INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CALCUTTA

MARKETING TO THE BOTTOM-OF-PYRAMID

Course Code: MK-255; 3-credit course
PGDM Term-4 (2018-19)

Instructor - Prof Ramendra Singh (Email:ramendra@iimcal.ac.in)

INTRODUCTION TO BOP MARKETS

Subsistence marketplaces or BOP markets consist of consumers who live at subsistence levels,
especially in developing countries including Brazil, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Such markets
are believed to be ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable in the long term. Since
India has a large-sized bottom of the pyramid market, it makes sense to understand how
marketing practices can be tailored using innovative approaches to serve the lowest strata of
consumers in our society. However, marketing to BOP consumers have its unique set of
challenges. Low levels of literacy and education, high levels of ignorance, low purchasing
power, and a constant struggle to make all ends meet characterize such markets. According to
few experts, BOP markets consist of around 3 billion people with less than $2 income per day.
However, the lessons from BOP markets can be sometime amazingly overwhelming. One of the
world’s poorest nations, Rwanda has 92% of the nation covered under health insurance for last
11 years, and premiums cost only about $2 a year. On the contrary, one of the world’s richest
nations, US have in comparison the most expensive healthcare system, and almost half its people
are either uninsured or under-insured.

Some of the successful marketing innovations in such markets include that of Grupo Salinas, a
group of companies, created by Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas. The company recently
launched a comprehensive consumer financial literacy by distributing 2.7 million copies of
comics to educate consumers at the bottom of the pyramid. Similarly, SELCO Solar Pvt. Ltd, a
social enterprise established in 1995 by few engineers in India, provides sustainable energy
solutions and services to poor households and businesses. It has sold, serviced, and financed
more than one lac solar panels to consumers in BOP markets. It dispelled three myths associated
with sustainable technology and the rural sector- poor people cannot afford sustainable
technologies, they cannot maintain sustainable technologies; and that social ventures cannot be
run as commercial entities.

Given the context of subsistence marketplaces, many scholars have emphasized the need for
development of the BOP markets in terms of creation of the capacity to consume, development
of new goods and services, dignity and choice for the poor, and the importance of developing
trust between buyer and seller. Several principles have been suggested including finding
sustainable solutions, understanding functionality, innovating with process and deskilling work,
educating low-literate consumers, designing for hostile infrastructure, and designing innovative
distribution chains.

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 COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course will focus on understanding the commercially and socially innovative practices at
subsistence marketplaces. It is expected that the course would help to enhance the understanding
about innovative marketing approaches to be used for the BOP consumers, and/or producers. The
pedagogy for this course would comprise of case studies (including video cases), research
articles, presentations, class discussion, and lectures from experts (subject to their availability).

Restriction on course registrations: Final registrations will not exceed 60, excluding
STEP/CEMS students.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this course, you are expected to understand:

 What are the characteristics of BOP markets and subsistence consumers?
 How to design and deliver value to subsistence consumers.
 What social and marketing innovations are required to serve the BOP consumers?
 What successful marketing companies are practicing to serve the BOP consumers?
 What new business models are required to become successful in BOP markets?
 How products should be designed for such marketplaces.
 What should be the nature of distribution channels for successful products?

USEFUL LINKS
1. Sustainable Marketplaces Laboratory – Seeking Actionable Knowledge to Enable
Sustainable Marketplaces available at:
www.business.illinois.edu/subsistence/laboratory/
2. Enabling Marketplace Literacy in Subsistence Marketplaces available at:
www.business.illinois.edu/subsistence/docs/EnablingMarketplaceLiteracy.pdf
3. Next-Billion: www.nextbillion.net
4. Ashoka: www.ashoka.org
5. Avina: www.avina.net
6. BOP Protocol: http://www.bop-protocol.org/

RECOMMENDED READINGS
(1) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid Eradicating poverty through profits by C.K.
Prahalad, Wharton School Publishing, 2005. (CKP): Textbook for the course.
(2) Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee, and Esther Duflo; Random House India.
(3) Viswanathan, Madhu, S. Gajendiran, and R. Venkatesan (2008), Enabling Consumer and
Entrepreneurial Literacy in Subsistence Marketplaces, Dordrecht, The Netherlands:
Springer.
(4) Fighting Poverty Together: Rethinking Strategies for Business, Governments, and Civil
Society to Reduce Poverty by Aneel Karnani.

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 COURSE EVALUATION

Component Mode Duration Weightage

Mid Term Exam Closed book 1 hour 20%
Closed book
End Term Exam 2 hour 30%
Field based
Field Throughout the 50%
assignments
Assignments(Group- course
based)
Total 100%

SESSION PLAN

Session Topic Readings Activities Planned

No. for the Class
1&2 Marketing and BOP: Is the BOP really for Introduction to the
Challenges and Opportunities you? By Ashish Course and Class
Karamchandani et al. Discussion
2011

Reality Check at the

BOP by Erik Simanis
2012.

The Mirage of
Marketing to the
Bottom of the
Pyramid: How The
Private Sector Can
Help Alleviate
Poverty, by Aneel
Karnani.

3 4As of BOP Marketing: Innovation’s Holy Case Discussion:

Availability
Product Development for BOP
4 4As of BOP Marketing:
Availability
Product Design for BOP
Consumers
5 Assignment Presentations-1
Grail by Prahalad & Marketing the $100
Mashelkar. Laptop
Case Discussion:
Godrej Chotukool: A
Cooling Solution for
Mass Markets
Groups would present

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 on Assignment:

 How would I
suitably
change the
product design
for my chosen
product for
BOP?

6 4As of BOP Marketing: Socially Responsible Case Discussion:

Accessibility Distribution: Hindustan Unilever:
Distribution Strategies Lifebuoy
for Reaching the Soap(Textbook; page
Bottom of the Pyramid. 241)
7 4As of BOP Marketing: Case Discussion:
Awareness HUL: Kan Khajura
Tesan

8&9 Assignment Presentations-2 Groups would present

on Assignment:

 How can I
communicate
the value
proposition for
my chosen
product to
BOP(including
the use of
visuals)?

10 4As of BOP Marketing: Case Discussion:

Affordability Narayana Hrudalaya

11 Assignment Presentations-3 Groups would present

on Assignment:

 What I would
buy for Rs
100?
 How to
increase
affordability
of that
product?

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 12 BOP Marketing Ecosystem Co-Creating Case Discussion:
Business’s New Social Pepsi-BASIX
Compact by Bruggman Partnership
& Prahalad.
13 BOP as Producer and Exchanges in Groups would
Entrepreneur Marketing Systems: present on
The Case of Assignment 4:
Subsistence Consumer-  What is the
Merchants in Chennai, business
India model of the
hawker?
14 Developing Business Models for Building Value at top Case Discussion:
Social Impact at BOP and bottom of Global ApproTEC Kenya
Supply Chain: MNC-
NGO partnerships

Business Models for

Technology in the
Developing World by
Chesbrough et al.

15 & 16 CSR, Sustainability and BOP Case Discussion:

Marketing GE Healthcare(A &
B)
17 & 18 Social Enterprises and BOP Groups would
Marketing present on
Assignment 5 from
O’Nergy:
The assignment would
be shared few days
before this session
19 & 20 Guest Lecture Series: Guest Speaker:
BOP Markets and Social Mr N K Chaudhary
Enterprises from Jaipur Rugs

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