In the TED talk by Melinda French Gates, she touches on some amazing observations in third world countries. We are unable to penetrate communities in Africa with condoms, medicine and education, yet you can find Coca-Cola is ubiquitous from bubbling metropolis to remote village.

How is it that a simple beverage can gain access to all corners of the globe, yet medicine and equipment that will vastly improve peoples lives can’t come close?

Coca-Cola’s strict and ingeniously complex marketing has allowed them this kind of global awareness, and distribution. This is exemplified as Gates highlights how Coca-Cola utilizes “local entrepreneurial talent” to distribute Coca-Cola in small African villages. These distributers possess a knowledge of the area unmatched by any outsider.

Clearly aid efforts can learn a lot from the capitalist market about how to convince people they want, and need a product.

With the right marketing campaign it could be possible to distribute and administer polio shots, condoms and a myriad of other medical amenities with a success rate far higher than previously experienced.

By emulating successful business strategies, we can hope to increase the effectiveness of social causes.