Adidas pulls ahead of Nike in online World Cup marketing battle

Adidas has turned the tables on Nike in the online World Cup marketing battle thanks to a Star Wars-themed TV
ad and the critical furore surrounding the official Jabulani match ball.

In the run-up to the World Cup official sponsor Adidas was outdone by rival Nike's flashforward TV ad, a
successful piece of ambush marketing that built online buzz for the brand.

However, research monitoring online buzz for the first two weeks of the tournament in South Africa, shows that
Adidas has now leapfrogged Nike to take top spot in terms of mentions across blogs, message boards and social
networking websites in relation to the World Cup.

Adidas began to develop momentum with a TV ad remixing the famous cantina scene from the 1977 Star Wars
film, which launched just as the first study was completed.

A separate study, also by NM Incite – a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey – shows that a significant
amount of the added buzz around Adidas was due to the controversy and criticism around the official
World Cup Jabulani ball.

The ball accounted for 8% of all English language messages related to the World Cup," said Pete Blackshaw,
executive vice president of digital strategy at Nielsen.

The new table showing highest share of online buzz, covering the period 11 to 25 June, has Adidas ranked top and
Nike second. Other official World Cup sponsorship partners Coca-Cola, Sony, Budweiser, Hyundai, Visa
and McDonald's took slots three through to eight.

Apart from Nike, the only other two non-World Cup affiliated brands to make the top 10 were Pepsi and Carlsberg,
managing ninth and 10th spots respectively.

"Sponsorship still matters but it's far from a 'conversational' guarantee," said Blackshaw. "For big events you can
always expect a modest 'echo effect' from any level of paid or sponsorship investment, but that's just the foot in the
door. The rest really depends on variables like timing, creativity, controversy and a combination of brand readiness
and agility."

Nine of the 32 teams participating in the World Cup wore Nike kits, including the USA and Australia, compared to
12 for Adidas. Umbro, the England kit supplier, is owned by Nike.
Procter & Gamble Lures Brits with custom chips

Big brand names are waging a continuing battle against store brands. While they may find it difficult to
compete on price, brand marketers are using their own kind of workarounds by creating unique and
exclusive versions of their products and then selling them through retail partners.

Kleenex tested unique packaging last summer in Target stores and this year has rolled out "fruit boxes" to set its
tissues apart this summer. P&G is also creating exclusive versions of its branded products in the hope that they
will give consumers reasons to stay loyal rather than switch to store brands.

Now P&G is aggressively using its Pringles brand of potato crisps as a platform for customization.

P&G worked directly with Tesco, the UK's largest grocery store chain, to design Great British Flavours, a line
of Pringles that will be sold exclusively at Tesco stores. Flavors in the line include curry, kebab, sea salt &
black pepper, and smokey bacon.

This isn't the first time Pringles has been "versioned" for retail partners. P&G created exclusive flavors for another
supermarket in the UK, Morrisons, as well as for Wal-Mart and Kroger in the U.S. More customized flavor
versions are likely on the way as P&G attempts to protect the billion-dollar Pringles brand.

P&G UK spokeswoman Claire Forsyth-Brown tells that the reason for the Pringles Tesco partnership is to respond
to "consumer preferences," not store brands. "We thought this was a great way to bring new news to the category,
because we know consumers like to try new things."

Tesco, meanwhile, is excited about its new original food item: the lasagne sandwich. With London just voted as
having the worst food in Europe in an online poll, we're not sure how much Tesco's latest offering is going to
change that perception.

---------------
A Sharp Focus on Design When the Package Is Part of the Product

(1927 ad promoting Kleenex as a cold cream remover) ( Two of the Fruit Packaging )

SALES of facial tissue during the cold and flu season are, appropriately enough, feverish, but not so during the
summer. In the four weeks that ended July 12, 2009, for example, revenue for the products totaled $57.8 million,
compared with $92.4 million in the four weeks ending Jan. 24, 2010, a difference of nearly 60 percent, according
to SymphonyIRI Group, a market research company whose data does not include Wal-Mart sales.

It's a lesson in classic brand marketing: When seasonality adversely affects sales, use a gimmick to turn things
around.

Kleenex, the 86-year old brand whose brand name is synonymous with "tissues," typically sees a downward spiral
in sales during the summer. Apparently, allergy season is no match for cold and flu season.

According to market research firm Symphony IRI Group, there was a 60% drop in tissue sales during a four week
period in June-July 2009 as compared to December 2009-January 2010.

The Kleenex solution: Produce tissue boxes that look like fruit associated with summer. The innovative "A-frame"
design creates what appears to be a wedge of watermelon, orange or lime (though we would have loved to have
seen the mock-up for a strawberry).

Kleenex tested the unique fruit boxes last year at Target (there goes Target, innovating again) and results were
positive enough to launch the boxes this summer at all big retailers. The boxes are so different that they
have already won a number of design awards, including the best in show award at an international package
design competition, Pentawards.

Packaging "keeps the category relevant during this time of year and the fruit boxes did not appear to
cannibalize sales of standard Kleenex boxes.

There's another reason for the summery package design besides seasonality -- remaining competitive. Like many
major brands, Kleenex is constantly fighting the private label battle. Tissues have become a
commodity, and the economy has caused consumers to buy store brands that cost less than Kleenex. In the past
year, private-label tissue sales increased 6.4 percent while sales of Kleenex declined 5.5% and competitor Puffs fell
3.2%, says Symphony IRI.

That's why Kleenex considers "the package as part of the product we're providing," says Christine Mau,
brand design director at the owner of the Kleenex brand, Kimberly-Clark. "That's what really sets Kleenex apart,"
she tells the Times.

Over the past several years, Kleenex has introduced a variety of packaging, including ovals, wallpaper motifs and
special holiday editions. In 2008, Kleenex offered a holiday tissue box with flickering lights. Consumers can even
create their own unique tissue box design (yes, really) at MyKleenexTissue.com.

We think the new Kleenex boxes are pretty cool on a hot summer's day. In fact, they're nothing to sneeze at.

Now Kleenex, the brand that invented facial tissues 86 years ago, is hoping to bolster summer sales with
packages that resemble wedges of fruit and look more at home on a picnic table than a bedside table. The A-
frame packages, featuring fruits like watermelon, orange and lime, were available only at Target last summer,
and are being sold at all major retailers this summer.

“This keeps the category relevant during this time of year,” said Craig Smith, brand director of Kleenex. Mr.
Smith said with fruit packaging test run last summer, “we saw close to 100 percent incrementality,”
meaning sales of the novelty box did not cannibalize sales of standard Kleenex boxes.

“People who were not engaged by the facial tissue category were pulled in, while regular users
were buying this special package in addition to their normal facial tissue purchases,” Mr. Smith said.

Introduced in 1924 as a “sanitary cold cream remover,” Kleenex derived its name both from that cleaning
function and to link it phonetically to Kotex, the sanitary napkin Kimberly-Clark had introduced just four
years earlier. (The name Kotex refers to “cotton texture.”)

Shortly after Kleenex appeared in stores, a Kimberly-Clark researcher with hay fever began blowing his nose
with the tissues. This moment — call it achoo! meets aha! — led Kleenex to recast the brand: advertising
proclaimed it “the handkerchief for health.”

Today Kleenex is the dominant brand, with a 46 percent market share, but it has lost ground during the
downturn as consumers have switched to cheaper store brands. Private-label sales over the 52 weeks ending
June 13 increased 6.4 percent while Kleenex sales dropped 5.5 percent and Puffs, a Procter & Gamble brand,
dropped 3.2 percent, according to SymphonyIRI. Private-label brands account for 23 percent of the market
and Puffs accounts for 25 percent.

“Private-label sales continue to grow even as the segment declines as consumers find increased quality
among private label,” stated a 2008 report by Mintel, a market research firm. Among consumers who still
spring for nationally advertised brands, 15 percent of respondents to a Mintel survey said they did so
“because the package or pattern on the product is nicer.”

Kleenex has in recent years paid particular attention to aesthetics, introducing an oval-shaped package in
2005, embossed wallpaper like patterns in 2006 and, for the 2008 holiday season, an oval carton with a
pattern of Christmas lights that actually flickered when a tissue was pulled out.

Today the average home contains four boxes of facial tissue, and users purchase tissues about eight times a
year, according to Kleenex research. The most popular room for a box is the bathroom, followed by the home
office, bedroom and living room.
While the purpose for most packaging is to grab attention from the shelf and to protect products on their
journey from manufacturer to retailer to consumer, the package for facial tissues serves as a dispenser for the
life of the product — and is prominently displayed in the home.

“With Kleenex we really consider the package as part of the product we’re providing,” said Christine Mau,
brand design director at Kimberly-Clark. “That’s what really sets Kleenex apart.”

In Neenah, Wis., where the Kleenex brand team is based (Kimberly-Clark’s world headquarters are in
Dallas), designers occupy a section of the offices called the “trend area,” where new designs are developed.

“Designers bring in rugs, pillows, little girls’ dresses — anything they think is building a story,” Ms. Mau said.
“We’re encouraged to play in our work.” Along with subscribing to over 50 home décor and design
magazines, the team attends numerous home décor shows internationally.

Last year, the design team was given a challenge that “was less about home décor and more about creating
seasonal interest during the summer months,” Ms. Mau said. “We were asking, ‘How do you crack the code
and take something that you kind of take for granted and create this consumer delight, this impulse purchase
right on the spot?’ ”

The team first settled on a watermelon, because “it was the ubiquitous symbol of summer and of fun and
happiness for everyone — you don’t have to have a boat or a summer cottage,” Ms. Mau said. The idea for the
wedge-shaped box, and for other fruits, followed.

A member of the Pentawards jury, Lars Wallentin, is quoted on the organization’s Web site saying that the
Kleenex package is “very attractive, full of joy and freshness” and “shows great maturity, because the
consumer is not bombarded with information that he neither really needs nor wants.”

Another indication that the brand is striking a design chord: consumers are less inclined to
shroud tissue boxes with either handmade or store-bought covers. According to Kleenex, which
tracks such behavior, today only 12 percent of consumers cover tissue boxes, down from 19 percent in 1986.

----------------
 DESIGNER DIAPERS TO BOOST BOTTOM LINES

Huggies' summer 2010 denim diapers appear to have sparked a trend.

Just when we thought we'd seen designer everything in Target stores, the
retail chain has managed to score what may be its most creative designer tie-in
yet. By the middle of this month, Target stores and Target.com will begin selling the first designer diaper
from Pampers.

Yes, it's true. Procter & Gamble's diaper brand has collaborated with renowned fashion designer Cynthia
Rowley to create a line of designer diapers.

"As a mom, I wanted other moms and dads to have more options in every part of their lives — even
diapers," says Rowley, whose Pampers collection comes in eleven pastel color styles, including madras,
stripes and printed ruffles. "It's the first piece of clothing your baby will ever wear, and it should be
special."

Now why in the world would new parents want a designer diaper? Jodi Allen, VP of North America Baby
Care for P&G, says, "sometimes it's the little things — like how a baby is clothed — that can bring added
joy to Mom and Dad. While performance always comes first, we know that design is also important to
parents."

For its part, Target has reinvented the role of the retailer by offering out-of-the-ordinary and designer
products exclusively in its stores, as with its current exclusive Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors, and its
spring pop-up store with Liberty of London.

So designer diapers is just the next logical step, right? You might call this designing a product from the
bottom up.

------------------
Kia Tur ns to Design in a Bid to Move
Upmar ket
The Korean carmaker hopes to sell its new Optima on looks, not price

Kia Motors has an advantage over many auto companies. Its Optima sedan undercuts the list price of
Toyota Motor's Camry, one of America's most popular cars, by $1,600. Yet the longtime maker of
economy rides is hellbent on selling the revamped Korean car on its looks instead.

The new Optima, with a coupe-like profile, cockpit-style instrument panel, and "tiger-nose" grille,
completes the overhaul of Kia's sedan lineup by Peter Schreyer, the carmaker's Frankfurt-based head of
design. The model, which went on sale in South Korea as the K5 this month and will be introduced
globally later this year, competes against the Camry and Honda Motor's Accord. "It's a car that people
will simply not expect from Kia," said Schreyer. "And that's exactly what we set out to do."

Kia lured the 56-year-old German in 2006 from his design post at Volkswagen), where he worked on the
iconic Audi TT sports car. His mission: change the perception of Kia from a company known mainly for
cheap cars to one known for visual appeal. Since his arrival, rising sales have fueled record profits at the
Seoul-based carmaker.
"The new Optima will be the key product that makes Kia a true global player," said Cho Soo
Hong, a Seoul-based analyst at Hyundai Securities, which isn't related to Kia affiliate Hyundai Motor.
"This model completes the reinventing of the brand, which wasn't historically known for good sedans."

Retail sales at Kia in the first four months of this year jumped 44 percent from a year earlier. That helped
the carmaker boost first-quarter profit fourfold to 398.6 billion won ($328 million). Kia's shares, traded
on the Korea Stock Exchange, have soared 45 percent since Jan. 1, after tripling in 2009, when it posted
a record full-year profit of $1.19 billion on a 20 percent surge in retail sales.

Eventually, Schreyer hopes Kia's design changes will allow it to charge more for its cars, boosting
profitability. "Absolutely, it's very important to increase the value of the brand and the value of our cars
by design," he says. "This is why we're trying so hard."

The picture was less promising four years ago, when then-President Chung Eui Sun, now vice-chairman
of Hyundai Motor, was under pressure to turn the carmaker around. With aging models and a
strengthening won, Kia saw profit tumble 94 percent in 2006 and its stock lose 49 percent of its value.

Chung, the son of Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong Koo, says he picked Schreyer to make Kia "a
design-choice brand without high pricing." Schreyer studied transportation design at the Royal College
of Art in London and joined Audi in 1980. Besides the TT, he had overseen work at VW on the new
Beetle, introduced in 1998.

His team introduced the tiger-nose for Kia models in 2007. It's now featured on almost all its cars
including the new Optima, the revamped Sorento sport-utility vehicle, the Soul crossover, and the Forte
compact.

The new Optima is compared to an "Italian suit," citing its "simplistic elegance." Kia says it already has
received about 14,000 orders in Korea for the redesigned sedan, which premiered at the New York
International Auto Show on Apr. 1. Projected success for the model abroad will help the automaker meet
a target of boosting global sales 27 percent, to 1.94 million vehicles this year.

Eric Noble, president of CarLab, an automotive consulting company in Orange, Calif., says Schreyer has
taken Kia's former "fairly undistinguished" models and transformed the company into an
industry leader in design.

It's still unclear whether Kia can convince customers that sharp design is the main reason to
buy its cars. In Europe, a seven-year warranty introduced for all Kia models this year is a
big draw.

Maria Eriksson, a 34-year-old physical therapist in Stockholm, said she decided to buy a Kia Cee'd
compact wagon in early May because of the unusually long warranty and its "very favorable price."

The bottom line: Long known as a maker of low-priced utilitarian cars, Kia hopes its focus on
design will allow it eventually to command higher prices.
 BRANDS HAVE TO STAY RELEVANT
Brands and the Media: The Trust Factor

“It’s not good when the face of your organization has egg on it.”

When we hear bad news about a major company, we follow avidly as former brand kingpins are toppled from
their lofty thrones in the few minutes it takes to post a news release online. How do media reports affect our
brand loyalty, and how do they impact the degree of trust we feel toward these brand leaders?

For example, BP PLC has been charged with responsibility for the worst oil spill disaster in history—thanks to
the oil rig fire that has destroyed not only fishermen’s livelihoods, ruined coastal environments and caused
upheaval to the world’s oil supply but also encased BP’s formerly stellar reputation as a global brand (ranked
#83 in 2009) in slimy residue. Greenpeace recently posted make-over’s of the company’s logo on its website
depicting the oil company with less than complimentary images and words.

The previously pristine Toyota brand suffered immense damage as a result of their unwillingness to put
customer safety above corporate profits and performance. Today they are still trying to repair their tarnished
image after a series of embarrassments and ongoing reports about manufacturing negligence and lack of
responsiveness to consumer complaints.

Lexus : Even the highly-vaunted Lexus brand was hit hard after Consumer Reports, a trusted source of
information about brands in various consumer goods categories, labeled the 2010 Lexus GX 460 dangerous
and issued a “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” recommendation in its April 13 Cars Blog. The impact of such a
warning could lead to a drop in overall sales for Toyota, especially as the company is trying to recover from
its recall fiasco.

Toyota: Worse than the lost auto sales for Toyota is the loss of consumer confidence in its brand. Numerous
Lexus owners posted comments on CR’s Cars Blog the day the “don’t buy” warning was announced,
expressing feelings ranging from deep concern to total outrage. Some readers even stated their annoyance
with Consumer Reports: “…I hope that CR isn't trying to stay relevant by feeding into today's 24-hour news
cycle with its insatiable hunger for negative news.”

Public opinion is very sensitive to media reporting of real or perceived disasters and debacles. Not even
President Obama is immune from brand erosion. Denny Hatch’s blog, Business Common Sense, says it
succinctly: “Obama’s massive PR failure (following the BP oil rig fire)…is not about politics, it’s about process
—an exercise in public relations and communication that directly applies to every organization—a one-person
entrepreneurship, CEOs of a small business or a giant corporation all the way up to the President of the
United States.”

Apple :Not all news is bad news, however, and plenty of media attention was showered upon Apple when it
introduced its newest offspring, the iPad, such as the glowing review published by Engadget. As Apple has so
often and so masterfully branded itself, and Time magazine reported just prior to the iPad’s launch, “…it's not
about the features—it's about the experience. You just have to try it to see what I mean." If a company like
Apple continues to offer products that customers love, they will enjoy market domination, which makes it
difficult for competitors to gain an advantage.

Toyota :In a time of brand flux and economic uncertainty, it all comes down to the user experience. If
Toyota’s products are deemed unsafe, their sales plummet. If the oil giant BP fails to respond quickly and
appropriately to a global disaster, their image is damaged and their credibility suffers. If the White House
seems to turn a deaf ear to a major environmental disaster, they are perceived as uncaring and
unresponsive.

All of these situations ultimately focus on the relationship between a brand and its customers. It comes
down to trust. Is your brand trustworthy? Can you identify other companies who have lost or gained trust in
the marketplace as a result of being scrutinized by the media?
Big Brand Theory: The Expanding Universe Of Online
Branding
Marketers from brands such as Kodak, Alaska Airlines, T-Mobile, Microsoft and Proctor & Gamble
shared how their companies are taking steps to transform online branding, digital measurement and
creative execution.

Marketers Must Take Risks

Jeffrey Hayzlett, who recently ended his stint as CMO of Kodak, speaks of Kodak's historic
transformation. He stressed the importance of taking calculated risks, especially in digital marketing.
Alaska Airlines, says "marketers must not be afraid to fail," . P&G, feels the importance of staying the
course with its Prilosec campaign, the lesson is clear: don't let fear of risk stall marketing innovation..

Create Experiences Online

Alaska Airlines makes a compelling case for using connected digital channels to create end-to-end,
uniquely personal experiences for customers. It is doing this by embedding social media and mobile
experiences into nearly everything it does. The company's brand promise, "Home to Home," is
brought to life in multiple iterations across the Web and it uses a mass of data to ensure that
customers' experiences are consistent and consistently positive.

Social Media Is Serious Business

Too many marketers still dismiss social media as hype, and they're waiting for big brands prove it
works. The waiting is over, folks -- big brands are not only using social media channels such as
Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, they're experiencing dramatic results that impact awareness, drive
leads and conversion. Recent research show a client experienced a 20% lift in search volume when
search marketing was supported by social media engagement activity.

Connect Online Behavior to Purchase

The importance of localization and creating new environments for online engagement that brands can
leverage to convert new customers is often underscored. The central idea isn't that one channel or
one tactic is better than another, but that engaging customers and prospects in multiple channels
improves your chances of seeing how behavior changes over time and over different online
properties. Certainly the ability to connect behavior online to purchase offline represents a quantum
leap for our industry, but the first step is following a customer across all the channels in which your
brand engages them.

Direct Response and Branding Are Complementary

The wall that exists between direct response and branding is finally crumbling. There are examples of
blended campaigns that challenge the notion that branding is softer and less quantifiable. T-Mobile
stressed that media measurement cannot be thrust into silos, but instead must be part of a holistic
content strategy and measurement system. The recent Domino's Pizza campaign is an evidence that
investing in both direct response and branding is prudent and necessary.
FMCG firms still keen on TV advertising in India

NEW DELHI: The number of TV ads in the personal care, food and beverage categories
increased in India last year, a trend fuelled by major players like Hindustan Unilever and
Coca-Cola.

According AdEx India, the research firm, the volume of television commercials promoting
personal care brands climbed by 64% in the fast-growing economy over the course of
2009.

Hindustan Unilever, the FMCG giant, was responsible for almost a third of these spots,
having boosted its adspend by two-thirds during the last quarter.

Reckitt Benckiser and Colgate Palmolive both generated totals of 9%, followed by
Pond's India, a sub-unit of Hindustan Unilever, on 8%.

This compared with figures of just 4% recorded by other multinational operators such as
Procter & Gamble, L'Oréal and Johnson & Johnson.

In terms of specific products, "toilet soaps", examples of which include HUL's Lux and
Wipro's Santoor, were the most widely-advertised goods in this sector, with a 38% share,
ahead of toothpaste, on 15%.

As previously reported, "fairness creams" are attracting heightened interest from both
consumers and manufacturers like Nivea and Emami in India at present.

These offerings contributed 13% of all personal care ads in the last 12 months, with
Vaseline Healthy White Body and Fair & Lovely among the brands vying for shoppers'
attention.

AdEx also reported that the amount of TV advertising for companies in the food and
beverage industry expanded by 45% on an annual basis last year.

Within this, products in Coca-Cola's portfolio enjoyed the most on-screen exposure, with
Cadbury's confectionary goods in second, and PepsiCo, which owns brands like Desi
Beats and Aliva, in third.

"Aerated soft drinks" was the largest single category in the food and beverage segment
overall, with a 19% share, with milk drinks on 10%, chocolate on 9%, and biscuits on 8%.

Services, a wide-ranging group which included pay-TV and internet service providers, as
well as fast-food chains, registered a 20% increase in its television output in 2009.

Tata Sky was the most prominent player in this diverse area, according to AdEx India,
with Dish TV, Bharti Airtel, McDonald's and Yum Restaurants also all making the top
ten.
Co-creation, open innovation key for brands
NEW YORK: Brand owners aiming to meet the challenges of the digital era should focus on
co-creation, open innovation and consumer insights, according to a study.

McKinsey, the consultancy, reported there are currently 4bn cellphones, 450m mobile web
users and 68m people posting blogs and product reviews online.

One key response to such trends is "distributed co-creation" - or generating ideas for
possible new goods, services and advertising campaigns in partnership with the internet
audience.

McKinsey revealed that 70% of senior executives believed online communities provided a
chance to create significant value.

Procter & Gamble, the FMCG giant, has leveraged this opportunity via its Vocalpoint.com
site dedicated to mothers, who can share their views about its brands with friends and
other netizens.

"In markets where Vocalpoint influencers are active, product revenues have reached twice
those without a Vocalpoint network," McKinsey said.

Building an internal, corporate social network can also pay dividends, and Dow Chemicals
has even extended this strategy to include retired employees.

Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform offers "businesses and developers access to an on-
demand scaleable workforce" of experts and enthusiasts.

Such an approach to can be applied more broadly, with Bechtel, the engineering firm,
having established an in-house "open-collaboration" database of information.

As a consequence, Bechtel found 25% of the material required for new projects actually
already existed in most cases, lowering launch costs and reducing lead times.

The notion businesses could become a "full-time laboratory" is another growing trend,
given the wealth of insights contained by sources from social media to mobile GPS.

This transition towards "big data" is evidenced by the fact that the amount of available
information is doubling every 18 months, allowing companies with suitable analytics
software and the flexibility to react.

Amazon, eBay and Google are some of the pioneers in the field, assessing details like
where to locate buttons on websites and the order in which content should be displayed to
confirm what drives engagement and sales.

Elsewhere, Capital One, the financial services specialist, appointed a team of analysts, IT
staff and marketers to segment its customers and develop products, participating in
around 65,000 tests a year.
Ford, PepsiCo, and Southwest Airlines all operate systems to monitor the buzz on
properties like Facebook and Twitter, helping them gain a real-time appreciation of
shopper perceptions and habits.

The evolving climate also means corporations can profit from "imagining anything as a
service", McKinsey continued.

This is shown by Alibaba, a B2B exchange in China that has signed up 30m enterprises
keen to promote their own capabilities or locate partners.

"Its network, in effect, offers Chinese manufacturing capacity as a service, enabling small
businesses anywhere in the world to identify suppliers quickly and scale up rapidly to meet
demand," McKinsey argued.

Mixed advertiser-funded, subscriber and "freemium" models have built on similar trends,
and photo-sharing site Flickr, music portal Pandora and communications firm Skype show
how this delivers results in practice.

Further benefits can come from "innovating at the bottom of the pyramid", a tactic
championed by General Electric, which has constructed R&D centres in emerging markets
to achieve this goal.

Safaricom, the telecoms provider, has moved into the banking space, giving eight million
African customers "virtual cash" on their handsets, as most of this demographic lack the
funds or documents to open bank accounts.