I just finished reading a very good article written by C. Prahalad (via bubblegeneration) on the unexploited wealth from the bottom of the society pyramid. What does it mean? It leaves basically from the premise that a good percentage of the world population (about 4bn people) earning less than $1500 per year represents a market that is not exploited by the corporations. As such, the author suggests that besides being an untapped multi-trillion market this segment can also represent an infrastructure for innovation testing and absorbtion which can further be transferred into mature markets. There are some intertwined elements to consider when approaching it, besides its cultural specificity - creating buying power, shaping aspirations, improving access and tailoring local solutions - and innovation in one leverages the innovation in the others.

I disagree though with the suggestion that multinationals (MNCs) are the only ones that should make this happen (working together with the governement and NGOs). The MNCs do have the money but they may very easily miss the cultural understanding of the people they're targeting, and actually there are two examples from Romanian business environment that support my statement. One is European Drinks - the Romanian market leader in the soft drinks industry and Coca Cola's biggest competitor/threat - ED has the best distribution coverage of the Romanian market which it also leveraged for entering other markets (i.e. beer - Burger is theirs). The second is Leonardo - the shoe store chain with also a very good market coverage (more that 100 stores all over the country) and which basically brings $3 shoes from China and re-sell them for $30+.

Of course one may also argue about those companies exploited some windows of opportunities but fact is that they saw the fortune fromn the bottom and they went for it. Even though, ultimately, their exit will probably be to the MNCs.