As stated earlier in Chapters 1 and 2, one salient aspect of the globalization of markets is
the importance of the emerging markets, known as ten Big Emerging Markets (BEMs)
including China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and Brazil. As multinational companies from
NorthAmerica,Western Europe, and Japan search for growth, they have no choice but to
compete in those big emergingmarkets despite the uncertainty and the difficulty of doing
business there.Avast consumer base of hundreds of millions of people—the middle class
market, in particular—is developing rapidly. When marketing managers working in the
developed countries hear about the emerging middle class markets in China or Brazil,
they tend to think in terms of the middle class in the United Sates orWestern Europe. In
the United States, people who earn an annual income of between $35,000 and $75,000 are
generally considered middle class.81 In China and Brazil, peoplewho have the purchasing
power equivalent of $20,000 or more constitute only 2 and 9 percent of their respective
populations and are considered upper class. In these emerging countries, people with the
purchasing power equivalent of $5,000–$20,000 (and most of them in the $5,000–10,000
equivalent bracket) are considered middle class and constitute a little more than 25
percent of the population. Indeed, the vast majority (67 percent of the population) in
China and Brazil are in the low-incomeclass with the purchasing power equivalent of less
than $5,000. Obviously, the concept of the middle class market segment differs greatly
between developed and emerging countries, and so does what they can afford to
purchase.82 Consumers in big emerging markets are increasingly aware of global products and
global standards, but they often are unwilling—and sometimes unable—to pay global
prices. Even when those consumers appear to want the same products as sold elsewhere,
some modification in marketing strategy is necessary to reflect differences in
product, pricing, promotion, and distribution. Some unnecessary frills may need to be
removed from the product to reduce price, yet maintaining its functional performance;
and packaging may need to be strengthened as the distribution problems, such as poor
road conditions and dusty air, in emerging markets hamper smooth handling. Promotion
may need to be adapted to address local tastes and preferences. As these emerging
markets improve their economic standing in the world economy, they tend to assert
their local tastes and preferences over existing global products. Further, access to local
distribution channels is often critical to success in emerging markets because it is
difficult and expensive for multinational companies from developed countries to
understand local customs and a labyrinthine network of a myriad of distributors in
the existing channel.
If a vote were taken for the foreign company that has changed most in the Chinese
market, the winner might be Amway, the U.S.-based direct sales company. It had to reengineer
its China network when its original method was virtually outlawed by China as
unsuitable to national characteristics. It owns and runs some 200 retail outlets in China
in 2008, but when it arrived in China in the early 1990s, it had none. It is churning out
advertising campaigns featuring some of the world’s most well-known athletes, while
for most part of its history, its only marketing strategy was to depend on word of mouth.
When it comes to pricing globally, Amway keeps a different price policy based on the
local conditions of each country or regional market. In Southeast Asian markets, where
currency levels are more fluid, prices are adjusted every couple of years. In China,
raising prices seemed unavoidable in 2008 too as Amway needed to offset the inflation
in almost every aspect of business - from labor to materials there.83
Despite these operational complexities, many foreign companies are actually
making BEMs as corporate priority. Take two retail giants for example. Many of us
tend to think that Wal-Mart is one of the most global. However, only 10 percent of its
sales are generated outside its core NAFTA market, compared to Carrefour, which
generates more than 20 percent of sales outside Europe. What is more, in the allimportant
emerging markets of China, South America and the Pacific Rim, Carrefour
outpacesWal-Mart in actual revenue. Take China, the land of a billion-plus consumers,
as an example. Carrefour is the first foreign retailer tapping into the attractive Chinese
market in 1997. By 2005, Carrefour had opened 62 stores and was planning to open
between 12 and 15 new hypermarkets each year, with one-third of them located in
central and western areas of China. Wal-Mart, with more than 5,000 stores worldwide,
is catching up with Carrefour for its 46th store in China. In 2004, Carrefour generated
sales revenues of $2 billion, whereas Wal-Mart had a sales revenue of $0.94 billion, or
slightly less than half of Carrefour’s revenue.84Wal-Mart needed to expand the number
of outlets quickly in order to lower costs and capitalize on the growing affluence among
China’s urban customers before Carrefour and other rivals get a chance to further
establish themselves. Being No. 2 risks being doomed for failure, as Wal-Mart learned
to its cost in South Korea when it sold its eight-year-old operation there to the domestic
market leader, Shinsegae, in May 2006. Wal-Mart has recently raised the stakes in
China by acquiring Trust-Mart, the top retail chain of 100 stores that sell everything
from food to electronics in the country, for about $1 billion. Despite Trust-Mart’s
reputation for mediocre management,Wal-Mart would gain massive scale through the
acquisition for it to more than double its retail presence. By purchasing an entire chain
rather than opening new stores, Wal-Mart will be able to bypass cumbersome Chinese red tape: each city has its own requirements for new stores. By acquiring existing stores,
Wal-Mart can avoid the complexities of land acquisition.85
European companies like Unilever have also broadened the scope of their market
by addressing these issues and also competing for the low-income classes. In Indonesia,
Unilever does brisk business by selling inexpensive, smaller-size products, that are
affordable to everyone, and available anywhere. For instance, it sells Lifebuoy soap
with the motto: ‘‘With a price you can afford.’’ Unilever’s subsidiary in India, Hindustan
Lever, approaches the market as one giant rural market. It uses small, cheap
packaging, bright signage, and all sorts of local distributors. In fact, Unilever has been
so successful and profitable in Indonesia that its biggest rival, P & G, is now trying to
follow suit.
Local companies from those emerging markets are also honing their competitive
advantage by offering better customer service than foreign multinationals can provide.
They can compete with established multinationals from developed countries either by
entrenching themselves in their domestic or regional markets or by extending their
unique homegrown capabilities abroad. For example, Honda, which sells its scooters,
motorcycles, and cars worldwide on the strength of its superior technology, quality, and
brand appeal, entered the Indian market. Competing head-on with Honda’s strength
would be a futile effort for Indian competitors. Instead, Bajaj, an Indian scooter
manufacturer, decided to emphasize its line of cheap, rugged scooters through an
extensive distribution system and a ubiquitous service network of roadside-mechanic
stalls. Although Bajaj could not compete with Honda on technology, it has been able to
stall Honda’s inroads by catering to consumers who looked for low-cost, durable
machines. Similarly, Jollibee Foods, a family-owned fast-food company in the Philippines,
overcame an onslaught from McDonald’s in its home market by not only
upgrading service and delivery standards but also developing rival menus customized
to local Filipino tastes. In additional to noodle and rice meals made with fish, Jollibee
developed a hamburger seasoned with garlic and soy sauce, capturing more than half of
the fast-food business in the Philippines. Using similar recipes, this Filipino company
has now established dozens of restaurants in neighboring markets and beyond,
including Hong Kong, the Middle East, and as far as California.86
In an era when manufacturing, customer service, and increasingly, the bulk of new
sales are coming from Asia, a growing number of U.S. and European companies are
starting to look east to India, China, and other emerging markets for their next
generation of board leadership. Goldman Sachs, which is investing in Indian industry,
named steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal a director on June 29, 2008. Finland’s Nokia, the
largest seller of mobile phones to India, added Lalita Gupte, chair of Mumbai’s ICICI
Venture Funds (IBN), to its board in May 2007. And Infosys Technologies co-founder
N. R. Narayana Murthy joined the board of Dutch consumer products maker Unilever
in 2007. Novartis, Procter & Gamble, and Deere are among the handful of other U.S.
and European companies that have recruited Chinese and Indian natives to their
boards. Given demand by an emerging middle class of consumers in India, China, and
the Middle East for laptops and cell phones—as well as the need for those countries’
industries to modernize their computer systems—technology companies, such as
Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Cisco Systems, are natural candidates to diversify their
boards. Directors who hail from emerging markets can stand toe to toe with management
on decisions about how to proceed in Asia, help theWestern companies gauge the
impact of decisions made in home countries on customers in host counterparts, and
make more fit marketing strategies to make the companies be more compelling to
customers in these fast growing regions.87
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