Capturing the world's emerging middle class

The rapidly growing ranks of middle-class consumers span a dozen emerging nations, not just the fast-growing BRIC countries, and include almost two billion people, spending a total of $6.9 trillion annually. The authors' research suggests that this figure will rise to $20 trillion during the next decade -- about twice the current consumption in the US. Despite having strong global brands, multinational companies face challenging competition in emerging markets, as these economies already boast aggressive local players that have captured a significant portion of spending. Further complicating matters is the fact that the multinationals' business models are based on practices established in the markets of the developed world, where the game is won slowly by finding cost savings and making product improvements that capture single percentage points of market share over time. While there are multiple approaches to capturing emerging-market consumers, the two critical factors are speed and scale.