The figures are compelling. According to joint research by FICCI-PwC, half the national income is generated in rural India. In addition, Technopak-Confederation of Indian Industry research concluded the rural consumer market generated US$ 425 billion in revenue last year, up on US$ 266 billion year previous.

Increased rural wealth

Wall Street Journal recently reported that the number of rural households earning less than US$ 760 a year has decreased from 65% to 24% since 1993, while those with an income of US$ 1,525 have more than doubled from 22% to 46%.

In addition to these trends, compared with their urban counterpart, the rural consumer was relatively unaffected by the the global slow down. The message is clear, don't discount rural India.

Coca-Cola thinking creatively

Poor rural infrastructure creates supply chain problems but with committed creative thinking they can be solved. Realising that rural consumers wanted to buy cold drinks, Coca-Cola redesigned their route to market, improving refrigeration and creating a "hub and spoke" rural distribution system.

Coca-Cola now provides retailers with coolers that operate with a brine solution; meaning product remains chilled for 12 hours even without electricity.

Rural customer care keeping Nokia ahead of the game

Rural consumers make up 25% of Nokia's India sales, and as India's cities become saturated, growth is set to come from the hinterland. Airtel CEO, Sanjay Kapoor estimates that rural mobile phone penetration is still under 20%, and that rural India accounts for at least 60% of new mobile sign ups.

Although competition for handset sales is increasing, Nokia have developed a number of value-add services to ensure they remain as the market leader in rural India.

In addition to a range of useful, low cost content packages called "Nokia Life Tools", the company are focused on customer service. Similarly to many FMCG multinationals, Nokia has 300 vans that roam around rural India to deal with customer questions and problems.

The rural challenge

While physically accessing rural markets is possible, more important is accessing the mind of the rural consumer. For example, while the concept of an indulgence purchase is unlikely to be understood, reframing the item as a convenience based purchase can work.

Companies and brands need to develop products and campaigns especially designed for rural markets, at prices that will suit this increasingly important population.