‘A’s the Key Drivers of Rural Marketing

In the recent times, the rural market has grown in leaps and bounds in terms of size, demand, change in lifestyle of rural consumers, change in consumer preferences, and higher income. As the sales in the urban markets have reached a saturation point, MNCs are looking to penetrate deeper into the rural markets to serve the consumers. The strategies adopted in urban markets vary drastically to the strategies used in the rural markets. Marketers have to conduct a thorough research before entering the rural markets so that they are able to design the right marketing mix. This paper attempts to study the 4 ‘A’s of the rural marketing mix as a model to be successful in the rural markets. The 4 ‘A’s model includes all the elements of the 4 ‘P’s model. However the 4 ‘A’s model is customer oriented as to the 4 ‘P’s model that is seen from an organization’s point of view but cannot be ignored. The 4 ‘P’s are tools that have to be fine-tuned to the rural market and used along with the 4 ‘A’s model to be successful in the rural markets.