1. Microsoft Silverlight
Customer Solution Case Study
Rural Marketing Software Helps Marketers
Tap Potential Markets and Manage Efficient
Campaigns
Overview “Our goal was to tap markets that cover the length
Country or Region: India
Industry: Advertising and Marketing and breadth of rural India. We were able to achieve it
with Linscan, the world‟s first rural marketing software
Customer Profile
Lowe Lintas & Partners is one of India‟s present on both Internet and mobile platforms,
largest and most storied
communication groups. Incorporated thereby enabling marketers to effectively plan in real
in 1939, the company is headquartered time.”
in Mumbai, India. It has a brilliant
talent pool of over 650 people across Kevin D‟Souza, Executive Director, Lowe Lintas & Partners
seven divisions and nine cities all over Linterland is the specialist rural communication and marketing
India to manage its 250+ clients.
arm of Lowe Lintas & Partners. Aiming to help marketers gain a
Business Situation thorough understanding of rural markets, Linterland felt the
Lowe Lintas & Partners wanted to
launch a new tool that would help need to update and upgrade to a tool that could span its
marketers tap the potential of rural network across rural India. Working with Microsoft Gold
India for its customers.
Certified Partner, Prosares Solutions, the company chose to
Solution build its new offering, Linscan, on Microsoft Silverlight 4.0.
Linterland, the rural marketing and
communication division of Lowe Lintas Linterland believes this to be the world's first rural marketing
& Partners used Microsoft Silverlight software. It revolutionizes planning and execution. Compatible
4.0 to develop Linscan, a strategic
software, designed to exploit rural across all widely accepted mobile platforms, it offers field force
markets. management, and, enables surveys, in real time. Additionally, it
Benefits continuously updates feedback from the rural sales force to
 Delivers accountability to rural
create a more robust, relevant, and up-to-date information pool.
marketing campaigns
 Secures proprietary information Also, it provides information security and offers scalability to
 Offers scalability to accommodate
accommodate growth.
growth
 Improves market prioritization
 Facilitates effective execution
 Reduces transportation time and
costs

2. “Linscan ensures Situation  Disposable income is not comparable
Lowe Lintas & Partners is one of India‟s to urban centers, and agricultural
effective protection of largest and well-known communication income is cyclic, erratic and
groups. Headquartered in Mumbai, India, unpredictable. As a result, the
Lintas' intellectual the group has seven divisions and is purchasing decision process is very
property and data. Since spread across nine cities all over India to different from that in urban markets.
manage its 250+ clients.
this is a system with  Vernacular and cultural heterogeneity:
Linterland is the specialist rural Today, marketers invest in rural
robust control on data, marketing and communication division programs without specific knowledge
the information cannot of Lowe Lintas & Partners. Its main on where to find consumers who are
objective is to help marketers gain a more inclined to buy their offerings.
be syphoned out of the thorough understanding of rural Marketers are also unsure of the most
markets, thereby enabling optimal and effective way to communicate with the
system for use effective marketing, communication, and rural audience. Most follow a trial and
elsewhere.” activation strategies for brands to error approach.
connect with their target audiences.
Pravin Savant, Chief Technology
Officer , Lowe Lintas & Partners Owing to the above complexities, it
Linterland houses a workforce of over 40 becomes difficult to ensure adequate
members and through its partnerships, it returns on marketing investments.
extends to hundreds of trained However, the Indian rural market is vast,
personnel on the ground, who execute with roughly 790 million consumers and
its various programs. represents the largest potential market in
the country. As a result, no consumer
The rural markets have stepped up on company can afford to ignore the rural
the priority list of marketers in India and markets while crafting its overall
abroad too. While the quest to dominate marketing strategy.
these markets has been strong, the
dynamics and size make it difficult for In the current scenario where the market
companies to take full advantage. The is becoming more varied and complex,
sector poses a variety of challenges. Linterland felt the need to revolutionize
 Physical distribution is difficult due to the face of rural marketing in ways never
high costs involved, non-availability of thought possible before.
retail outlets, and the widespread
nature of rural geography. “Distant
markets have low audience density,” Solution
says Sharad Varshney, Senior Vice Linterland decided to create Linscan, a
President, Lowe Lintas & Partners. strategic rural marketing software that
“Plus, rural market places like haats would help marketers tap the most
(weekly markets where people from potential markets across rural India. A
surrounding villages conduct trade on revolutionary knowledge-based
fixed days) and melas (fairs where both intelligence system, Linscan is used as a
entertainment and sale and purchase tool for effective rural marketing―
of goods and services take place) do planning, logistics management,
not have a far-flung reach.” information gathering, and
implementation. “Our goal was to tap
markets that cover the length and

3. breadth of rural India,” says Kevin Silverlight brings a high degree of usability
D‟Souza, Executive Director of Lowe and rich interaction of geographic and
Lintas & Partners. “We were able to analytic functionality to Linscan. Bing maps
achieve it with Linscan, the world‟s first and APIs allow the solution architecture to
rural marketing software present on both remain lean and performance efficient, as
Internet and mobile platforms, thereby opposed to traditional GIS architectures
based on proprietary map servers.
enabling marketers to effectively plan in
real time.” Developed over a period of
Linscan is compatible across all widely
12–14 months, the tool went live in
accepted mobile platforms such as
March 2012.
Windows Phone 7.5+, Blackberry OS 5+,
and Android 2.2+. Using the mobile
Linterland chose to work with Microsoft
platform, it offers real time field force
Gold Certified Partner, Prosares
management, accessed by the geo co-
Solutions, because of its expertise in
ordinates of the field staff. This ensures
creating innovative solutions. The
that planned activities are actually
decision was made to build the solution
carried out in the right areas and
using the Microsoft Silverlight 4.0 web
according to schedule. In addition, with
development platform for rich and
live surveys it offers real time feedback of
interactive presentation and also because
consumers across rural India.
it protects on-screen content. The
solution architecture was designed with a
The newly launched software enables
Silverlight based presentation layer. This
Linterland to prioritize markets at a micro
allows users either a browser or a
level based on quantitative and
desktop-based „client‟ layer that would
qualitative analysis. It also helps to plan
not expose the URL of the solution.
distribution points across geographies,
“Microsoft Silverlight offered a powerful,
and identify the right media options that
straightforward set of tools for creating
will lead to cost-effective marketing
fully interactive business applications,”
initiatives.
says Arun Mathew, Vice President
Technology, Systems Technology, Lowe
The tool also allows users to overlay
Lintas & Partners. “Also, we have
location specific considerations, for
predominantly remained on Microsoft
example, dates when congregations
technologies from a user interface
(mela, haat, mundi, a vegetable and fruit
perspective. So we realized it was the
market etc) are held in these locations,
best choice.”
and their proximity to logistical points
(stocks and storage, highways, available
Linscan was architected as a centralized
accommodation for campaign staff, etc).
server-based solution with all the data
and intelligence residing in a single
Pravin Savant, Chief Technology Officer,
secure location. Overall, Linscan uses a
Lowe Lintas & Partners sums up, “Linscan
contemporary architecture comprising
is a web-based GIS plus analytical
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 (for
solution that can be replicated across
Geospatial, Analytics and Reporting
international geographies and is highly
capabilities), Microsoft Bing Maps and
secure and compatible across all widely
APIs (for presentation of geographical
accepted mobile platforms. It is versatile
shapes and information), and ASP.NET
Framework 3.5.

4. and can operate from low bandwidth Secures Proprietary Information
locations.” Linscan serves as an extensive repository
of information insights on every state,
district, tehsil (sub district), town, and
Benefits village in India. This information is drawn
The company has created a competitive, from a variety of sources, for example,
specialist solution that compiles census, other surveys, and Linterland's
information on rural markets by studying own knowledge base collated over the
market potential and trend indicators, years. “Linscan ensures effective
audience profiles at town or village level, protection of Lintas' intellectual property
and their consumption patterns. These and data,” explains Pravin. “Since there is
help clients prioritize their markets and robust control on data, the information
understand what kind of communication cannot be siphoned out of the system
works with rural audiences. Sharad says, for use elsewhere.”
“Linterland's extensive expertise and
reach in rural areas enable its clients to Offers Scalability to Accommodate
tap this market for product promotion Growth
and sampling. In addition, its exhaustive Linscan is able to increasingly absorb
knowledge on rural India helps it to track new data and insights without impacting
and exploit more opportunities in these its performance. Though designed
markets. We‟re confident that we‟ll specifically to cater to Indian markets,
continue to grow and support our the solution architecture is capable of
customers with a competitive and scaling across countries. Kevin D‟Souza
intelligent solution.” says, “The tool has geo-coded census
information that can be updated as and
Delivers Accountability for Rural when newer data is available. It is a first
Marketing Campaigns of its kind proprietary tool in India, which
Lack of planning and accountability tools is adaptable to any country in the world.”
have inhibited marketers from targeting
rural populations, unlike the urban, which Improves Market Prioritization
is easier to reach. “The top management With Linscan, multiple planners in various
in any company seeks accountability of cities can now plan and work on the
marketing and media bucks. Linscan same project without hassles and
convinces the management that iterations. They are able to identify fairs,
accountability can be delivered even for festivals, and other high spending
distant, culturally and linguistically windows in which to launch targeted
diverse rural parts of the country.” campaigns. With data from multiple
sources, Linscan can collate and create a
The launch of Linscan has already holistic picture of any selected rural belt.
attracted enquiries from other From cropping patterns to water
geographies like Pakistan that have availability, bank savings, and local fairs,
similar challenges in rural marketing. hundreds of other parameters coupled
Kevin explains, “Linscan will find an with demographic data give planners a
appeal in Asia Pacific, African, and Latin true depiction and potential of the area.
American geographies, where rural
populations outweigh the urban.”

5. Facilitates Effective Execution
Prior to Linscan, updates and feedback
were done depending on access to an
Internet café. These are few and distant
in rural India and this resulted in poor
reporting systems and client
apprehension.
Linscan now helps manage the execution
of all projects with real time on the
ground updates and feedback. In the
short period, the solution has been in
use, Linterland has been receiving daily
reports from the field, thus ensuring
better control and, productivity, and
thereby adding to overall client
satisfaction. For example, fairs that have
fixed dates, can sometimes change due
to unforeseen local causes. This
information is immediately entered into
Linscan, a mobile device, and updated
for future planning.
In addition, the twin barriers of access to
an Internet café and availability of an
Internet point have been overcome
through mobility, as reports and
feedback can now be done at any
convenient place and at a preferred time.
All this has made costs of commuting to
an Internet café and then waiting to find
a free terminal, a thing of the past.
Reduces Transportation Time and
Costs
Distribution and logistical issues plague
rural marketing with high costs and
transportation expenses. Optimizing
route planning to deliver products
quickly and at lower costs is now
possible with Linscan.

6. For More Information
For more information about Microsoft Microsoft Silverlight
products and services, call the For more information about Microsoft
Microsoft Sales Information Center at Silverlight please visit:
(800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the www.microsoft.com/silverlight
Microsoft Canada Information Centre
at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are
deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach About Prosares Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) Prosares Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Prosares) is a
services at (800) 892-5234 in the niche company, offering software
United States or (905) 568-9641 in development and implementation
Canada. Outside the 50 United States services. It has stayed rigorously focused
and Canada, please contact your local on its chosen service offerings. Based at
Microsoft subsidiary. To access Mumbai, India, Prosares has a team of
information using the World Wide trained and certified consultants,
Web, go to: business analysts, solution architects,
www.microsoft.com developers, testers, and support
professionals.
For more information about Lowe
Lintas & Partners products and
services, visit the website at:
www.lowelintas.in or
www.linterland.com/. Or contact Mr.
Kevin D‟Souza, Executive Director,
Linterland Rural Communication
at (91) (22) 3025 3667,
Kevin.Dsouza@loweandpartners.com
Software and Services Partner
 Microsoft Silverlight 4.0  Prosares Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
 Microsoft Bing Maps
 Microsoft ASP.NET Framework 3.5
This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published October 2009
May 2012