How Google's Bicycle- Riding Internet Tutors Are Getting Rural Indian Women Online
Google is now sending out tutors on bicycles to rural parts of India to teach women about technology and the internet and to expand its market to these rural areas. The tutors say that the women they reach are amazed at the searching and learning capabilities that they find they have once they are able to search for it themselves. Many of these women are held back from learning certain things because they are women, and now the internet and smartphones, tablets, and such that they are getting from these bicycle- riding internet tutors are allowing them to learn things that they could not before. One woman searched for how to sew a shirt because she had always wanted to learn how, meanwhile some women, tutors say, just want to make phone calls.
This relates back to our marketing lessons because it is a smart attempt on Google's part to "expand internet access globally". And by being the first big company to help these women learn about technology and how to use it, they have become a trusted resource to them, meaning that, if these women ever have the chance to purchase their own technology or to tell others about how they learned how to use it, they will look for and talk about Google.
I like this article! It shows that companies are reaching out beyond their traditional markets to increase their portfolio. As read in chapter one of our textbook other companies are also using such venues as google to reach new markets, educate customers, and increase product demand.
ReplyDelete