Go to main content
Harvard Business School
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions

Faculty & Research

  • HOME
  • FACULTY
  • RESEARCH
    • Global Research Centers
    • HBS Case Collection
    • HBS Case Development
    • Initiatives & Projects
    • Publications
    • Research Associate (RA) Positions
    • Research Services
    • Seminars & Conferences
    Close
  • FEATURED TOPICS
    • Business and Environment
    • Business History
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Globalization
    • Health Care
    • Human Behavior and Decision-Making
    • Leadership
    • Social Enterprise
    • Technology and Innovation
    Close
  • ACADEMIC UNITS
    • Accounting and Management
    • Business, Government and the International Economy
    • Entrepreneurial Management
    • Finance
    • General Management
    • Marketing
    • Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
    • Organizational Behavior
    • Strategy
    • Technology and Operations Management
    Close

Article | MIT Sloan Management Review

Selling to Many Countries Within the U.S.

by Frank V. Cespedes and Michael Wong

  • Print
  • Email

Abstract

In pursuing growth, many companies have plans to sell to emerging markets like the so-called B-R-I-C nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China), but they overlook significant ethnic markets within the United States. For example, the combined African-American and Hispanic markets in the U.S. are larger than the economies of all but 13 countries, and more than 2 million people in the U.S. speak Chinese. The article discusses why many "multicultural marketing" efforts are both limited and limiting, and how firms can go beyond demographic data to craft effective strategies for selling to ethnic markets within the U.S.

Keywords: Management Style; Ethnicity; Sales; Business Growth and Maturation; Marketing Communications; Business Plan; Emerging Markets; Debates; Business Strategy; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; United States;

Format: Print Find at HarvardPurchase

Citation:

Cespedes, Frank V., and Michael Wong. "Selling to Many Countries Within the U.S." MIT Sloan Management Review 52, no. 1 (Fall 2010).

About the Author

Photo
Frank V. Cespedes
MBA Class of 1973 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
Entrepreneurial Management

View Profile »
View Publications »

 

More from the Author

  • Article | Top Sales Magazine

    Sales Managers Must Manage

    Frank V. Cespedes

    A common complaint from C-level executives about their sales colleagues concerns the latter’s ability to manage, not sell. Nearly every firm has examples of successful salespeople who are poor managers because they persist in their behaviors as reps rather than managers. This article discusses why this is common, the problems with standard advice about how to address this issue, what it now takes to be an effective sales manager, and external market factors that are making this a bigger, more visible issue in more firms with implications for building and sustaining a sales career.

    Keywords: Sales; Management Skills;

    Citation:

    Cespedes, Frank V. "Sales Managers Must Manage." Top Sales Magazine (February 2019).  View Details
    CiteView Details Read Now Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2018

    BreezoMeter: Making Air Pollution Data Actionable

    Frank V. Cespedes, Allison M. Ciechanover and Margot Eiran

    Israel-based startup providing actionable air pollution data wrestles with which markets and customers to focus on.

    Keywords: entrepreneurship; Sales; marketing; Startups; Business Startups; Pollution and Pollutants; Data and Data Sets; Sales; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Israel; United States;

    Citation:

    Cespedes, Frank V., Allison M. Ciechanover, and Margot Eiran. "BreezoMeter: Making Air Pollution Data Actionable." Harvard Business School Case 819-058, October 2018.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducators Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2016 (Revised October 2018)

    Augmedix

    Frank V. Cespedes and Alexandra N. Rachlin

    In April 2015, Ian Shakil and Pelu Tran, cofounders of Augmedix, are discussing how to grow their emerging health care startup. The company’s sole product, also called Augmedix, streams video of doctor-patient interactions to remote medical scribes, thus freeing doctors from the burden of having to manually input information into an electronic medical record (EMR) and giving them additional time to focus on patients. Shakil and Tran had grown the company by allowing any qualified doctor or health system to use the service but are now discussing whether they should segment the market and focus on a particular type of client. They also wonder whether Augmedix’s current pricing appropriately reflects the value their service provides. Lastly, the two want to discuss how to staff and structure the company’s nascent sales function as Augmedix grows.

    Keywords: entrepreneurial management; sales management; marketing strategy; scaling; hiring; pricing; Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Sales; Technology; Health Industry; United States;

    Citation:

    Cespedes, Frank V., and Alexandra N. Rachlin. "Augmedix." Harvard Business School Case 817-048, November 2016. (Revised October 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
ǁ
Campus Map
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→ Map & Directions
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
  • HBS Facebook
  • Alumni Facebook
  • Executive Education Facebook
  • Michael Porter Facebook
  • Working Knowledge Facebook
  • HBS Twitter
  • Executive Education Twitter
  • HBS Alumni Twitter
  • Michael Porter Twitter
  • Recruiting Twitter
  • Rock Center Twitter
  • Working Knowledge Twitter
  • Jobs Twitter
  • HBS Youtube
  • Michael Porter Youtube
  • Executive Education Youtube
  • HBS Linkedin
  • Alumni Linkedin
  • Executive Education Linkedin
  • MBA Linkedin
  • Linkedin
  • HBS Instagram
  • Alumni Instagram
  • Executive Education Instagram
  • Michael Porter Instagram
  • HBS iTunes
  • Executive Education iTunes
  • HBS Tumblr
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College