
MARKETING STRATEGY

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 AVAILABILITY
• Ensuring the availability of the product

• Far flung Villages need to be targeted

• India has around 6,27,000 villages

• A strong distribution system must be in place

• Rural India is the future growth driver

 DISTRIBUTION
• Targeting potential villages

• Smaller and larger distributors were selected

• Cash and demand draft were used for the business transactions

• Hub and Spoke System in place

• Ease of transportation
 AFFORDABILITY
• A survey conducted by CCI in 2001 revealed the 300 ml
bottles were not popular with rural and semi-urban residents
where two people often shared a 300 ml bottle.

• It was found that price of Rs.10 per bottle was considered too
high by rural consumers.

• For these reasons, CCI decided to make some changes in the

size of its bottles and pricing to win over consumers in rural
market.

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 AFFORDABILITY
• In 2002, CCI launched 200 ml bottles (Chota Coke) priced at
Rs.5

• CCI announced that it would push the

200 ml bottles more in rural areas, as
The rural market was very price sensitive.

• It was widely felt that 200 ml bottles priced at Rs.5 would

increase the rate of consumption in rural India.

• Reports put the annual per capita consumption of bottled

beverages in rural areas at one bottle as compared to 6 bottles
in urban areas.
 ACCEPTABILITY
• The initiatives by CCI in Distribution and
pricing were supported by extensive marketing
in the mass media as well as through outdoor
advertising.

• The company put up hoardings in the villages

and painted the name Coca Cola on
the compounds of the residents in the villages.

• Further, CCI also participated in weekly

Mandies by setting up temporary retail
outlets, and also took part in the annual
haats and fairs – major source of
business activity and entertainment in
rural India.
 AWARENESS
• tv commercials.docx
• Communication media ineffective in rural areas because of low
penetration of conventional media.
• Estimated that TV access is 78.5 per cent in urban India but only 41per
cent in rural India. Similarly, Cable & Satellite access in urban India is
51 per cent but only 14 per cent I rural India.
• Concentrated on 47,000 haats (weekly markets) & 25,000 melas (fairs)
held annually in various parts of the country.

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 AWARENESS
• CCI also launched television commercials targeted at rural consumers
and increased its ad-spend on Doordarshan.
• Launched Chota Coke in 2002 priced at Rs. 5, commercial featuring
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan.
• In the summer of 2003, CCI came up with a new commercial featuring
Aamir Khan, to further strengthen the Coca-Cola brand image among
rural consumer

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 PRINTED ADS (REGIONAL)

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 RURAL SUCCESS

 The rural market was an attractive target and it delivered

results. Rural penetration increased from 9% in 2001 to
25%

 Coke experienced 37% growth in rural segment versus the

24% growth seen in urban areas.

 Driven by the launch of the new Rs. 5 product, per capita

consumption doubled.

 Rural market accounted for 80% of India’s new Coke

drinkers, 30% of volume, and was expected to account for
50% of the company’s sales.
 THANK YOU

This presentation is done as part of MMS curriculum and does not intend to promote any brand
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or it’s product intentionally.