Urban Marketing

As highlighted by several studies, location impacts consumer behavior and buying decisions directly and significantly. While strategizing marketing campaigns, decision-makers consider the location of the targeted audience. They divide consumers into two broad categories based on their location – rural and urban. As the name suggests, rural consumers live in cities and towns, while rural consumers live in villages and hamlets. Strategists target consumers by customizing the marketing mix. While marking the rural marketing mix, they consider 4 As – affordability, availability, accessibility, and awareness. On the other hand, they usually focus on the 4 Ps – product, price, placement, and promotion – while making an urban marketing mix. Also, urban marketing strategies prioritize creating brand awareness, fostering customer loyalty, and outperforming competitors.

Hence, urban marketing differs from rural marketing in various aspects, including actions, tools, tactics, and channels. While discussing urban marketing, we must consider the key differences between rural marketing and urban marketing. At the same time, we should focus on the distinct and salient features of urban marketing.

11 Salient Features or Characteristics of Urban Marketing

Tangible and Intangible Products

Affordability is one of the key factors impacting rural consumer demand. Companies overcome financial constraints by making products cost-effective without compromising on quality. However, strategists do not consider affordability while promoting and marketing products in urban marketing centers. Many companies boost the demand for a product by supporting differential pricing. Also, the absence of infrastructural constraints makes marketers promote intangible products and transactions by implementing service marketing strategies.

No Infrastructural Constraints

While planning rural marketing campaigns, strategists explore ways to make products available by overcoming infrastructural and transportation constraints. However, they ignore such constraints while planning urban marketing campaigns due to infrastructural availability. Also, education level and finance facilities make it easier for them to market luxury products and services in urban market centers.

Segmentation

Urban consumers differ from each other in the category of demographic characteristics. While making urban marketing strategists, strategists divide them into segments based on shared and common characteristics by creating data-driven buyer personas. The segmentation helps them understand the needs, preferences, and buying patterns of each customer segment. Also, segmentation makes it easier for them to run tailored and targeted marketing and sales campaigns.

Lifestyle

Unlike rural consumers, urban consumers live fast-paced lifestyles. The lifestyle makes urban consumer profiles different from rural consumer profiles. Many companies acquire urban consumers by running lifestyle marketing. They create brand awareness and drive sales by aligning the brand to the aspirations and expectations of the target audiences. Strategists connect a product or service to urban consumers’ lifestyles by distributing content and running ads.

Steady Income Stream

A large percentage of rural consumers earn income or generate revenue through agricultural income. Their seasonal income stream makes it challenging for companies to generate demand for expensive products or services. However, urban consumers earn monthly income. The recurring income stream increases their purchasing power and makes it easier for marketers to promote expensive products/services in urban marketing centers.

Emerging Trends

Local customs and cultural preferences directly impact the choices and preferences of rural consumers. However, the choices and preferences of urban consumers are primarily driven by existing and emerging trends. Often the demand for a product in urban markets is impacted by trends in fashion, food, and technology. While planning urban marketing campaigns, strategists consider both existing and emerging industry trends. They monitor emerging trends by collecting and analyzing consumer data regularly.

Competition

The absence of financial and infrastructural constraints makes urban markets more competitive than rural marketing. While planning urban marketing activities, strategists focus extensively on gaining market share by beating the competition. They understand and compare competitors by conducting competitor or competitive analysis. In addition, they assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats using the SWOT framework. Marketers emulate tactics and strategies that make competitors successful.

First Mover Advantage

In urban marketing centers, companies beat the competition by gaining a first-mover advantage. They explore ways to gain market share by introducing a product or service to customers before competitors. Also, they promote products or services before their commercial launch. While planning urban marketing campaigns, strategists focus on leveraging first mover advantage by creating brand awareness and fostering brand loyalty.

Marketing Channel Integration

While planning rural marketing initiatives, strategists prioritize conventional marketing channels and tactics over digital marketing channels. However, they focus on delivering a unified and consistent customer experience while planning the marketing campaigns. Brands enhance their presence and influence more consumers by running integrated or omnichannel marketing campaigns. The unification helps them contact and influence potential customers using top digital marketing channels like websites, mobile apps, search engines, social media, paid advertising, and emails.

Data-Driven Adjustments

Digital devices and channels enable brands to collect real-time information about urban consumers. Brands make sense of the raw urban customer information using analytics. Marketing analytics tools gain actionable insights by analyzing large volumes of marketing data. The data-driven insights help strategists understand which tactics are working and which are not. Also, strategists boost marketing campaign performances by making informed decisions based on real-time data.

Sustainability

Sustainability has emerged as the hottest trend in marketing to the urban population. When comparing brands, urban consumers check if the company implements best practices for sustainability. They prioritize brands that protect the environment by reducing energy consumption and waste, along with using eco-friendly campaigns. Brands these days impress urban consumers by meeting environmental responsibility, social responsibility, and economic viability. Also, they highlight their commitment to conserving natural resources while creating marketing content and messaging.

Conclusion

While discussing marketing for the urban population, we must remember that the rural consumer base is much larger than the urban consumer base in many countries. Also, digital devices and channels have bridged the gap between rural and urban markets.

Hence, companies maximize revenue and profits by integrating urban and rural marketing. The integrated marketing strategies cater to the varying demographic characteristics of the consumers by creating customized marketing mixes. However, strategists customize marketing mixes based on differences between rural and urban marketing.