This article in BusinessWeek highlights how market leader Proctor & Gamble recently saw an opportunity to offer a a product, which was originally created for lower-income consumers in Mexico, in more developed countries.
The product in question here is an over the counter cough medicine called Vicks Cough Syrup with Honey. Big companies like General Electric, Microsoft, Nestle, and Nokia are amongst others that are now rethinking their corporate strategies as affluent customers in the US and Western Europe are no longer able to afford many luxuries. Vicks Cough Syrup with Honey was first introduced in Latin America in 2003, but has seen incredible growth in Western Europe.
Vijay Govindarajan, Chief innovation consultant at General Electric, mentions "Many of the business solutions America needs for the next 50 years could be found in emerging markets."
Do you agree with his train of thought?