Perspective- After years of sparse rain, the floodgates opened May 7, 2013 Niti Bhan
- Impact of mainstreaming and commodification of cyber cafe services May 4, 2013 Niti Bhan
- The role of the cyber cafe: Assisted entry ramp onto the information superhighway to use a cliche May 4, 2013 Niti Bhan
- Estimating price in unexplored and untapped markets May 3, 2013 Niti Bhan
- Mobile phones and China: Two concurrent factors of global urbanization of rural African market towns. May 3, 2013 Niti Bhan
Category Archives: Bottom of the pyramid/Poverty
Demanding savvy customers at the BoP
Probably the most successful global BoP consumer product today is the mobile phone and its attendant services. While there's fodder for a separate post to follow contained within that specific sentence, this one looks at the reasonably maturing market as … Continue reading
The trickle-up influence of design for the bottom of the pyramid
The most common question posed by designers (at the Design Factory, in Finland) has been “What is different about designing for the BoP from the way I already design for mainstream consumers?” Its a good question to ask, because it … Continue reading
Coping with variations in language and literacy
Christmas Eve 2009, Singapore This cleaning station next to the petrol pump caught my eye last night. With the increasing numbers of migrant labour available affordably in Singapore these days, one can't predict their educational background or language skills – … Continue reading
Posted in Bottom of the pyramid/Poverty, Culture & research, Design, Marketing
India’s telco price wars; a street view
This issue of Businessworld caught my eye on the flight from India, with its accompanying cover story full of informative graphs and numbers. Anecdotal evidence from the rental car driver tells me that some gaps exist between marketing and the … Continue reading
Can big business save the world? It depends…
Jared Diamond's op ed in the NYT struck me with the question he posed, which is whether big business can save the world. Diamond went on to use Walmart, Chevron and Coca Cola as examples. I leave it to you … Continue reading
*This* is a design revolution
Reading Helen Walter's review of Emily Pilloton's book Design Revolution in Businessweek titled "This is a design revolution?" made me wonder what would happen if we approached doing business with the BoP without the filter of "social impact" or "doing … Continue reading
Women at the BoP: what does it mean when your money belongs to you?
Photocredit: WSJ slideshow I came across the following anecdote from the CGAP blog referencing biometric identification technology as a means for financial services to serve their BoP customers and it gives rise to some food for thought. Here's the snippet … Continue reading
Research and the blog: The medium is not the message
Dear students, As I see your invisible wanderings page by page with nothing overlooked in the index section – yes, I'm tracking you guys from tu delft particularly of late – I have a small request to make. I understand … Continue reading
Godrej: Setting the bar for BoP innovation in consumer marketing?
Image of Godrej Chotukool from the WSJ Distracted by the coolness of the product, I overlooked the real story developing in the Indian consumer market. New ways of distributing, new ways of creating and meeting demand, in ways that proffer … Continue reading
Photoblogging: Stocking up inventory in BoP retail
All photographs taken by the author on 20th February 2009 in Januiay, Iloilo, The Philippines.
