RC&M initiated 'Grameenon Ke Beech' (GKB) as a rural media initiative by engaging the audience through a mela setup. This year, the agency has planned GKB during festive seasons across various parts of the country. The agency is also aiming to increase the participation of brands from 15 to 25.

Commenting on last year's property, Priya Monga, Business Head, RC&M, said, "GKB has become a cult in rural marketing, with several companies having already made their bookings well in advance for the forthcoming edition this year, considering the value GKB generated last year. We had auto, FMCG and telecom players as participants in 2009, and it was also the first time that the initiative was taken to South India. There was also considerable focus on demonstration of the products, as well as test rides, and sampling."

In the 2009 edition, a total of nine clients participated with 15 brands. The activity touched nearly 2,700 villages reaching to around 62 lakh people across the country. "The forthcoming edition has been planned for the festive seasons in North and South India," Monga added.

Monga added that 25 brands would be targetted this year, while at the same time, a conscious effort would be made to avoid brand clutter. "GKB is about experience. So while there will be a fight for the brands to participate, we will be extremely judicious in our selection so that each brand which is participating gets more value. In terms of village reach, we are expecting an increase of about 20 per cent, while we also expect around 10 per cent new retail outlets to be opened. Demonstrations of product features in interesting ways shall be the focus of the property again, but we would also look at involving local bodies like anganwadis, micro credit societies, etc., intricately," she said.

In 2009, through the pre-publicity and mela activity with as many as 240 mela events conducted over a period of two months, the agency managed brand activities for clients including Kodak, Parle, Cadbury's, Tata Salt (i-shakti), Wipro, Idea, Bajaj, GSK and Airtel DTH.