Emerging Markets Are Better Poised To Adopt New Technologies

http://www.warc.com/News/TopNews.asp?ID=26737&Origin=WARCNewsEmail

An interesting new study from McKinsey on growth trends in emerging markets might have implications for MR as well.

Overall, 64% of the panel argued the rising number of consumers and changing preferences in areas like Asia Pacific and the Middle East will have an impact on their profitability in the next five years.

A further 63% forecast that new technology, such as online tools that “empower consumers and communities”, would play an equally important role.

It seems to me that emerging markets will have a natural leg-up on adoption of technologies that have been a bit slower to take hold in the U.S., such as mobile, MROCs, and netnography. It may well be that innovation on these techniques will come from these new markets, with the rest of us following suit later. A good example would be SMS and mobile convergence in Asia Pac and Europe; those regions have been heavy drivers of development of those technologies for many years, but the adoption in the U.S. has been relatively recent.

As we look at the new shape of global markets, will real growth in new MR techniques come from emerging markets? Could be….