Professor Philip Kotler is a name synonymous with marketing excellence and thought leadership. Renowned worldwide as the “Father of Modern Marketing,” he has significantly shaped the field of marketing with his pioneering insights and contributions. With an illustrious career spanning decades, Professor Kotler’s influence extends beyond academia, impacting businesses, marketers, and students alike.

Professor Kotler’s prolific writings include numerous influential textbooks and books that have become staples in marketing education. His iconic work “Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control” is considered the marketing bible, shaping generations of marketing professionals. With over 80 books to his name, he has explored diverse marketing dimensions, from social marketing to brand management, leaving an indelible mark on the discipline.
Beyond academia, Professor Kotler’s consulting engagements with multinational corporations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations have demonstrated the real-world applicability of his theories. He has been an advocate for socially responsible marketing, highlighting the role of marketing in addressing societal issues and promoting sustainable business practices.

Recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the American Marketing Association’s (AMA) “Distinguished Marketing Educator Award,” Professor Kotler’s impact transcends borders. He’s a sought-after speaker at international conferences and seminars, sharing his insights on marketing trends and strategies in an ever-evolving global marketplace.

With a legacy that continues to inspire students, professionals, and business leaders, Professor Philip Kotler stands as an icon in the world of marketing, leaving an enduring imprint on how we understand and practice marketing. His relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation has shaped marketing theory and propelled businesses towards success in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Bangladesh Brand Forum organised the United Group presents Asia Marketing Day 2023, Smart Solution Partner Dotlines on May 27 at 10 prestigious universities across Dhaka in honour of the 92nd Birthday of Marketing Guru Professor Philip Kotler. This eminent event was initiated by Asia Marketing Federation (AMF) and Marketing Society of Bangladesh (MSB). As part of the celebration, a special Hybrid Engagement occurred where 17 National Marketing Associations’ Presidents and Board Members were physically present in Dhaka. Professor Philip Kotler joined virtually from the USA and shared an insightful session with the aspiring marketing students and professionals of Bangladesh.

For the readers of the BBF Monthly Magazine, we have featured the excellent session of none other than the Marketing Guru Philip Kotler.

Marketing is changing, but where is it going?
There are three recent books of mine that people have been reading. The first one, ‘Marketing 5.0: Technology for Humanity’, is about the new digital revolution in the market. The second book is called H2H Marketing: The Genesis of Human-to-Human Marketing. We must never forget that people talking to people is what the essence of marketing is about. Each party tries to create value for the other party. And the third book was just published, called Entrepreneurial Marketing. It distinguishes between professional marketing and entrepreneurial marketing.

My view of how marketing is changing is personal, but I hope it will be insightful. Here I have commented on four things.
● First, what might the world look like that we are moving toward?
● Two, what will be the purpose and contribution of business in this evolving world?
● Third, what will be the purpose and contribution of marketing?
● Fourth, What will be the role of government?

Starting with the biggest picture. What might the world look like? It’s pretentious for anyone to predict the future. I can only pull the great Mahatma Gandhi, who said the end will depend on what we do now. Our choices will shape the future, and Peter Drucker, the great management father, said the same thing. The best way to predict the future is to create it. So, the questions about the world’s future are such as whether it will be a world of abundance or scarcity. Or, to go further, it could be a world where there is abundance in some parts of the world and continued scarcity in other regions, which we have now, and we could get more of the world abundant. Another question is, would it be a world of peace or war? And, of course, we hope to learn the lesson of nature and everything else finally. Peace is priceless; we must avoid wars whenever we can, and third, will it be a world of opportunity or dread and suffering? And let’s make it a world of opportunity for all.

Now, one final remark about the world was Woody Allen’s remark. It’s gloomy. One path leads to despair and other hopelessness. The further is the total distinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly. He only gave us two paths, both despairing. We have a broader picture of that, called the problem of the fork in the road. His writing came from the great futurist Buckminster Fuller, who said there were two paths: utopia, the one we all want to take or oblivion. Now, I want to modify that. We’re going to start with ignorance and where we are. We should not go past the point of no return. Once we do its oblivion, we should backtrack, and in backtracking, we slowly cut fossil fuel. Current business models are threatening the life of the planet. To what is a mode called survival where we are certainly not going to have the earth heat up to such a point that life is impossible? And then we would have a chance for Utopia. So, let’s work on that premise best. Let’s move on.

I’ve done some work with my friend Christian Sarkar. Identifying the worst problems of the world, and we have identified them. Seven problems, and we call them the Wicked 7. One of them is the death of nature. We’ve been very abusive of plants and animals and nature. And we can say more about that in the book we will publish soon called The Wicked 7 Problems. In this case, we take each issue, show the damage done, and what could be done to save the situation. Then you’ll notice inequality is a wicked problem, and it’s always been with us. What can we do about it? And underlying that is hate and conflict. Why do we have so much hatred and conflict? Then we have power and corruption. The problem of power and corruption and how power leads to corruption and so much of it is happening; we must have better discipline. We’re moving into an age of robotics and artificial intelligence and will see some loss of jobs. How are we going to handle that problem? And then there’s the problem of democracy. What is the way to get a better democracy? We know the pluses of democracy. It’s a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. But we can also have a government where people need to pay more attention to the common good and not only their own. And finally, the problem of meaning and purpose in life. Many people feel that life has no meaning or purpose. We have to address that question as well. These are the wicked problems that are the subject of this work.

Now, let me turn to the future of business. I am working on a new book with a German colleague, Christian Sarkar. We are asking ourselves what is the purpose of business. The purpose of business is to create more value for the world than the business consumes in resources. You’ll see that the first business case that we offer is the financial cost-benefit analysis. We want to give back more to the world and take out. And a couple of these cases will be controversial, like the one with Wall Street, which uses 25% of businesses’ profits. You will see in the book how Wall Street can get along with 10% or 15%. And use 10% or 5% of all the profits made for the business if they can reduce their taking from the world.

We are now in a world of global competition. It would be best if you competed globally to be successful. And you’ll see the 7 points that we make in our book. And we’ll not go over the details of each, but if you read our book, you’ll see them. And we take some case examples of companies like Apple and others operating globally. If you want to compete globally, you better start looking for partners to help you compete. And then we’re looking at the whole issue of global branding. The Indian brands, for example, have not done well in the world, but we are hopeful that we will get some global brands out of India or China.

The next one is the issue of human resources, and we’re all looking for great talent. The heart of a great company is to get great people and put them in the right jobs. So, we have to work on that one, how to get better human resources. On the contrary, you see the issue of the global supply chain. If you are unaware of the supply chain and what your partners are doing, you may suddenly find that you’re linked to somebody who needs to do a better job, and your customers will be complaining about it. There remains an issue of working with NGOs. Now, NGOs will become more professional. They will offer their services to companies and should be willing to pay for them because they can do a better job in certain areas than the company could.

Next to that is the whole issue of marketing. It requires a great strategy on how to market globally and how to train your executives to think, act, and behave globally. This is the only future for a company to be successful in the global market.

Now, let me turn to the future of marketing. And what the future of marketing is going to be is going to depend a great deal on what the future of business is going to be. But there are certain things we can say. One is that we need to be more accountable. Conversely, you’ll see all the different companies using metrics like return on investment, and that’s the way to go. We should hold our marketers accountable for the dollars they spend. The importance of the Chief Marketing Officer is very crucial here. He is looking at the future, which will involve everything from the company’s customers to the customers it hopes to serve, the competitors, the collaborators, the climate of the world, and the economic conditions. It is a future-oriented job. The marketing mix is changing. There are 4Ps I offered years ago—product, price, place, and promotion. And now, the experts are talking about the 7Ps, and the 7Ps are taking the original 4Ps and adding three more. One is the physical environment. You have to have an excellent physical environment for the customers. The processes. Do we have efficient, effective, and satisfying processes for the customers? And people. Do we have the right people who are well-trained and who are customer-oriented? This is now the new marketing mix. And then, of course, there is now talk of artificial intelligence. And artificial intelligence is what is making the future look very different. We have to see how it plays out. There are now some companies like Salesforce and Proxima. The latter is taking over marketing for a company and doing a better job than they can do in the marketing area.

Finally, we are moving into a world of socially responsible companies. Companies are building a better future, and one of the points I make is that the customer is the most important person. You must care for your customers and have the best products and services. Then you go down and see that you must also look at your community. And the community you live in is just as important as the customers. Then you go to the bottom, and you see the employees. The employees must be well-treated, well-rewarded and well-trained. They must find meaning and purpose in their job. But on top of that, are we taking care of planet Earth? Are we treating it well? Do we have a sustainable future? Well, these are all parts of the new marketing we are discussing.

We have talked about business and marketing, but we must now speak about government. I’m sure every country has problems with its government. How do we have a government that serves the people? That is the issue we must raise, and I’ll have more to say about that in my book. But for now, I can discuss a couple of things. One is that we must always honour and support democracy. Democracy is a beautiful way of having a government for the people, by the people, and of the people. But let me also say that democracy cannot work without an educated public. People must know what they are voting on. They must understand what the issues are. They must know how to weigh the different solutions and pick the one that will be best for them and their nation. So, we must work on education. Finally, we must have a government that deals with the rich and the poor. It must find ways to lift people experiencing poverty. And there are various ways to do that. So, let’s work together and have a better government in all countries.