For two days the ‘Haats’ situated in Balakati (25 Kms away from Bhubaneswar) in Khurda district and Naya haat (70 kms away from Bhubaneswar) in Puri district would bear witness to event where more than 8000 people from rural areas are expected to visit the fair. For companies like ITC, Cavin Kare and Paradeep Phosphates limited which are taking part in the groundbreaking event, the main aim would not only be centered around promoting its products to potential customers in rural areas but also in collecting valuable data on the customer preferences which would prove invaluable in formulating future strategies to tap the rural markets.

For the students of Rural Management of XIMB, the fair marks an ideal platform to test the theoretical knowledge in a real life situation. The Pre-event promotion has included numerous Jeep campaigns in more than 30 villages which have announced the staging of event along with holding meetings with Self Help groups (SHG’s) located in those areas. More than 30 SHG’s have been individually met to mobilize them to take part in the rural marketing fair. A SHG federation meeting which was facilitated by a local NGO was also conducted attended where more than 40 SHG’s participated. These interactions also gave an opportunity for the students to study the possibility of having SHG’s as an alternate distribution channel for FMCG goods.

Dr B.Mohanty, Dean (Academics), XIMB says, “The fair would serve as a golden opportunity for the PGPRM students to learn the real nuances of rural marketing and even explore new trends arising in this field.”
Mr. C.K. Ranganathan, CEO&MD;, CavinKare , echoed the same sentiments saying, “I am impressed by the effort that has been put in organizing the fair of such magnitude and I am quite optimistic that this would be grand success.”

The promotion stalls would exclusively focus on brand building exercise where product demonstrations would be given to visitors. The research stalls, which would be handled by the students, would focus on collecting valuable data on consumer preferences. Special games have been designed not only to facilitate greater participation from visitors but also expose their inner needs and preferences that would be involved in buying behaviour.

Fr. E.Abraham, Director, XIMB says, “I am hopeful that the rural marketing fair would prove to be an innovative step in benefiting all the stakeholders involved, the students, companies which are participation and also the customers.”