175
6.5.9 Measure the Impact of Activities on a Consumer Level
It was mentioned earlier that at the beginning of 2SCALE, it was not foreseen for
the program to undertake BoP market activities beyond doing market research and
sharing outcomes with business champions. When 2SCALE started to engage more
actively with business champions in BoP marketing pilots and implemented BoP
marketing activities, no system was put in place to measure their impact due to the
piloting nature of the activities. In many of the pilots, sales figures and other general
business information on the pilot’s performance was shared by the company.
However, there was little understanding to what extent the pilots actually contributed to a nutritious and/or more affordable diet for BoP consumers. The understanding of the impact at the consumer level remained very generic and indirect. For
example, in Benin, we brought a soy-based product on the market that could substitute white meat (containing around the same protein level as the meat) at a 30%
lower price, making nutritious food available at more affordable prices, an assumed
positive consumer impact. As 2SCALE is a program that strives to make a developmental impact, it is critical that in the future, the program implements better systems
to measure the effect of BoP marketing activities at a consumer level.
6.6 Looking Ahead
Since January 2019, a second phase of the 2SCALE program commenced, offering
new opportunities to take a more extensive approach toward BoP markets and nutritious food products. This translates into an additional program target that is different
from the first phase, namely, a target focused on consumers. The second phase aims
to improve affordable access to a nutritious diet for one million BoP consumers. To
reach this goal, the lessons learned described in this section will be used to create a
more rigorous approach to BoP marketing. There are several approaches that
2SCALE will take to create a bigger impact for BoP consumer markets, in comparison to the impact achieved during the earlier phase.
First, the results of BoP marketing pilots from the first phase will be used to
showcase to new business champions, helping to clearly demonstrate that the market opportunity at the BoP is real. We expect that the success of business champions – Shalem Investments in Kenya, Promo Fruits in Benin, Yedent in Ghana, and
the more grassroots business champions, such as the Danaya cooperative producing
attieke in Mali or the Funtua women’s group producing fura in Nigeria – will inspire
other food-processing SMEs and producer organizations to do the same. Welldocumented case studies will be used to create this ripple effect. We will do this not
only through face-to-face encounters, but also through digital learning, such as
webinars and podcasts – all building on the experience and insights from the
first phase.
6 Innovating at Marketing and Distributing Nutritious Foods at the Base…
6.5.9 Measure the Impact of Activities on a Consumer Level
It was mentioned earlier that at the beginning of 2SCALE, it was not foreseen for
the program to undertake BoP market activities beyond doing market research and
sharing outcomes with business champions. When 2SCALE started to engage more
actively with business champions in BoP marketing pilots and implemented BoP
marketing activities, no system was put in place to measure their impact due to the
piloting nature of the activities. In many of the pilots, sales figures and other general
business information on the pilot’s performance was shared by the company.
However, there was little understanding to what extent the pilots actually contributed to a nutritious and/or more affordable diet for BoP consumers. The understanding of the impact at the consumer level remained very generic and indirect. For
example, in Benin, we brought a soy-based product on the market that could substitute white meat (containing around the same protein level as the meat) at a 30%
lower price, making nutritious food available at more affordable prices, an assumed
positive consumer impact. As 2SCALE is a program that strives to make a developmental impact, it is critical that in the future, the program implements better systems
to measure the effect of BoP marketing activities at a consumer level.
6.6 Looking Ahead
Since January 2019, a second phase of the 2SCALE program commenced, offering
new opportunities to take a more extensive approach toward BoP markets and nutritious food products. This translates into an additional program target that is different
from the first phase, namely, a target focused on consumers. The second phase aims
to improve affordable access to a nutritious diet for one million BoP consumers. To
reach this goal, the lessons learned described in this section will be used to create a
more rigorous approach to BoP marketing. There are several approaches that
2SCALE will take to create a bigger impact for BoP consumer markets, in comparison to the impact achieved during the earlier phase.
First, the results of BoP marketing pilots from the first phase will be used to
showcase to new business champions, helping to clearly demonstrate that the market opportunity at the BoP is real. We expect that the success of business champions – Shalem Investments in Kenya, Promo Fruits in Benin, Yedent in Ghana, and
the more grassroots business champions, such as the Danaya cooperative producing
attieke in Mali or the Funtua women’s group producing fura in Nigeria – will inspire
other food-processing SMEs and producer organizations to do the same. Welldocumented case studies will be used to create this ripple effect. We will do this not
only through face-to-face encounters, but also through digital learning, such as
webinars and podcasts – all building on the experience and insights from the
first phase.
6 Innovating at Marketing and Distributing Nutritious Foods at the Base…