First National Marketing Seminar on “Rural Marketing: The Next Big Revolution” was organized in which eminent speakers -Mr. Gaurav Nagpal- Senior Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis, Aircel, Mr. Sunil Sharma- Retired Chief Manager, Punjab National Bank, Dr. Ankita Dhamija Nagpal -Faculty of Rural Management, Lingayas University, Faridabad and Dr. Jyoti Jain- Faculty of Rural Management, JECRC University, Jaipur, discussed on various issues pertaining to Rural Marketing.
The Seminar was divided into two sessions. In the First session Speakers expressed their views on various issues like Finance analysis in Rural Areas, SHG Bank Linkage, Rural Consumer Behavior and Innovative Rural Distribution and Channel Management.
In the Second Session, Panel Moderator Mr. Mayank Agrawal, in his opening remarks underlined the context and background of Challenges and Opportunities in Rural Market. Mr. Agrawal subsequently invited the panelists to discuss on the very sensitive issue like Rural Development: Picture shown in Statistics Vis-a-Vis. the ground reality. The discussion was then carried forward on various other issues like How Rural is different from Urban Counterparts?, Digital India and Rural development, Government Contribution in Rural Development, Companies Strategy to change the mindset of the Rural Consumers. The Panelists also discussed on the Cost Efficient Strategies for rural markets as the cost of Production and marketing is increasing and prices are falling due to cut throat competition which impose a big challenge for the companies to make the product available to the target customer at very low price as customers are very price sensitive in Rural Areas.
It was a really great exposure for the students to get some meaningful insights about the rural markets. The discussions offered chances to debate issues related to the field, share experiences and exchange perspectives. This seminar motivated students to pursue their goals and find their enthusiasm rekindled.