At the Rural Marketing Summit 2026 in Mumbai on October 9, leaders from advertising, finance, consumer goods and media made a shared case: rural India should not be planned as a separate, homogeneous audience. Presented by rural advertising company Can Image and curated by ET Edge, the summit ran under the theme “The Power of Presence”.
From rural-urban divide to human connection
Keynote speaker Prasoon Pandey, co-founder and director of Corcoise Films, argued that strong brands are built on a clear character and worldview, not just a consistent logo or colour palette. He used Fevicol as an example of a brand that has stayed recognisable because its identity goes beyond visual assets.
Rohit Arora, director of strategy at Can Image Media Tech, pushed the idea further. Digital penetration has blurred the old boundary between rural and urban India, he said, and brand stories now need to flow between physical and digital environments.
“Rural India is not a separate audience, and brands that treat it as one risk losing the trust they work hard to build,” Arora said.
He added that rural presence must be consistent, accountable and measurable, which is why Can Image verifies campaigns wall by wall.
The new rural consumer is informed and aspirational
Panels returned repeatedly to a more confident rural buyer. Shefali Khalsa of TransUnion CIBIL shared an anecdote about a cab driver who knew his CIBIL score and understood what it meant for credit access. Prashant Choudhari of Fino Payments Bank flagged aspiration and premiumisation, while Pushkal Upadhayay of Deepak Fertilisers described the rural consumer through three lenses: affordability, aspiration and value. V. Kaushik Vedula of Castrol India said brands must balance affordability with the ambition consumers in smaller markets now express.
One size no longer fits all
Several speakers challenged the habit of treating rural India as a single market. Rupa Murudkar of Cholayil Private Limited (Medimix) noted that the rural label mostly describes where people live, not their aspirations, occupations or consumption behaviour. K. Adaikalam of Greenstar Fertilizers described rural buyers as informed decision-makers who compare and analyse rather than wait to be educated. Puneet Avasthi of Kantar urged marketers to look beyond averages, including the rising role of women in household spending. Blue Star’s Girish Hingorani added that smaller towns generate meaningful demand even for premium and aspirational products.
From visibility to memory
Prasoon Pandey cautioned that product communication alone is not enough. Brands may sell once, but trust is what brings consumers back. The broader shift discussed at the summit was from simply being visible to creating affinity, familiarity and recall.
Ashish Vidyarthi and Prasoon Joshi brought the cultural context into focus. They warned against exporting assumptions from one region to another and against looking down on innovations that emerge from rural constraints. Rural communities, Joshi argued, often have sustainability and collective practices that others can learn from.
What marketers can do now
The practical takeaway is to redesign rural strategy around people and context, not geography:
- Map aspirations, not just locations: segment by occupation, income and category behaviour rather than rural versus urban labels.
- Keep one brand character, adapt the expression: hold the brand’s voice steady while localising stories, references and cultural details.
- Plan for hybrid journeys: build connected narratives across digital and on-ground touchpoints.
- Make presence measurable: demand proof of execution and verify on-ground visibility instead of assuming reach.
The summit closed with its “Excellence in Rural Marketing” recognition, but the larger signal was clear: relevance, more than reach, is what will make rural marketing memorable.
Source: ANI News
