Abolee: way forward in rural markets

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: Teaching Objective 1: Students will describe specific characteristics of the rural market in India and will draw out the differences vis-a-vis the urban markets. Teaching Objective 2: Students will describe about the push versus pull strategy and various channels of distribution in rural areas. Teaching Objective 3: The students will explain the 4As of the rural marketing mix and apply the same in the context of the case. Teaching Objective 4: The case can be applied with respect to the health-belief model to help students analyse the behaviour change model. Teaching Objective 5: Students will analyse the challenges associated with supply chain and logistics in rural areas. Case overview/synopsis This case study looked at a start-up company Rugved Hygienecare Industries Private Limited and their sanitary napkin brand “Abolee” designed and targeted for rural women in India. Onkar Charegaonkar and Mithila Charegaonkar started this venture in December 2017, realizing that sanitary napkins solved a greater purpose of helping women hygienically manage menstruation, and at the same time, there was no threat to this product because over a period of time, it became a necessity of life. Onkar and Mithila believed in giving back to the society and at the same time generate revenue for their company. Onkar and Mithila needed to make a decision with respect to the distribution structure for Abolee to improve penetration in different rural areas of Maharashtra. Onkar and Mithila needed to strategize to create a remarkable impact in the rural areas. There were multiple challenges that were faced by Abolee, such as: creating awareness about hygienically managing menstruation options among women, ensuring that women consumers continue to use hygienic menstruation management material, creating a preference for Abolee among women consumers and deciding on whether to focus on driving sales through existing channel partners or to invest in finding out alternative avenues for selling “Abolee” in rural areas. Complexity academic level This case study was primarily written for understanding rural marketing aspects of marketing management courses at both the undergraduate level and the postgraduate level. This case study also indicated about the role of gender and its impact on consumer behaviour in rural areas. Although this case study was related to the rural Indian market, it can also be related to other emerging economies. Supplementary material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS8: Marketing.