The continued curse of Cargo Cult marketing in emerging markets
The concept of Cargo Cult marketing is not unknown yet its impact and influence in the emerging markets in which I operate, can be and is, much worse. The so called “Bottom of the Pyramid” (AKA the BoP) markets have conditions that are even more likely to give rise to this blind adherence to conventional […]
Thirty years of emerging market strategy: a review
When managers in the West hear about the emerging middle class of India or China, they tend to think in terms of the middle class in Europe or the United States. This is one sign of an imperialist mind-set—the assumption that everyone must be just like us. True, consumers in the emerging markets today are […]
Why South Africa should not be the entry point to reach Africa’s emerging consumer markets
This post is about something I’ve been musing upon for some months now, ever since my 2011 project which took me around rural and small town Kenya visiting with a variety of cyber cafes. Since then, many other well respected Kenyan professionals that I’ve spoken with, either in person or online, have confirmed my suspicions […]
Design for the next billion 2012: What’s missing?
An upcoming project’s requirements led to the realization that there is a huge gap in design for the next billion (and more). The subsequent domino effect has left a lack in tools, methods, frameworks and thus, disciplines themselves, from the perspective of addressing the challenge of serving the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) population segment. […]
Aspiring changes; inspiring futures
I’ve been in New Delhi this past week for some work and its been interesting to see the shift in thinking and aspirations. The first few visits in the early 2000s showed the dramatic surface changes of a noisy market opening up to the rest of the world. Today it struck me that many of […]
Cookstoves matter less than the ladies who must use them
Photo credit: Goverdhan Meena, village Rawal, India Jan 2009 The Wonkblog covers findings from a randomized control trial on the impact of cookstoves in a blogpost titled “What cookstoves tell us about the limits of technology” where they share such insights as: So what went wrong? Basically, none of the earlier evaluations of the clean […]
Putting some real numbers to the world changing on the mobile
VentureBeat writes last week on How tech companies are waking up to global responsibilities, opportunities and shares this oft quoted example of world changing, As investment in social enterprise becomes more common, major brands and venture capitalists alike are learning how to make a difference without sacrificing their profit-driven missions.Nokia is a prime example. With […]
Cracking the code for sustainable “BoP” business models
Unlearn the past to create the future ~ C K Prahalad In the half decade or more since I increasingly began to focus on the challenge of the emerging consumer opportunities among the lower income demographic of the developing world, I’ve yet to hear of an unconditionally successful business model specifically designed for this segment […]
Going nowhere fast: Looking back at a decade of design thinking
“He who doesn’t know where he came from doesn’t know where he is going” ~ African proverb Today, I came across an article in FastCo written by one of Monitor/Doblin’s people, Melissa Quinn, whose bio seems to imply she is responsible for selecting the right mix of professionals from both business and design. Reading What […]
Fresh look at India’s consumer market
This report (PDF) by Yoshihiko Iwadare of Nomura Research Institute is only 15 pages long but manages to overturn conventional business strategy on its head in its framing and approach to new market entry for India’s emerging consumer markets. For more on the Indian consumer market today. This post was written by niti bhan and […]
