The South Asian Consumer Market: How Big is the Potential?, by Martha Lagace

Saturday, April 23, 2005

With a population in the billions and with wildly diverse income levels, South Asia poses unique challenges to marketers, to say the least. But smart marketers are figuring out how to adapt by applying basic principles of their trade to the unique characteristics of the region.
As one said recently at Harvard Business School, if you’re struggling to sell soap, then maybe improving the water infrastructure in local villages is the most important first step.
At the panel discussion on consumer marketing at the Conference on India and Its Neighbors on February 27th, representatives of Bollywood films, Nokia India, Rediffusion (“the Yahoo of India,” according to its CEO and co-founder), and Pakistani media brand GEO TV all shared their success stories and failures. HBS professor Das Narayandas moderated.
Story found here.

Source: HBS Working Knowledge