Brands need to shift to ‘Bharat-first’ strategy as digital usage grows

Mumbai: Brands need to move beyond treating rural India as an extension of national advertising campaigns and adopt a “Bharat-first” strategy as digital engagement, influencer marketing and changing consumption patterns reshape how rural consumers discover and buy products, industry executives said.

However, the scale and diversity of rural markets, coupled with a shortage of reliable audience data, continue to constrain targeted advertising investment.

“There are brands who now realise that they need to have a Bharat-first advertising approach rather than an all-India approach,” said Abhishek S, senior vice president and head of rural, social and health media solutions at WPP Media India. While brands increasingly recognise the opportunity, rural advertising investment remains below its potential, he said.


According to the Rural Barometer 2026 Study by WPP Media and Kantar, rural Gen Z consumers, aged 18-29, account for 33% of rural mobile users and spend close to three hours online daily. Some 39.4% made an online purchase in the preceding six months, compared with 29.6% of rural consumers overall. Their monthly consumption basket has widened to 19.1 product categories from 17 in February 2025.

Puneet Avasthi, senior executive director at Kantar, said digital platforms were helping younger rural consumers discover products and make choices aligned with their aspirations. Health and wellness, convenience foods, personal grooming, fashion and lifestyle products are among the categories benefiting from these changing preferences.

Influencers are increasingly shaping purchase decisions. Nearly one in three rural consumers follows influencers, and more than three-fourths of these followers reportedly take some action based on their recommendations. Among rural Gen Z influencer followers, 14.7% purchased a product after viewing influencer content, compared with 12.4% of influencer followers overall.

Abhishek said social media had expanded rural consumers’ circle of influence beyond their immediate communities to creators in other cities and countries. Avasthi said influencer recommendations were anchored in trust and could prompt consumers to consult family and friends before making purchases.

Rural women are also emerging as an important audience, with influencer followership and subsequent actions stronger than the overall norm. Women buy as many or slightly more product categories than men in the monthly FMCG basket, Avasthi said, pointing to greater market access and growing e-commerce activity.

AI-enabled features are gaining traction. The study found that 52.6% of rural mobile users use at least one AI-enabled feature, rising to 60.4% among Gen Z. Image-based product searches are used by 29.3% of rural mobile users, image filters by 25.5% and voice-to-text tools by 23.2%.

Abhishek said these tools serve practical needs, from making communication easier to helping consumers identify products online. However, further research is needed to establish how far AI is improving shopping decisions.

He added that YouTube had broad rural reach, with nearly every second rural mobile user having the app on their phone, while e-commerce distribution had expanded over the past three to four years.

The digital shift comes amid pressure on household budgets. The study found that 53% of respondents reported unchanged or lower household expenditure over the preceding six months. Purchases of laundry products fell to 79.6% from 84.8% in February 2025, while cooking oil and ghee purchases declined to 88% from 90.3%.

In contrast, purchases of ready-to-eat salty snacks rose to 71.7% from 58.5%, ready-to-cook snacks to 59.7% from 48.9%, and fruit drinks and juices to 43.6% from 27.4%. Carbonated drink purchases also increased, although Abhishek said seasonality had contributed to the rise.

He said inflation and higher costs had made rural consumers more deliberate, balancing essential spending with aspirations. Avasthi pointed to growing demand for packaged foods, health and wellness products, and personal grooming items, particularly among younger consumers.

Data gaps remain a key constraint on advertising investment. Abhishek said the availability of digital infrastructure and devices had not generated enough actionable signals to identify and target rural audiences precisely. The scale of the market also means focused investment requires substantial resources.

Avasthi said rural India could not be treated as a homogeneous market, with states, socioeconomic groups and consumer cohorts adopting categories at different rates. Digital access is beginning to bridge media gaps in traditionally underserved markets, including parts of Uttar Pradesh, helping widen consumption, he added.

The study surveyed 4,226 respondents across Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand, and Assam. The Gen Z sample comprised 1,412 respondents.

Abhishek said better information on rural consumers’ aspirations, consumption patterns and media habits would give brands greater confidence to invest and develop more organised, targeted rural marketing strategies.