Reverse Innovation: Create Far From Home, Win Everywhere

To develop in emerging countries, Western companies must create products specifically designed for these markets. Just adapting and simplifying productsinitially intended for Western markets is pointless, because the needs,expectations and context of emerging countries are not comparable to thoseof their developed counterparts. In making this assertion, Reverse Innovation is not saying anything particularly revolutionary, though it certainly deservesto be kept in mind.

Based on this observation, major corporations are advised to look for specific ways toinnovate for these emerging markets, which often continue to be underexploited given theopportunities they represent. Reverse innovation for low-income consumers enables bigcorporations to design simple, but effective, low-cost products that can address vast marketsin countries like India, China and Brazil.

Most importantly, these products can find an audience as well in Western markets. Forexample, General Electric’s low-end MAC400 ECG machine, initially designed for the Indianmarket, has sold extremely well in Europe, where it is perfectly adapted to the needs ofgeneral practitioners. Reverse Innovation offers many illustrations of innovative products andservices designed for emerging markets by large global groups such as Logitech, Procter &Gamble and PepsiCo, and which often fill a gap in Western markets as well.

Reverse Innovation proposes a new line of thinking for companies that want to innovate, i.e.,placing innovation at the heart of emerging countries. This approach could well transform theglobal economy in the coming decades.