What are the differences between

marketing in a developing and a

developed market?

One of the
sharpest
distinctions in
global marketing
is between
developed and
developing
markets such as
Brazil, Russia,
India, and China
(often called

The unmet needs of the developing

world represent huge potential
markets for food, clothing, shelter,
consumer electronics, appliances,
and many other goods.

Developed nations account for about

20 percent of the worlds
population.Can marketers serve the
other 80 percent,

Successfully entering developing

markets requires a special set of skills
and plans.Consider how these
companies pioneered ways to serve
invisibleconsumers:20

. . Corporacin GEO builds lowincome housing in Mexico.The twobedroom homes are modular and
expandable.

Grameenphone marketed cell phones

to 35,000 villages in Bangladesh by
hiring village women as agents who
leased phone time to other
villagers,one call at a time

Colgate-Palmolive rolled into Indian

villages with video vans that showed
the benefits of toothbrushing

Getting the marketing equation right

in developing markets can pay big
dividends

Smaller packaging and lower sales

prices are often critical when incomes
and housing spaces are limited.

Unilevers 2 rupee sachets of

detergent and shampoo were a big
hit in rural India,where 70 percent of
the population still live

Eighty percent of consumers in

emerging markets buy their products
from tiny bodegas,stalls, kiosks,and
mom-and-pop stores not much bigger
than a closet,which Procter & Gamble
calls high-frequency stores. In India,
98 percent of food is still purchased
from the 12 million neighborhood
mom-and-pop outfits called kirana
stores.25

Nokia sends marketing,sales,and

engineering staff from its entry-level
phone group to spend a week in
peoples homes in rural
China,Thailand,and Kenya to observe
how they use phones. By developing
rock-bottom-priced phones with just
the right functionality,Nokia has
become the market-share leader in
Africa and Asia.26 A Western image
can be helpful. Coca-Colas success
against local cola brand Jianlibao in
China was partly due to its symbolic
values of modernity and affluence