By Derrick Kiker and Karin Loffler

By now, most companies have heard the siren's song of emerging market growth. Still, today's shifting global economy may result in a scale and implications that could indeed be more dramatic than most believe. For instance, predictions that emerging markets will collectively add more growth to the world economy over the next decade than all mature-market countries combined suggest that such countries could be an important component in multinational corporation (MNC) strategy. This is the first time such significance has been achieved since the industrial revolution, when the United States was itself an emerging market.

This burgeoning global middle class is putting disposable income in the pockets of hundreds of millions of consumers for the very first time. Their needs, however, are just as varied as the geographies in which they live. Companies who want to take full advantage of these new emerging-market segments will abandon the onesize- fits-all mindset. The successful and sustainable approach to product innovation in these markets will also consider a host of local realities.