Leading the buy

Village consumers are often more comfortable following the leader. And companies that understand this impulse use it to further their brand visibility. Rural marketing guru Pradeep Kashyap, in his book on the subject, describes how Asian Paints spread its hue in the hinterland by painting the village sarpanch’s house a few months before launching its Utsav brand. The company demonstrated that the paint does not peel off and is an ideal replacement to the usual whitewash.