《南华早报》 2008年1月21日
作者：Bruno Lannes, 陈鲍康文, Satish Shankar

随着中国大陆及其他亚洲市场呈两位数的速度增长，跨国公司正在快速建立自己的品牌和专业知识来加强它们在新兴市场的管理。事实上，如果一家跨国公司想要保住并拓展其市场份额，在新兴市场取得成功至关重要。

The village roads can be impassable, home cooking is still a way of life and local products often have generations of loyal customers. Nevertheless, the mainland and other emerging markets in Asia are delivering some of the strongest growth for global makers of fast-moving consumer goods - everything from snacks to toothpaste - despite earlier concerns that lower prices would translate into lower profits.

Emerging market leaders, including Coca-Cola, Unilever, Group Danone and PepsiCo now earn 5 per cent to 15 per cent of their total revenues from Asia's three largest emerging markets - the mainland, India and Indonesia. The mainland is a powerful growth engine for global players, with sales in 2006 accounting for 12 per cent of Coca-Cola's global revenue and 11 per cent for Danone.

With growth slowing in the mature western markets, some consumer goods companies have figured out how to tap the purchasing power of a new and growing middle class. But what management decisions separate the winners from the losers in emerging markets? Successful firms are flexible thinkers, reconfiguring global products to compete with consumers' preference for popular local brands or skilfully steer acquired brands with years of tradition under their own umbrella.

The rewards can be big. In some consumer product categories, growth is three times that of developed markets. While each market requires different adaptations, winners share some common practices:

Lower costs by achieving economies of scale: Originally, multinational firms targeted premium segments with higher profit margins in developing nations. But, as the middle classes ballooned, leading consumer goods companies have realised that the mainstream opportunity is too big to ignore. What is more, participating in those markets allows them to drive down the costs of their premium products by achieving economies of scale in manufacturing, distribution and brand building.

For example, over the course of more than a decade Frito-Lay established a significant local manufacturing presence in the mainland. It introduced American potato categories by growing them locally and then by sponsoring local farmers to grow potatoes for them. This approach allowed Frito-Lay to achieve a low-cost position and become the savoury snacks market leader in the mainland.

Know where and what to localise: Home-grown competitors have several built-in advantages, including consumer loyalty and lower costs. But, by mastering local market complexities, multinationals can gain a competitive edge. Often, it requires fundamental changes to the product offering such as switching to smaller pack sizes and offering local flavours. For example, one of Danone bio yoghurt's leading products is "berry-cucumber", which was specially developed for the Chinese mainland market.

Think global, hire local: Too often, multinational firms count on expatriates to guide their entry into emerging markets. Expatriates can drive up costs and sometimes fail to deliver the deep market understanding offered by local managers. A strong local management team can offer the kind of market insights that provide a competitive edge in product design, promotion and distribution.

Ensure local acquisitions have a strong business fit: A strategic acquisition can accelerate a multinational's entry into an emerging market by adding popular local brands to its product line-up, broadening its reach with a stronger distribution network, providing a local talent pool and lowering costs.

With consumer markets in the mainland and elsewhere in Asia growing at double-digit rates, multinationals are moving fast to build their brands - and the expertise to manage them. Indeed, success there is essential to defending - and increasing - their global market share.

Bruno Lannes is a Bain & Co partner in Shanghai, Ann Chen is a partner in Hong Kong and Satish Shankar is a partner who leads the company's Southeast Asia consumer products practice