Caution: The emerging African market PDF stampede
This PDF report on the emerging consumer market opportunity in Sub Saharan Africa comes to us from Accenture, the most recent in the long line of consulting firm offerings that started with McKinsey’s in June 2010. In order to differentiate themselves from the migrating herd, they offer us a single customer segmentation model for the […]
Raising some concerns about urban user research insights being applied to design for rural markets
The Rural Market Insight Group at the Centre for Development Finance (CDF) conducted a six-week product test with a Base-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) household in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The purpose was to explore whether urban user testing of rural-targeted BoP products yields relevant user insights in early design stages. Surprising results warrant further research of this potentially […]
Assessing social impact vs financial sustainability for BoP business models
Tradeoffs made in purchasing decisions influence product and marketing strategy
This snippet from the Business Daily caught my attention: With the inflation rate at 15.93 per cent in the month of July, product sales have come under pressure as consumers put aside non-essential commodities like refreshment drinks from their budget lists. “Right now, the market is very sensitive to price. Coke is competing with other […]
Five years is not a very long time in which to change the world.
Today’s news has not been unexpected. Jobs announces his resignation as CEO of Apple. The subsequent discussion on the ramifications and impact of this news on Apple, its future and its products – given Mr Jobs reputation as a single minded visionary who understood the interplay of business strategy, industrial design and quality engineering – […]
Is Africa a multinational’s opportunity or one better served by SMEs?
It is not just about the risks in Africa, since in many cases African risk may be overpriced, which creates additional opportunities for investors who know what they are doing. It is more about the challenges of doing business in a continent in which more than 70% of the population lives on less than two […]
Observed market forces acting on the changing mobile landscape in East Africa
About two years ago I remember making an observation that I couldn’t seem to see any coherent patterns anymore the way I’d been able to by surfing the net for information. Flux I called it. Everything felt like it was in transition and nothing seemed to stay steady enough to grasp, much less describe. This […]
Analysis of mobile platform business models for lower income customers by Monitor Group
The Monitor Group has released a report analyzing business models across Sub Saharan Africa meant for the BoP (Base or Bottom of the Pyramid, that is the survival markets living on $2 or less a day shown above). For comparison, the percentage of population who fall under the category of emerging middle class market (defined […]
Navigating the African market opportunity
We have not been able to ignore the constant stream of media articles this year on the ‘rise of the African lions’ echoing the tigers and dragons of Asia just a few short years ago. The first reports mentioned GDP growth rates and economic potential followed rapidly by statistics on consumption, market opportunities and now, […]
National design and innovation policies: a user centered perspective
I’ve been chewing over Tim Brown’s post on Design Nations since I came across it for the first time yesterday morning. He touches upon Aalto University and Finland in his musings viz., Finland is a great example of a country that has done many of the right things. It has an integrated design and innovation […]
