MAM
Rural marketing agencies form RMAAI
MUMBAI: With the growing importance of rural markets in corporate marketing strategies, there is an increased recognition of rural specialties in helping companies plan and implement their rural marketing activities. This has resulted in a number of players, both big and small entering the field in the last couple of years.
As was reported by Indiantelevision.com earlier this month, a few leading players who have been providing tremendous value added rural marketing services all across the country have come together to form the Rural Marketing Agencies Association of India (RMAAI).
Anugrah Madison, Sampark Marketing and Advertising Solutions, MART, Rural Relations along with other players like O&M Outreach, Linterland, Impact Communications, Rural Eight, RC&M, India Agrilbusiness Systems and Kripa Outdoor have come together to form RMAAI.
Anugrah Madison chairman and managing director RV Rajan will be the president of the association, whereas MART’s Pradeep Kashyap will hold the position of vice president. The association’s secretary will be Impact Communications’ Sanjay Kaul and the treasurer will be Kripa Outdoors’ R Parthasarathy.
The committee members of RMAAI are Sampark’s R Patankar, Rural Relations’ Pradeep Lokhande, Ogilvy Activation’s J C Giri, Linterland’s Dinesh Malhotra, RC&M’s Priya Monga, Indian Agribusiness Systems’ Sunil Khairnar and Rural Eight’s Amla.
These agencies have come together on a common platform and will work towards recognition, credibility and meeting the needs of the rural marketing industry.
One of the important objectives of RMAAI would be to set industry benchmarks in areas of performance evaluation and financial practices. To improve the overall understanding of rural markets by the corporate world, RMAAI will conduct seminars, workshops and conferences, besides offering guidance to Management Institutes in running courses in rural marketing. It will also undertake syndicated research in rural marketing on select topics, which will help increase the knowledge base of rural marketers, which in turn could help marketers develop better and more effective rural marketing strategies.
Rajan said, “Marketers look at rural India as a mass market, which it is not. That is the reason why we’ve not got adequate success. A lot of corporates have been talking about going rural for the last two decades, but if all of them walked the talk, we wouldn’t be forming this association today.”
Kashyap, on the other hand, said, “We hope to expand the scope of the Rural Network by including other big players O&M, Linterland etc., so that the association is completely representative of the rural marketing agencies.”
The founding members have paid a nominal fees of Rs 6000 to be a part of the association.
RMAAI also has plans of starting an award function in the near future to recognise individuals and organisations who have actively contributed to the growth of the rural marketing industry. Also on 10 and 11 November, RMAAI will be hosting a two day seminar on rural marketing in an effort to bring together all the rural players in the field under one roof, share developments in the industry as well as the advantage of being a part of the association network. “This seminar will be an important launching pad for the association,” Rajan said.
Brands
Uidai partners with Google to help users locate Aadhaar centres
Verified Aadhaar centres to appear on Maps with services and access info
MUMBAI: Finding an Aadhaar centre may soon be as easy as finding your favourite café. In a move aimed at making public services more accessible, the Unique Identification Authority of India has partnered with Google to display authorised Aadhaar centres on Google Maps. The feature, expected to roll out in the coming months, will allow residents to locate verified centres quickly and confidently.
More than 60,000 Aadhaar centres, including state of the art Aadhaar Seva Kendras, will be mapped. When users search on Google Maps, they will be directed to authorised facilities rather than unverified listings, helping curb misinformation and confusion.
The listings will do more than drop a pin. Users will be able to see the nature of services offered at each centre, whether it is adult enrolment, child enrolment, or limited to address and mobile number updates. Details such as operating hours, parking availability and divyang friendly infrastructure will also be shown wherever applicable.
Uidai CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, said the collaboration is part of the authority’s continued effort to improve ease of living for Aadhaar holders by making authorised centres simpler and faster to navigate.
The partnership will deepen in its next phase, with Uidai using Google Business Profile to manage information and respond directly to public feedback. Looking ahead, the two organisations are also exploring the option of enabling appointment bookings through the Google Maps interface, potentially allowing residents to plan their visits with greater efficiency.
Google India country head, strategic partnerships Roli Agarwal, said integrating verified Aadhaar centres would help millions access trusted services with confidence, bringing essential government infrastructure closer to the people who need it most.
If all goes to plan, a routine Aadhaar update may soon begin not with a queue, but with a search bar.
