FLC will provide a great platform for corporations looking to branch into the massive low-moderate income market. Helping low-moderate income clients succeed is not only good corporate philanthropy, but also a winning business strategy to gain acceptance in the low-moderate market.
- Studies have shown that innovation in low-moderate income markets has less to do with finding new customers than addressing issues of product acceptability, affordability, availability and awareness.
- Although the relevance of corporate philanthropy is widely accepted, few companies achieve significant, lasting societal impact because most lack a cohesive strategy. Effective philanthropy must be run no less professionally than the core business. (Heike Bruch and Frank Walter (Fall 2005))
- In India, DuPont had shown that helping low-moderate income people to co-develop their business is a winning strategy for corporations aiming to tackle the massive low-income market. For example, instead of spending money on advertising, DuPont subsidiary Solae that produces soy protein went into a slum in India and recruited 20 local woman to join up and co-develop a business to cook great tasting food using the soy protein. After six-month, the woman were busy fielding requests from the community to sell them the soy protein.
- FLC will provide an easy forum for corporations to deploy this win-win strategy to improve the lives of low-income people and at the same time increase corporate market share and profit.