The editorial in today's Economic Times (25th Oct , 2006)on BOP (Bottom of the pyramid) markets in economic times has triggered this write-up. In the editorial the author has been critical of the examples used by C K Pradhalad in his book "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid". Rather than getting into identifying the faults with the idea proposed in the book I would like to focus my energies on what identifying the areas of the work which could be put use in rural marketing in India.
The first big plus of the book ha been that it has for the first time brought consumers with low purchasing power into lime light , and because it is being promoted by one of the foremost management thinkers of the world it is getting sufficient media attention. The basic proposition of the book is that don't ignore the consumers at the lower end of the pyramid and that corporations can collaborate with consumers to co-create products and services which could lead to a win-win situation.

To be continued …….