When it comes to sharing a common identity of belongingness, no other region can compete with Asia. Even in the challenging times of Covid, this shared identity did not evaporate. The Asian community has emerged as one to tackle the post-pandemic hurdles. The best instance of such an initiative was illustrated on 26th May 2023 at the AMF Board of Management Meeting. After an unexpectedly long break, the first physical meeting was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The meeting was graced by the presence of 11 country delegates of the member NMAs.

The Meeting started with an opening remark from Ashraf Bin Taj, General Secretary of the Asian Marketing Federation. In his speech, he pointed out the significance of this year’s meeting for the Asian Marketing Federation and Bangladesh. The world facing multiple global crises, such as the Russian-Ukraine War, has inflated prices above the affordable threshold. In this context, Ashraf Bin Taj expressed his thoughts on the value of collaboration to ease the pressure, “At this juncture, we have all gathered to come up with solutions for the current problems.”

After Ashraf Bin Taj, the stage was taken by Dr A. K. Enamul Haque, President of the Marketing Society of Bangladesh (MSB). He shared a three-day-long agenda and program highlights of the Marketing Society of Bangladesh with all the attendees. After the AMF Board of Management Meeting, an AMF Jury Board would take place, and following that was the SDG Brand Champion Awards. Marketing Olympiad and the Asian Marketing Day were held the next day. On the last day, Bangladesh E-Commerce Summit 2023 took place. With that, Ashraf Bin Taj, General Secretary of the Asian Marketing Federation, declared the quorum. The first agenda was the approval of the last Board of Management meeting minutes. As no dignitaries raised any objection, the minutes of the previous Board of Meeting were approved.

Founder’s Special Message

The Founder and Patron of the Asian Marketing Federation, Hermawan Kartajaya, began his message with a brief history of the Marketing Society of Bangladesh. He said the recent discourses surrounding the USA-China Trade War should be kept outside the establishment. Organisations should be free from politics and should refrain from vocally supporting either one of the parties. They should also be aware of quoting statements such as “USA-China cultural conflict” as it is more of a Western trend and detach organisations from their Asian ethnicity. He stressed the importance of increased representation from the Asian region within the Asian Marketing Federation. He cautioned against adopting the profit-driven approach prevalent in the World Economic Forum. He finally summoned the dignitaries to represent Asia’s entrepreneurial spirit and proper marketing strategy on the world stage.

Welcome Speech

First, Dr. Syed Ferhat Anwar, President of the Asian Marketing Federation, thanked the Marketing Society of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Brand Forum for organising the AMF Board of Management Meeting.  He emphasised the importance of having a basic concept of AMF’s relationship with the world. He said the AMF believes in harmony and will help all marketing efforts worldwide, but no one should take its brotherhood and sisterhood as weaknesses. He then mentioned the guideline outlined by the World Economic Forum. According to him, moral, cultural, and financial support are required to carry out the procedure. But the morality and cultural aspects should transcend the financial part.

The meeting proceeded ahead to introduce new member organisations and newly appointed Presidents. Nepalese Marketing Association was given the floor first as the newest registered member of the Asian Marketing Federation. As the representative of the Nepalese Marketing Association, President Mahes Swar introduced himself and highlighted the activities of his organisation in front of the other dignitaries. The stage was then taken by the newly appointed President of the Sri Lankan Institute of Marketing, Mr Chinthaka Perera. He requested the assistance and guidance of other members in the challenging times of the Sri Lankan economy. Lastly, the newly appointed President of the Philippine Marketing Association, Mr Bryan Lato, thanked AMF for all the mentorship and promised to fulfil all obligations as a member.

AMF Financial Update

The meeting proceeded to the next agenda- the financial update of the AMF. Under this agenda, the attendees discussed the current balance of the AMF, subscription status, and membership fee. Finally, the agenda was concluded with an open discussion on utilising the fund.

Ashraf Bin Taj, General Secretary of the Asian Marketing Federation, pointed out that approximately 100 thousand US dollars fund was generated from the subscription fee. He also asked everyone to decide on the necessary actions to take in case of failure to pay fees.  In response, Roger Wang, 2nd VP of AMF, suggested that certain hardships, such as the ongoing political turmoil in Myanmar, should be considered because it is not under their control—the President of the Institute of Marketing Malaysia, Dato Sharifah Mohd. Ismail suggested a reminder before the payment from AMF, and an invoice after completion could make the process more efficient.

Ashraf Bin Taj addressed the board to develop initiatives to help AMF become self-sustained. Bryan Lato, President of PMA, suggested that the AMF website can carry advertisements from brands that would like to be associated with the organisation. On the other hand, Shariful Islam, Founder and Managing Director of Bangladesh Brand Forum, suggested viewing the concept of SDG Awards as an AMF proposition. Dr Syed Ferhat Anwar, President of the Asian Marketing Federation, proposed to observe the first-time implementation of the SDG Brand Awards organised by the Marketing Society of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Brand Forum first. Roger Wang, 2nd VP of AMF, expressed the idea of producing the SDG awards in China and shipping them to the countries hosting the award ceremonies to ensure a stable production rate. But Dr A. K. Enamul Haque, President of the Marketing Society of Bangladesh (MSB), opposed the idea by pointing out that importing awards from China would have additional taxation issues. Therefore, individual production would be a better option.

Update on the AMF journal

Dr Somchat Visitchaichan, the board member of MAT, mentioned that he was assigned to take care of the third AMF journal. He talks about six countries with two case articles, two research articles, and eight short articles from marketing practitioners. Three of them were from Thailand, one from Japan, one from Sri Lanka, one from Malaysia, one from Indonesia, and five from Bangladesh. He added that six of these articles had already been reviewed, while six others were yet to be reviewed. At the time of the meeting, two more articles from Korea and the Philippines, respectively, were to be submitted, resulting in eight submissions. Dr Somchat also mentioned that Dr Phillip Kotler would write a special article. He adds that the journal’s layout will be designed and finalised, and the publication will be launched between August and September 2023.

Operation and Management

Taufik, general secretary of IMA, Indonesia Marketing Association, gave a detailed update on the newly launched website. He revealed the features and implementation of the recently added actions to the other delegates. While elaborating on the new websites, a quick review of the statistical data of the AMF Asian Marketing Federation was presented. It was later stated that SLIM, the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, has the most updated NMA, followed by Bangladesh in second, Indonesia in third, and the Philippines in fourth place.

After the appreciation, the general secretary provided valuable opinions on what new implementations were necessary for the website to attain its primary goal. A strong proposal was given to accommodate data from all the NMAs, as some NMAs have yet to respond to previous suggestions. Another development-related proposal focused on some areas, such as creating a microsite for every NMA, forming a team for its efficient management, and bringing privacy-driven forces to ensure security with reliability. After this, the general secretary of IMA asked for the website’s monetisation and to be more self-funded by each respective NMA. Although this plan seemed to have a better response from the delegates, the cons were also mentioned. The major disadvantage was that the payment system needed an upgrade, and a steady content supply was missing.

The critical point to be noted after the propositions and planning was that the CPM fee could be used to pay for the website, and the AMF could generate the rest of the monetary resources.

Roger Wang, the second VP of AMF, then raised some crucial facts defining the unity of the member nations and mentioned that in today’s world, they shouldn’t present a website alone. He then proposed to use 100 thousand dollars to revive the website, which should contain all the relevant information and make the website more robust.

An objection was raised by the delegate of Sri Lanka, which was a question regarding if the website would be integrated with an IPG, an internet payment gateway. He further mentions that the Sri Lankan currency is going through a crisis, and it would be easier to have been able to pay through an internet payment gateway.

Later Sajid Mahbub, General Secretary of MSB, and the delegate from Bangladesh gave the meeting a real-life example focusing on the agenda. He mentioned that he must turn in the CPD every year, which would take away his CA certification if not submitted on time. Focusing on this example, Sajid suggested creating a regulation similar to this for CPM to reduce fake accreditation.

Concluding the presentation part of the NMAs, it was decided that the next EG meeting would be organised in Thailand, where the next BOM will take place in Sri Lanka and followed by Nepal in 2024. A declaration was then given on the next agenda discussing a meeting of the “Extraordinary Board meeting” on 28th May, Sunday, at noon sharp. The Closing remarks were then given, and they were requested to be present on the premises of AIUB, American Independent University, for the marketing Olympiad.