IMPACT OF INNOVATIONS IN RURAL MARKETING: A CASE STUDY OF HUL Surabhi Singh Senior Lecturer-Marketing, IMS Noida, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India Email id: surabhi777@gmail.com Abstract The applications of principles of creativity and processes of innovation are the causes of effectiveness in marketing. Innovation is deined as exploiting new ideas leading to the creation of a new product, process or service. Another way of putting this is that an innovation lowers the costs and/or increases the beneits of a task. A wildly successful innovation increases the beneits-to-costs ratio. The innovation in rural marketing is brought by signiicant changes in the marketing mixes and four A’s. Innovative marketing of products is about leveraging the marketing mix, namely the four P’s: Product (Design and Packaging), Price, Place, and Promotion in ways that has not been before by the organization implementing the innovations. Rural marketing is customisation of the products as per the requirement of rural consumers to create, deliver, and communicate value to customers. The standard of living, rate of consumption for the rural consumer is entirely different from the urban consumer. Various consumer goods companies have customised their prices and pack sizes for penetrating the rural market. For instance CavinKare’s Chic shampoo sachet @ Re 1 has brought revolution in rural marketing. To develop a product to suit the rural scenario, companies came up with special rural products, like battery free radio by Phillips, Sampoorna TV by LG, chotta haathi, Tata Ace by Tata and so on. HUL truly exempliies in the innovation of rural products like Chic shampoo etc. The impacts of the rural marketing on rural consumers have been cited in this case. Keywords: Innovation, Promotion, FMCG, Beneit-to-cost Introduction Successful irms have come up with novel ideas right from designing rurally relevant products to focused communications. Product development for rural context has been a common feature of many successful companies. Be it soaps and detergents which are effective in rural waters (literally) or mobile phones that can weather dust and sweat, companies like HUL & Nokia have delivered products that hit home in the rural markets. Another case in point would be CavinKare: its shampoo brand Chic is the second largest shampoo brand in India mostly due to its strong grip on the rural territory. When it comes to marketing communications, many companies have come up with culturally relevant campaigns. LIC used puppet shows to educate the masses about life insurance policies. Coca Cola ran the ‘Parivartan’ programme for penetrating in rural retail market and Eveready conducted light shows in the breaks to spread the word about its product. HUL ran Lifebuoy’s Swasthya Chetna Campaign in rural villages and unique multi brand initiative ‘Khushiyon ki Doli’ in ive states. 40% of total consumer products of HUL are consumed in the fast growing markets of rural India. HUL has been pioneer in developing rural markets through affordable brands and an unparallel distribution reach. HUL has been developing innovative models for the enhancement of consumer products usage in rural India. The models like Sustaining sourcing, Enhancing livelihoods and Health and well-being. Under Sustaining Sourcing model, HUL is working with small holder tomato farmers in few states to help them adopt sustainable agricultural practices. The programme focuses on improving soil fertility, water management, and pest control. The use of drip irrigation has not only reduced water consumption and improved yields, but also reduced fertilizer and pesticide use. In 2011, 60% of tomatoes used in Kissan Ketchup in India were from sustainable sources. (Source: www.hul.co.in) Under Sustainable Living plan, HUL is making a positive social impact. A great example of this is Project Shakti, a unique win-win initiative that has created income generating opportunities for 45,000 rural impoverished women (Shakti Ammas) and has also helped to increase the rural distribution of the Company. Project Shakti is an excellent example of ‘doing well by doing good’. More recently, HUL is collaborating with the State Bank of India to bring inancial inclusion to rural India. Shakti Ammas are acting as banking agents and providing basic inancial services in villages