McCann is unveiling a new division this month, called Barrio, that will specialize in marketing products to those on the bottom rungs of the economy, from Mexico to Chile.
According to The Wall Street Journal, McCann’s move comes as multinational companies increasingly consider such “emerging consumers” as a big opportunity. But these consumers’ tastes, habits and needs remain largely an enigma to global marketers.
The idea of targeting low-income consumers may raise some eyebrows. But greater access to industrialized products like deodorant, and packaged food, can improve their physical and “psychological welfare,” says Luca Lindner, head of McCann’s Latin American operations.. “We do not pretend to be Mother Teresa,” he adds.
Some experts say marketing directly to low-income groups has yet to become a full-blown trend. “Usually multinationals just put out a Mexican version [of their product] that looks as American as possible,” says Cecilia Bouleau, editor of Revista Neo, an advertising journal in Mexico City.
