Marketing Challenges and Opportunities in Emerging Economies: A Brazilian Perspective

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/tie.21840
• Author: Dimitri Kapelianis,Manuel Montoya,Raul Gouvea
• Date: 01 March 2018
• Published date: 01 March 2018

193

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com)

© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. • DOI: 10.1002/tie.21840

Correspondence to: Dimitri Kapelianis, University of New Mexico, 1924 Las Lomas, MSC 053090, Albuquerque, NM 87014, 505-750-7885 (phone),

dkapeli@unm.edu

Marketing Challenges

and Opportunities in

Emerging Economies:

A Brazilian Perspective

By

Raul Gouvea

Dimitri Kapelianis

Manuel Montoya

This article describes the challenges and opportunities of marketing in an emerging economy, focus-

ing on Brazil as an exemplar. The main features of the Brazilian economy are discussed with special

attention given to the changing nature of the country ’ s income distribution. Where Brazil once had a

pyramid-shaped income distribution typical of many less developed countries, this is rapidly giving way

to a diamond-shaped income distribution due to the emergence of a growing middle class. This, in turn,

presents marketers with many opportunities ranging from franchise development to e-commerce. At the

same time, however, marketers are challenged by several features of the Brazilian economy, including

poor logistics, corruption, and state interventionism, among other threats. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Introduction

I n the past two decades, emerging markets, such as

the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South

Africa) and MINTs (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria,

and Turkey), have drawn substantial attention and

investments from multinationals around the globe aim-

ing to expand their global market share. These firms

have tried to compensate for lower rates of sales growth

in mature markets, and to fulfill short-term and long-

term sustainable market expansion and growth strate-

gies (BCG, 2014 ; Ernst & Young Global Limited [EY],

2015 ; Hoskisson, Eden, Lau, & Wright, 2000 ; Mahidhar,

Giffi,C., & Kambil, 2009 ).

PRACTITIONER ARTICLE