Programme on rural marketing for MBA students

The Rural Marketing Agencies Association of India (RMAAI), a newly launched body of advertisement and marketing agencies, would be preparing a one-year programme on rural marketing for MBA students.

According to Pradeep Kashyap, vice president of RMAAI and managing director, MART, the association is planning to enter a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an Indian university, which has approached them to prepare the course on rural marketing soon.

Even though 50 per cent of the business comes from rural India, the country has hardly any course on rural marketing, which has been receiving a step motherly treatment all these years, he said.

"Of the Rs 14,000 crore advertisement spending by the companies last year only about Rs 550 crore were spent with rural market as its target. This shows how the shift in focus and awareness on the behaviour and needs of rural market required," Kashyap said.

R V Rajan, chairman and managing director, Anugrah Madison Advertising Private Limited, said, rural market in the country is now worth over Rs 2 lakh crore and a study and focus is required to tap this potentiality.

Seminar on rural insurance today

RMAAI is holding a seminar on 'Rural insurance, issues, challenges and opportunities' here tomorrow. About 75 delegates representing various private insurance companies will participate in the event.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, R V Rajan, president of the association and chairman and managing director of Anugrah Madison, said that the seminar was part of the endeavour to bring focus on rural marketing by understanding the requirements and potentialities of the country's largely untapped area.

Though there was a significant potential for insurance in the rural market, rural India contributes only 20 per cent to the total business generated by insurance companies, that too mostly covered by public sector players, Rajan said.