No one killed the Sarpanch

The Sarpanch rules the bottom of the pyramid, or that’s what the oracles of the marketing cubicles want us to believe. No wonder the first pit stop for the longest running farce in rural history (the promotional van), is always the Sarpanch’s residence. Apart from the Sarpanch, there are a few other clichéd characters playing the opinion leaders in a rural marketing blockbuster. The teacher. The kirana store seth. The head of the family. All of them substantiated by a simple slide 3 - ‘a day in the life of…’ What a plot! What a set up!

Since this isn’t a strategic presentation for a million dollar rural marketing campaign, I don’t run the risk of losing business for not being clichéd enough. So here’s what they don’t teach you at the rural marketing workshop: The Sarpanch is dead! The rural poor have found an ingenious way to get out of his clutches – by leaving him alone, by migrating.

 

The inhabitants of the bottom of the pyramid have risen to all the chambers of the population pyramid. The young study in the nearest district headquarters. They work in the state capitals. Struggle in the metros. A few have even landed in Doobai, Cannadda and Southall. They rather tan themselves in the urban sun than sweat it out farming. Migration isn’t a new trend. What is startling is that it is all happening at the speed of example. Dubey drives a kaali-peeli and sends money back home. The next month, an inspired Pandey opens up a pan shop in Sion Chunabhatti.

Once they reach the Nizamuddin station, the Dubeys, Pandeys, Pillais, Murthys walk down the beaten path. Realize Seelampur is their village in Delhi. Buy a handset. Load it with a Rs.15 prepaid card. Network with their predecessors in the urban jungle. Find a job. Call home. The luxury of ‘having chicken’ at Rajinder da Dhaba becomes a weekly ritual. Dropping people in his taxi at the DLF Emporio. Imitating them by buying fake Guccis at Sarojini Nagar market. Waking up to a new reality on ‘englees’ channels with friends. Thus starts an interesting first episode on opinion leadership.

According to this ambitious Pillai, the only ones left in the village are the elders and the losers. Back at the village, Pillai is The One. The one who drives an AC Innova (his employer’s), talks on a mobile, gifts them a camera and gets the sister married. He is the opinion leader. He sounds the death knell for the clichéd purveyors of ‘behavior change’ in rural areas: The Eicher Canter. 2 promoters. 1 generator. The Sarpanch. The teacher. All the ‘changed behavior’ changes, the moment the influencer from the city calls them.

For better results, the seeds of behavior change need to be planted in our own backyard, in the cities and the small towns. Brands need inventive solutions to influence the influencer in our midst. Newer touch points need to be unearthed. Newer dialogues need to be started. Newer models need to come into vogue. The van might still have to go to Bellampally, but the dialogue would start at the Kakatiya University in Warangal. Manoj Tiwari making a special appearance at Kalpana Cinema in Kurla might sell more men’s fairness cream in Bihar than yet another van making an appearance in Moke.

Today, the Sarpanch is an equal. He is still respected, but his recommendations no longer hold water. The son has replaced the Sarpanch as the influencer of first choice. Time, brands spoke to the rising son. Time, the outdated gurus of rural marketing take a sabbatical.

(The author is Senior Vice President – Innovations & Integration, Mudra Max, part of the Mudra Group)