MUMBAI: Adding another feather to its  cap, Reliance Media World Limited is all set to tap into the rich potential of Rural markets, with the launch of a new business unit BIG RURAL. This division of Reliance Media World is the radio industry's first attempt to reach out to rural markets and offer marketers activation solutions backed by radio support. A truly thought leadership initiative, BIG Rural will give brands inroads into lacs of villages across the country.

BIG Rural seeks to leverage the wide network of BIG 92.7 FM, which has 45 stations and presence in 52 cities in India. BIG 92.7 FM already covers over 10% of the rural population of the country, which gives it access to rural consumers. The current reach of BIG FM extends to over 52000 villages and 200 smaller towns, which are the engines of economic growth in the coming years. With the proposed Phase III roll out of FM Radio licensing, it is just further expected to expand to over 2, 50,000 villages across India.

Any rural operation requires efficient monitoring and with a wide network presence with in-house activation manpower dedicated to on ground activations BIG RURAL provides an edge with greater efficiency and better execution of projects. Given the importance of costs in this business, local vendor development is another significant advantage that BIG RURAL will build, creating greater value for clients. Additionally with local creative teams in place in the radio business, the ability to tap local insights and socio-cultural understanding is easily enabled, which will lead to more effective marketing solutions for clients.

BIG RURAL will offer clients the whole range of rural solutions from activation in villages, to activation of rural consumer aggregation points – Haats, Rural Melas, Rural Fairs etc. Eventually BIG RURAL will also create properties catering to the rural population which can become platforms for brands to market their products/services

Key categories BIG RURAL would be targeting are: Farm products (Seeds, pesticides, Tractors), Telecom brands seeking inroads in rural markets, FMCG brands, Banking and Financial services.

Highlighting the growth strategy for the BIG Rural, Mr. Rabe .T. Iyer, Business Head - Allied Businesses said, Given our already existent network through the radio platform of BIG 92.7 FM, BIG Rural offers unmatchable reach across India, reaching out to 52,000 villages with its very own local and trained personnel. With our vast network strength, holistic activations solutions and radio amplification, we offer Clients an edge over our competitors. We have kick-started with key projects and look forward to capitalizing a huge market share with our unparalleled service and exclusive offerings. It is our endeavor to help Clients by strategically reaching out to rural India, as we help enriching lives of the local populace, laying the foundation for a more evolved and urbanized rural India....