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 […]
Nielson puts the African opportunity in perspective
Nielson have released a new report called The Diverse Peoples of Africa covering 7 countries. While they focus on urban and peri-urban consumers, mostly earning USD200 a month and above, there is some fascinating information available in there nonetheless. This is one of them – the visual puts the facts in context, the emerging consumer […]
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 […]
The hidden digital divide: Energy consumption and infrastructure
Photocredit: Niti Bhan, Maua, Kenya Feb 2012 This is an ironbox. It is heated by placing glowing embers of charcoal inside and securing the lid. When hot, it is used to iron clothes. Variations of this design can be seen in use across India’s urban centers where the isteriwallah plies his trade, ironing clothes for […]
What does it mean when Chinese manufacturers enter the social enterprise space?
“The market has been destroyed for solar” or so I heard today from someone who prefers to stay anonymous but I’d hazard a guess knows a fair bit about what is happening on the ground in East Africa from the point of view of social enterprises. Interestingly, I’d brought up the question of whether “It […]
Immersion in rural Kenya
We start the immersion phase of our project tomorrow and leave for our first location in rural Kenya today. Our focus is to better understand household consumer behaviour and our methodology is inspired by the early stage of the human centered design process. Ukambani has been the traditional homeland of the Kamba people for at […]
Why so much “BoP” marketing fails in the developing world
Increasingly I have been getting the sense that there are some fundamental issues with the way BoP focused organizations are developing, creating and implementing their market entry strategies. Here are four of the most obvious errors that I’m seeing: Assuming there’s no competition Most of these firms, particularly those coming in from the outside and […]
“The Largest Mobile Money Network”
Seeing signs of increasing competition around as next evolution requires interconnectivity and platform agnosticism.
Human centered design: Surprising insights from rural Kenya
One of the most surprising things that struck me over the past couple days of running around doing recce visits for our upcoming rural research was just how rapidly and how well the concept of the user centered design (UCD) process and thus, the human centered approach to research and development was not only understood […]
