FMCG Company Case Study

Marketing Dilemma:

Since the Central Government in India is focusing on the development of North-Eastern states, a leading FMCG company has decided to expand its operations in the rural areas of Assam. What districts/regions it should choose for its entry strategy in the rural market of Assam is a puzzle. Under such circumstances, MVMI can most certainly aid them in determining the best entry point.

Step 1. Select the top 5 districts with highest rural MPI. These five districts are

Step 2. Decide the variables relevant to the product/s company is planning to sell in the region. OR in general, variables relevant to the FMCG product. Consumption of FMCG products primarily depends on the a) population of the village, b) awareness and c) availability of the product in the village. Awareness can be created through media and promotional campaign. Product can be made available through various market places.

Thus relevant variables for rural marketing of FMCG product can be listed as;

• Consumption Indicators: Rural MPI, No of Villages, No of HH, Total population in Villages
• Marketing Places: Mandis/Regular Market, Weekly Haat
• Places Can be used for Promotion: No of Schools and Colleges, No of Villages Having Community Centre, No of Villages Having Cinema/Video Hall
• Availability of Media: No of Villages Having Mobile Phone Coverage, No of Villages Having Daily Newspaper Supply

Actual data extracted from MVMI for five districts is as follows

It can be concluded from the data that; Nagaon has maximum no of households and maximum population. Maximum no of regular markets, though weekly haats are marginally less compared to Sonitpur. Thus, selling the product in the villages of Nagaon is much easier compared to other districts. Considering promotion of the product, again Nagoan is the district with a maximum no of schools/colleges and community centers. Considering advertising the products, Sonitpur is the best as it has maximum no of villages with mobile coverage and having daily newspaper.

Overall first preference for the marketing FMCG product should be Nagaon and detailed strategic development is given for Nagoan.

• Developing a marketing strategy at village level in Nagaon district can be extracted as follow.
• Extract MVMI data for all villages in Nagoan district.
• Select the variables as listed above
• Filter the villages according to the criteria needed for marketing. For example, considering consumption, villages with household more than 1000 are selected as shown in the table below

Summary of Data Extracted from MVMI reveals that;

• Total no of households in the 18 villages: 20,976
• Total population of 18 villages: 1,07,033
• Total no of primary schools: 119 and secondary schools: 60
• All these villages have supply of daily newspapers and except three villages namely; Jamuguri, Silangani Gaon and Dakshin Debasthan have mobile coverage.
• All these 18 villages have weekly haat
• Except two villages Niz Chalchali and Ranga Gara Huzz all the others have Mandis/ Regular market.

Thus, the 18 villages of Nagaon district could be deemed the most appropriate for market entry in Assam’s rural market.