1st Takeaway: The chapter talks about the young bulge in the emerging markets and how companies like MTV have successfully targeted the young segment in the emerging markets. In an entertainment industry this is particularly interesting point because for example in India there are multiple film industries (Hindi, Telegu, Tamil and others) and each of these industries caters to specific segment of the population. Companies like MTV India realized the essence of the how each of these segments are different and were able to come up with a package that catered successfully to the market with shows like MTV Bakra, Roadies and others. Similarly in other countries MTV was able to blend itself and become successful. In the same breadth Channel [V] a production from Star TV follows the regional flavor with presences in Asian countries. The important takeaway is that consumers’ in emerging countries have different preferences than developed countries. Hence for a company to be successful in emerging market then it has to first learn about the consumers and then come up with products that fit the need of consumers. A failure to understand the consumer’s taste is a recipe for disaster.
2nd Takeaway: In Emerging market consumers are more entrenched in tradition and culture. A company needs to understand and recognize it to be successful. A very good example of it is the Middle Eastern version of the popular English show “Big Brother”. Even though the program was sanitized to the maximum but a small incident of a social kiss was it undoing. Whereas a similar incident of a social kiss in a program in other developed or developing countries might not have caused any news. Hence when doing business in emerging markets the margin of error is small and a small mistake can be the last nail in the coffin. So a strong understanding of local culture and tradition is very important.
3rd Takeaway: Africa Rising: There is a huge youth market in Africa and companies like Unilever, Bel Group, Toys R Us and others have been successfully at targeting the group. The long-term success of these business stems from the strong relationship with the consumers based on the deep roots in the local cultures and markets, creating products that help them to ‘feel good, look good and get more out of life’ and the total commitment to exceptional standards of performance and productivity. These brands have been successful because the companies are deeply committed to meet the everyday needs of people. For any companies to venture into Africa they would have to understand the needs of the people, live up to the expectation of them and provide highest quality of products. There is no short cut to success in any market whether they are in developed or emerging markets.
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