Answer to Question #168931 in Marketing for Ronak Gulgulia

Question

as a marketing consultant, you need to highlight any emerging demographic trend either in urban or in rural india during covid-19 pandemic.how should FMCG companies such as hindustan unilever take advantage of this trend and make changes to their advertising or new product development strategies?

Answer 1

The rapid spread of the pandemic caught countries across the world off guard, resulting in widespread lockdowns that clamped down on mobility, commercial activities, and social interactions. In India, the pandemic precipitated a severe crisis of mobility, with migrant laborers in many major cities seeking to return to their hometowns. Their desperate attempts to return home by any means available rendered the lockdown ineffective in several areas, prompting clashes with authorities, last-minute policy relief, and, eventually, the arrangement of transport measures. This mobility of people during covid-19 has a demographic concern in advertising for FMCG companies like Unilever. Hindustan Unilever should focus a lot on how to reach everyone in rural areas in their advertising strategies like having strategic distribution channels and strategies through co-operative societies, public distribution system, multi-purpose distribution centers, and distribution up to feeder markets agricultural input dealers. This strategy will help the brand reach more loyal customers and retain its reliability to its customers. The marketing mix has to change from the traditional4 Ps' to the new '4 A’s, which are; affordability, awareness, availability, and acceptability due to the demographic mobility into the rural areas. The new products should also use the same strategy and capitalize on the 4 A’s technique to reach out to the market.