Rural Marketing, 3rd Edition by Pearson

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RURAL MARKETING

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Syndicated Distribution

Distribution poses a major problem for a new company targeting the rural market.

It requires too many levels in the channel (multiple tiers), and setting up a distribu-

tion channel for rural markets is a costly proposition. Coca-Cola India purchased the

Parle brands (Thums Up, Limca, etc.) for INR 5.5 billion in 1993, mainly to use Parle’s

existing distribution network. However, unlike Coca-Cola, small companies cannot

afford to buy another company for the purpose of using its distribution network.

In such a situation, syndicated distribution is a viable and novel approach to gain en- ...