BOP Documentarians

I came across Channel 19 today, a venue for base of the pyramid individuals to produce and screen their own films. A huge applause is due to Jessica Mayberry for taking initiative and starting this project. I commented on her poignant blog post at IdeaLab and I mean it when I say I am looking forward to seeing where she takes this.

In my own research on new media applications for the base of the pyramid, especially regarding the use of new media to market to the base of the pyramid, I found Asia to be an especially ripe and receptive market for new media advertising such as mobile video ads. In China, 63% of new cell phone users come from rural areas (Kanellos 2007). Also in China, 200,000 people open up cell phone accounts every day and there are over 500 million cell phone users in the country. That number is expected to grow to 784 million users by 2011 and 239 million people are expected to access the internet by cell phone by 2011(Kanellos 2007).

More than just advertising, though, the rise of mobile phones and the transmittability of video on phones is an opportunity for a two-way conversation to happen. Though not yet on phones, Channel 19 is moving in the right direction by enlisting BOP individuals to produce their own videos and I would suggest that the ideas driving Mayberry's project also be taken mobile, so as to open up more doors and opportunities for engagement outside of local communities, such as with large multi-national businesses. In India, where Channel 19 started, the Community Producers choose issues relevant to their communities and thus share stories in their own voices. While these videos may not yet be in use by corporate marketers, there is limitless potential to turn this footage into consumer ethnographic research. If corporate marketers took the time to truly engage BOP consumers, they could also text back and forth with the Community Producers and get to know their daily lifestyles and habits through more interactive questions and answers, on video.

So is all this talk of turning BOP-produced footage into marketing research material only in the interest of large corporations, you ask? The answer is a definitive no. What better way to serve the base of the pyramid than to get to know and understand its population and therefore create products and services that better meet their needs? By putting the control of information in the hands of BOP consumers and allowing for deeper engagement between the corporation and the individual, an information and social gap is breached. And the provision of products and services does not have to be at the commodity level--a small business owner in the mountains of Nepal or Peru could benefit from an improved, appropriate, and affordable product which will help her run her business better and more efficiently, therefore encouraging innovation, success, and triumph for microenterprises, the very bedrock of development.

For more on consumer research and mobile video marketing to the BOP, email Jenara Nerenberg, Chief Bloggger at Bop Source at jenara@bopsource.com.