Business mind, social heart
CSR got thumbs down at a recent seminar on inclusive marketing

By Management Compass Bureau
Business, not charity and philanthropy, is the panacea to rural poverty, is the belief that is gaining ground in the corporate world. Corporate social responsibility is synonymous with charity, and can at best be one-time intervention. What can bring about changes in the lives of the poor is bringing profit motive into any interventions directed at them. Innovative marketing is one such tool, that can bring about a positive change. This shift in approach was evident at the recent Indian Marketing Summit, organized by Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), Greater NOIDA, titled Inclusive Marketing Summit: Innovative Strategies for the Development of Masses.

Speakers at the summit took off from the groundwork done by CK Prahalad in his book The Fortune at the Bottom of Pyramid. Pradeep Kashyap, founder, Mart, said, “The bottom of the pyramid in India has generated a lot of interest. Thirty per cent of India’s income and consumption comes from the poor. It accounts for a 165-billion dollar market. Some companies have quickly jumped on to the bandwagon, pushed down inferior or obsolete products, without taking into consideration the user needs. There are many companies that are still pushing black-and-white TV into rural areas.”

The other problem with the business approach is that the companies see them only as consumers. The challenge that Kashyap pointed out, was that the per capita income of the poor is Rs 40 a day. How can you tap into that segment when they are not able to meet the basic needs? “The challenge is to increase the income of the people in these sectors.” Inclusive marketing, said Kashyap, looks at them as producers too, not just consumers. It has the potential to add economic value to goods and services produced by them. “First see that farmers as producers get better value for their produce. Then push goods and services needed by them.” This, in fact was the undertone of the two-day summit. Prominent speakers, among them Rama Bijapurkar and Kartik Raina, emphasised that they should be treated on par. They deserve equally good products and services. Don’t dump second-grade products and services. The summit also marked a departure from the earlier approach to rural marketing. In fact Sudershan Banerjee, co-founder and MD, IMB Advisory, and former CEO of Hutchison Essar Telecom, said, “I don’t understand the term mass market. Everyone is a customer. The aspirations are same. Counterfeit products like a Re 1 lipstick could be disastrous. It’s no longer acceptable that you can push poor-quality products.” He demanded international products at Indian prices for the poor. Significantly, in an earlier rural marketing summit organized by BIMTECH had witnessed speakers advocate ‘small sachets’ approach.

That approach found no taker at the conference, where examples of Amul, Lijjat Papad, Nirma were cited as case studies in poverty eradication, and where ‘Business mind, social heart’ was the resonating mantra.