Strategy, as regards business, is a long term course of action to fulfill objectives. Organizations make long term plans to achieve their ends using means available to them internally and in the environment. All strategies tend to result in the firm achieving more than what a competitor achieves or lose less than what others do. Villages of India lack basic infrastructure, are agriculturally rich, are opposed to English language and practically to any fruitful activity contributing to economic growth. More than half of India lives in its villages which don’t even have access to basic life essentials like health, education, access and clean fuel. This set of challenges calls for a pragmatic approach in strategising for rural India. A review of literature was undertaken which revealed three, not very distinct, bodies of work covering the aspects of Marketing, Ethics and Innovation in strategy making.

A conceptual plan was derived out of the study calling for an integration of all three aspects which has been posited to make Rural Marketing strategy a success. Gaps in research have been pointed out and recommendations made. ural markets significantly differ from urban markets thus requiring separate marketing strategies too. Promotional strategies must move from mass market to location specific or even client specific. In place of segregated inputs, the resources for distribution must be bundled at a location. Several unique demand patterns are observed in villages, each of which might not be applicable in the next rural destination. Hence management of demand and supply according to geographical uniqueness is of essence. Marketing must not and cannot be profit motivated. Villagers might feel cheated. Thus the developmental role of marketing must be brought to the fore. A USP that works for the urban buyer might backfire altogether in the Indian village. Positioning might have to be re-worked before entering the hinterland. Ethics play a huge role in marketing for rural India. If the rural consumers have the slightest whiff of foul play, they are likely to switch sellers or abandon the purchase.

From a state point of view, particularly with respect to marketing of agricultural output which is the bread winner to a majority of households of not just rural India, but the nation as a whole the following observations have been made:

Conflicting goals of consumers (who want cheap food) and farmers (who want higher prices), must be efficiently met. The producer must have accessibility and ease to the market for selling his produce; he must have sufficient information flow about the market. On the other hand the customer must get value of his purchase. Producer must be free to choose the market to sell the products according to his/ her convenience. There should be more liberal policies in food grain management, international trade with domestic market reforms, allowing greater role of private players in an open-economy environment. 

A close look at contemporary academic works on strategic marketing reveals that uniqueness, customisation, localisation, repositioning, digitalisation and innovation are critical to succeed in rural and subsistence marketplaces. Both services as well as products must be designed keeping the rural consumer in mind. Technology has the capacity to be a great provider for firms if they it is custom built and deployed for the weakest customer in the village. Innovation at the village level may come from anywhere, be it a small change in package design or a major overhaul of communications strategy. But all firms wishing to target two thirds of India’s population must innovate. Differentiation must be based on unique attributes of the product and not just promotional discounts. As a matter of fact, rural India has matured more than expected and is no more available to price cuts and clearance sales. Hence, if marketers realise that they must plant a foot in the countryside for the long haul, the rural folk will trust they are here to stay. Above all, ethics is a matter of great importance, since the village population places as much trust on the seller as was the genuineness in their last interaction