4 A of Marketing

What are the 4 As of Marketing?

When we consider rural markets, these are somewhat different from the urban market because of many factors such as income level, infrastructure, less number of shopping outlets and very low awareness. As the Indian rural market is very large and still an untapped one, many companies try to enter & cater to this segment. Alone, the 4Ps are not sufficient here. So, marketers strongly claim that there are 4 more elements which must be considered and keep in mind while planning to enter the rural market. These 4 elements are collectively called the 4 A of marketing. These 4 As are:

·   Acceptability - The Acceptability component of the 4A model says that the offered product or service must suit the rural market we are trying to enter into. If people will accept it, then only can further steps will be taken.

·     Availability – This is the next challenge after acceptability. Once the product is acceptable, marketers need to ensure its availability. But, due to poor infrastructure and poor market access, it is not an easy job. So, marketers collaborate with multiple NGOs and other firms which ensure the availability of every important daily used product for rural consumers.

·    Affordability – Most of the consumers in Rural market earn low incomes and get daily wages. So, after acceptability and availability, this is the third biggest challenge for marketers. The product must be affordable, or it will not get sold. This is the reason why in India small sachets of products like shampoo, oil or moisturizer cream were launched and became highly successful.

·  Awareness - The rural consumer doesn’t care much about brands, as they are unaware of them. They rely more on local brands and rarely change their preference. But, as most of rural India is not even accessible to conventional advertising media, it is again not easy for a marketer to spread awareness through conventional ways. HUL has its own company organized media. Godrej and Coca-Cola use radio as the awareness media. ITC has started its E-Choupal initiative to literate rural people about brands.

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