Bottom of Pyramid

Ksenia Novikova

MGT -4335

1. As a junior member of your company’s committee to explore new markets, you have received a memo from the chairperson telling you to be prepared at the next meeting to discuss key questions that need to be addressed if the company decides to look further into the possibility of marketing to the BOP segment. The ultimate goal of this meeting will be to establish a set of general guidelines to use in developing a market strategy for any one of the company’s products to be marketed to the “aspirational poor.” These guidelines need not be company or product specific at this time. In fact, think of the fi nal guideline as a checklist—a series of questions that a company could use as a start in evaluating the potential of a specific BOP market segment for one of its products.

1. What country should we enter?
2. What market are we targeting?
3. Whom are we targeting? (demographic of BOP)
4. What product do we want to sell?
5. Does BOP need our product?
6. What is the income level of BOP? What is the living wage in that country?
7. Where and how are we going make the product?
8. Is there competition at the market? What are they selling? To whom? What are their key strengths and weaknesses? How long are they in the market? What is the difference between your product and their product? What marketing strategy are they using?
9. How similar products are distributing?
10. Where should we locate production?
11. What marketing strategy should we use?
12. How are we going to develop the product? (Our strategy in 1,3,5 years)

2.a) Is it exploitation for a company to profit from selling soaps, shampoo, personal computers, and ice cream, and so on, to people with little disposable income?

I don’t think that it is exploitation for a company to profit from selling soaps, shampoo, personal computers, and ice cream, and so on, to people with little disposable income. According to “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” article two-thirds of Indian villagers, who are in the lowest-income residents, spend more than two-thirds of their income on food, whereas the remaining third is spent on soaps, shampoos and other products and services. Companies want to get at least a little profit from BOP people. Everything in this world has its own price and people must pay it. I feel like companies is already doing a lot for low-income people and this is right to get something in return.

 A lot of companies are helping low-income people by offering free products, creating educational programs for kids and helping to improve the environment. P&G and Unilever sell product to BOP people with a respect of their income, also these companies offer micro packs with shower necessities in the villages.  P&G is also providing education for children, running a safe water program in poor regions.  Shampoos, soaps and other bathroom essentials are almost as necessary as food. People are ready to pay for food, so why should not they pay for soap? I feel that a lot of companies are helping BOP people, by offering low prices for bathroom essentials, so buying soap and shampoo would not hurt a family budget.