• Describing challenges and opportunities of marketing in emerging markets;
• Understanding and critically assessing theories of emerging market marketing;
• Knowing practical tools for market assessment and marketing in emerging markets,
• Applying marketing theories and tools to concrete cases of marketing in western companies moving into emerging markets.

High growth rates, the emergence of middle classes with strong purchasing power, pent up demands, and improved marketing infrastructures are attracting western companies to emerging markets. They all want to be part of the market opportunities of these, the world’s growth drivers. However, many of these companies realize that the marketing and branding practices developed in the western markets are ineffective when applied to emerging markets.

Amazon, Uber in China and GM, Ford in India have fallen short in achieving their growth and expansion objectives. At the same time, emerging market companies like Alibaba, Didi, Tata, Lenovo are not only giving strong competition to global MNC’s in their emerging markets, but they are becoming and acquiring global brands.

Western companies are trying to deepen their marketing strategies in “middle weight cities” in China trying to capture mass segment after the premium segment. Along with other European companies, Danish companies like Carlsberg, Lego etc., are flocking to India to tap into this growing market.  The new trade agreements between Denmark and India demonstrates the increased focus of the Danish companies in India.

Cultural specificities, institutional voids and informality, in-transparent business networks, underdeveloped infrastructures, and industrial structures render standard western marketing thinking inadequate in emerging markets. The course is aimed at assisting students in understanding the specificities of marketing in emerging market contexts and provides them with tools that allow them to work with marketing in emerging markets in an ethical, social and environmentally responsible manner.

The course will put special focus on the largest emerging economies (India, China, and upcoming next 11 emerging countries like Indonesia, Bangladesh, Kenya etc.), which are performing robustly with strong domestic demand, consumption, and investment. More specifically this course covers and focuses on theory and insights, the potentials and challenges of the emerging economies. The capacities of growing markets, fast developing local consumer markets fueled by technology adoption, ample low-cost labor, and the rising middle class, fortune at the bottom of pyramid (BOP) segment have attracted general attention about the nature of the rapid economic transformations these countries are currently undergoing. The realities in terms of market heterogeneity, sociopolitical governance, the chronic shortage of resources, unbranded competition, and inadequate infrastructure, requires rethinking the core assumptions of marketing, such as market orientation, market segmentation, and differential advantage.

Experts with practical experience from marketing in emerging markets will provide up-to-date knowledge about the different markets based on their own experience and research. Thus, students will get a comprehensive knowledge of the global emerging markets with insights into the latest business dynamics in these markets through real-world embedded projects while Harvard (HBS) case studies discussions, theories, and literature will form the backdrop for reflective understanding.

The themes are as follows:

1. Why emerging markets are important and yet so volatile?
2. Why do well-established products fail in emerging markets? Is it lack of sensitivity to local culture or lack of adaptation to local marketing infrastructure?
3. How companies underestimate the cost of entering the emerging markets? Which strategies companies can adapt to reduce these costs?
4. Should a company extend its marketing mix, or should it adjust it to suit the different income segments in the local markets? Is there a single recipe for all the emerging markets?
5. What are the institutional factors that influence marketing in emerging economies
6. What is the right entry strategy for marketing products in these markets: Direct export, franchising/licensing, agent/ distributor, cross border e-commerce and joint ventures/ fully owned subsidiaries?
7. What are the new capabilities and organization structural changes required to win in EMs?
8. How to put theory into practice and develop a realistic and viable international marketing plan?

John Roberts & Ujwal Kayande & Rajendra K. Srivastava, (2015) “What’s Different About Emerging Markets, and What does it Mean for Theory and Practice?” Cust. Need. and Solut. 2:245–250

Tarun Khanna & Krishna G. Palepu (2010)."Exploiting Institutional Voids as Business Opportunities: How to Gain Competitive Advantage in Emerging Markets, HBR, 2010, 48 pgs..

Sheth, J. (2011): “Impact of Emerging Markets on Marketing: Rethinking Existing Perspectives and Practices”, Journal of Marketing Vol. 75 (July 2011), 166 –182, 17p

Tarun Khanna & Krishna G. Palepu (2010). Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map for Strategy and Execution. Harvard Business Press. ISBN 978-1-4221-6695-6.

Daniel W. Baack, David J. Boggs, (2008) “The difficulties in using a cost leadership strategy in emerging markets”, International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 3 Issue: 2, pp.125-139, doi: 10.1108/​17468800810862605.

Davidson K. ETHICAL CONCERNS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID: WHERE CSR MEETS BOP. Journal Of International Business Ethics [serial online]. January 2009; 2(1): 22-32.