The 86% Solution

How to Suceed in the Biggest Market Opportunity of the 21st Century

The developed world contains the wealthiest 14% of the world’s population. Most global businesses have traditionally focused on selling to those customers, but it’s getting harder to make money that way because these markets are over-served and hyper-competitive. The biggest marketing opportunity of the twenty-first century will be to sell to the other 86% of the population who live in developing nations. By selling products into emerging markets, tremendous rates of growth and profitability can be achieved.

The business “rules of engagement,” however, are quite different when you serve emerging markets. It’s not just a matter of offering a third-world version of your existing products and services. Instead, there are nine specific characteristics of emerging markets you need to be aware of and nine specific strategies for taking advantage of those market characteristics. At the very least, to succeed in these markets, you’ll need to challenge the prevailing business wisdom. Each of these characteristics of emerging markets represent an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage for whichever companeis come up with the most appropriate solutions.

In all, the 86% market is such a substantial commercial opportunity that the key question is not whether you should be in this market but whether you can afford not to be.

The 86% Solution