In 1995-96, rural households, which form 71.7 per cent of the total households in the country accounted for only52.2 per cent of ownership of durable goods. The average number of durable goods owned by rural households was only three, compared to seven in urban areas.

``Lack of electricity infrastructure is the single major factor explaining the rural-urban differential in penetration of consumer durable goods...'' says the NCAER report.

But this attitude has begun to change. Especially after the economic slowdown. Since urban incomes are not growing as fast, whereas farm incomes have continued to rise, many companies today believe that they can't ignore the rural market if they want to grow. In fact, companies today are designing products especially for the semi-urban and the rural buyer. For instance, LG Electronics India Private Limited (LGEIL) launched its Sampoorna range of colour televisions in mid-1998 with on-screen display in Hindi. Earlier this year, the company introduced Sampoorna CTVs with Tamil, Marathi and Bengali on-screen display. This way, LG has taken care of 70 to 75 per cent of the Indianpopulation.

Recently, LG also introduced the Indian cooking menu in its microwave ovens to makes things easier for techno-phobiacs. Even though the market for microwave ovens will be minuscule in rural areas, an easy-to-understand microwave oven still stands a chance over others. And this strategy has paid rich dividends and LGEIL today is a Rs 500 crore turnover company, as against a turnover of Rs 125 crore in the calendar year 1997.

Eicher Motors Limited (EML) registered a 107 per cent growth in profit before tax in 1998-99. This, when the commercial vehicles industry had been going through a very rough patch. According to S. Sandilya, Managing Director, Eicher Motors bucked the trend essentially because the company chose to focus on segments that did not feel the heat of the economic slowdown. In the rural market, Eicher focussed on the milk and poultry segment for incremental volumes. ``We modified our 1090 LCV to suit the needs of the poultry segment,'' Sandilya said. For instance, EML's lightcommercial vehicles are suited for the transportation of eggs since they fit snugly in the rear deck. There is better air circulation in these vehicles and broiler chicken does not go bad even after 400 km to 500 km of run.Besides, EML has modified its LCVs to suit the needs of schools and hospitals. ``Recession or no recession, children would still go to schools, clinics would still require vans and therefore, we decided to concentrate on these segments,'' Sandilya adds.

Product modification is not always required. For instance, 68 to 70 per cent of Daewoo Motor India Limited's (DMIL) sales come from semi-urban and rural areas. ``Manufacturers have grossly underestimated the rural market,'' says S G Awasthi, Managing Director, DMIL. According to him, priorities, aspirations and lifestyles are fast changing in rural India. ``From the very beginning, we chose not to ignore the rural areas,'' says Awasthi. And with the launch of its small car -- Matiz -- semi-urban areas have become all the more important forDMIL.

The other Korean chaebol -- Samsung India Electronics Limited -- has also chosen to go rural. According to R Zutshi, Vice President, Sales, Samsung India, ``since the penetration levels are very low in India, and more so in non-metro areas, companies are increasingly focussing on semi-urban markets to tap latent demand.'' Samsung India is targeting 10 per cent of its total sales turnover or Rs 90 crore from semi-urban markets. It has launched 14 inch and 20 inch basic colour television models especially for the rural markets.

Its competitor, LG Electronics' strategy appears somewhat similar, but more focussed. At present, 25 per cent of LGEIL's sales come from rural areas (as defined by the census survey). And by the end of this year, LGEIL hopes to increase this share to 35 per cent. According to Rajeev Karwal, Vice President, Marketing and Sales, LGEIL, ``since the very beginning, our idea was to push similar quantities in large geographical areas rather than concentrating on some high-incomebelts.''

Both Samsung India and LG are positioning their semi-automatic washing machines and direct cool refrigerators in rural areas due to erratic electricity supply. Both the companies have introduced mobile vans that showcase their products and make the rural consumer aware of their brand.For the rural segment, instead of having a company-dealer-customer distribution chain (as in the urban areas), LGEIL has introduced a distributor (who is invariably into FMCGs) to facilitate wider penetration. Samsung participates in local fairs to spread brand awareness.

``The rural buyer is today the most misunderstood and uncared for,'' feels Karwal. According to him, its the marketeers' prerogative to go to them and understand them. For instance, he feels that the shoe manufacturing MNCs would have done far better had they redesigned their products to suit the needs of farmers and marketed them aggressively in rural areas. ``Doesn't the rural consumer require rugged and durable shoes,'' he questions. He is alsoof the view that consumer electronics manufacturers should start focussing on black and white televisions, fit them with car batteries, and sell them in the rural markets.

According to the NCAER's latest quarterly update, higher rural demand resulting from good agricultural performance is expected to be the main pillar supporting industrial growth in 1999-2000. So it seems that the rural consumer may finally start getting his dues, as more and more `glocalised' brands head towards the farms in search of growth.