危 wēi  danger

Cement is a classic commodity – it’s the essential ingredient in concrete and the second most consumed substance in the world after water.  Building contractors have historically made their purchase decisions solely on price – a hugely rational decision that led to painful pricing pressure. The Mexican market has been no different.

机 jī opportunity

Cemex, the third largest producer in the world, realized there was significant opportunity for growth in a segment that had largely been ignored in its home country – Mexico’s poor.  Mexico’s lower classes live in cramped conditions but used any disposable income to contribute to community or family events rather than for ‘rational’ building works.  In 1998 Cemex launched ‘Patrimonio Hoy’ in which it positioned cement as a gift to enable communities and individuals to fulfill their dreams.  It even leveraged a traditional community savings scheme to allow communities to jointly save for cement.  Its competitors were selling cement while Cemex was selling hopes and dreams – as a result of the scheme 20% more Mexican families began building extra rooms with Cemex cement.

how about…

• adding emotional benefit to a rational proposition
• leveraging community purchasing