Sri Lanka saw a visit last week from the academic who jointly wrote the seminal textbook for marketing courses worldwide, Prof. Philip Kotler. A globally recognised celebrity bestowed with the honorific "Father of Marketing" due to his over half a century in and numerous contributions to the field, Prof. Kotler suggested that all signs pointed to Sri Lanka getting ready to take off, if not already having done so. However, he cautioned that the country should favour managed growth, with the need to protect its resources against depletion as well as having a long range plan.
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| At the seminar Pic by Athula Devapriya |
Making these comments as part of his "Marketing 3.0" June 6 morning presentation, organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, which was filled to its 500-plus seating capacity even with tickets priced at Rs. 25,000 each; Prof. Kotler also suggested that Sri Lanka should strive to be world class, recommending the island follow Singapore's example, that regional power had focused on people as its main resource and made itself into a globally recognised services hub.
As such, Prof. Kotler indicated Sri Lanka should aim for the creation of a hub in education, and even attempt to attract foreign students; be a hub for healthcare, especially medical tourism where low cost, high quality products in developing countries such as this one were a major draw for people from more developed countries; as well as also becoming a dynamic financial centre. He also briefly touched on energy and aviation, indicating that there were opportunities in spearheading these areas in line with existing government proposals.
Insinuating a shift in favour of appointing Chief Marketing Officers (previously the Vice President of Marketing job title) and thus bringing marketing into strategy creation in companies, he elaborated that marketing should not just be a service centre but should also drive strategy. In line with this, he also professed a need for marketing certification, admitting that the American Marketing Association was just now recognising the need for certification, while there was already a Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification in the UK.
He also noted that, even today, many companies think marketing only means communication and ignored the need for a person like Steve Jobs whose sole focus is imagining and creating what's next.
Prof. Kotler also revealed that his new book would be called "Winning at Innovation," in which he would outline the 'A to F model of marketing' that encompasses an Activator, who creates ideas; a Browser, or researcher, who checks the feasibility of an idea and what can be done with it; a Creator, who fine tunes the ideas and imagines different skills and concepts associated with the idea; a Developer, an engineer, who puts the physical product together; and an Executor and a Financial function.
Continuing he took a lighthearted swipe at the finance function in a company saying that it neither created nor added to the value chain. However, he strongly recommended every marketer become adept in finance, saying this was an area that was often neglected to their own detriment since a business head was needed for every marketing initiative.
He also expressed the need to foster what he termed "selfish" measures which included poverty alleviation and inclusion initiatives because the current middle class was no longer buying enough to sustain growth by companies and so those who were currently poor had to, eventually, be lifted into middle class status and become the next generation of consumers.
Prof. Kotler's "Marketing 3.0" presentation also featured several other lessons relevant to today's marketer, including globalisation being an unstoppable force but, not only a threat, also an opportunity.
Also, companies should be aware of "hubris" and grow carefully to "live" a long time. He also pointed to a 2009 survey which stated that only 16% of respondents respected the integrity of business executive, with car salesmen and advertising executives being the least admired of all. This was caused by scandals such as Enron, Tyco, World Com and Goldman Sachs as well as fraudsters such as Bernie Madoff, as well as CEOs being paid 350 times an average workers salary, anti-capitalist forces and recessions and other events that caused people to fall behind.
He also noted that marketing should never start with the premise of maximising shareholder profits but, instead, advocate the stakeholder theory where employees, consumers, communities and shareholders would all be required to benefit. Additionally, he also emphasised a need for both downstream and upstream marketing, saying a company should have two marketing departments: one to focus on today's products and the other to conceptualise and realise tomorrow's.
The presentation also highlighted the need to evolve to "Marketing 3.0" or values-driven marketing which takes into account new thinking that encompasses the triple bottom line of people, profit and planet, as well as bringing in new wave technology, a community focus and the spiritual dimension of consumers and their ideas of practicing compassion, sustainability and making a difference.
In addition, also expressed was a need for an innovation strategy overseen by a high level executive within the company, along with CEO's participation, which ties in a portfolio of innovation-geared projects in conjunction with funds for training, incenives and rewards as well as a plan of action and deadlines, etc.
Further noted, the essential nature of customer research and especially going out into the field to observe customers, in-store shopping behaviour, etc. Also revealed, marketers have lessening influence in shaping brand image, mainly due to social media, and there is a need to own a word such as Mercedes, BMW, Disney, Nike, Wal Mart, etc., with great brands evolving into more than just names and becoming triggers for words or associations (features and benefits).
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