Thought Leader Interview: Philip Kotler
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Your marketing textbook is in its 13th edition and is used in most MBA Marketing courses worldwide. Are the ‘four Ps’ still a useful framework?
Definitely, because all marketing plans still have to address those four big questions -- Product, Price, Place and Promotion. However, I’m currently working on the 14th edition, and my colleagues and I are developing a new framework that will involve a more holistic set of considerations. What we call ‘holistic marketing’ entails the development, design and implementation of marketing programs, processes and activities that recognize a wide range of interdependencies, including the work of integrated marketing (the four Ps); internal marketing (i.e. getting support from the other functional areas); performance marketing (i.e. developing metrics to indicate what you’ve accomplished); and relationship marketing. So this new concept of holistic marketing goes way beyond just the four P’s.
You have said that the average company is using only about 10 per cent of the Internet’s potential. Which ‘e-avenues’ are particularly under-used?
Companies should be increasingly turning to the new media, not to replace the old media, but to find blends of the new and the old that work well together. Tools that should be considered include webinars, blogs, podcasts, and most importantly, mining the social networks, where so much dialogue takes place about products and services (both favourable or unfavourable). We haven’t yet figured out how to use these new avenues and vehicles profitably; we’re still in the experimentation phase. Most companies are still using traditional media for the bulk of their promotions, but they should also be carrying out experiments to determine where they can mine some ‘gold’ in the new media.
You are credited with creating the concept of ‘social marketing’, which seeks to discourage unhealthy behaviour amongst consumers. Are you pleased with the results so far?
Very pleased, but social marketing involves much more than efforts to discourage unhealthy behaviour. The purpose is really to encourage positive behaviour and the maintenance of such behaviour, and to show people that while they are free to make their own choices, some choices are very counterproductive to their lifestyles and goals. Social marketing ideas have been widely applied to well-known causes like ‘say no to drugs’, ‘exercise more faithfully’ and ‘eat healthier’, but they can also be applied to broader social causes. My colleagues and I just published a book called Up and Out of Poverty, where we present dozens of cases of the application of social marketing planning and implementation that have reduced the incidence of certain diseases and other problems faced by low-income people.
You believe that we have entered into an Age of Turbulence, marked by ‘interlocking fragility’ in the world economy. What are some of the key elements of this new age?
There has always been turbulence, so that isn’t anything new. What is new is heightened turbulence, resulting from the global interconnectedness of countries and supply chains. Nowadays, one country can sneeze, and everyone else gets a cold, which is exactly what happened with the recent financial meltdown. Two key factors – globalization and digitization -- are amongst the elements that feed into this idea of increased turbulence and fragility. I want to distinguish this concept from the concept of the business cycle, which is more of a Sine Curve. The business cycle is an element of the turbulence, but even after the economy starts to turn upward, turbulent conditions will continue to plague us; unfortunately, there is no end in sight. Creative destruction is part of capitalism, and many companies will rise and fall on the degree to which they provide real value to the ‘voters’ (i.e. consumers).
You have said that turbulence often leads to all the wrong responses from management. Like what?
One wrong move is to do nothing -- to continue with the way you’ve been doing things. A second wrong response would be to panic, which often leads people to behave so conservatively that they forget that, as a wise person once said, ‘a crisis is something that shouldn’t be wasted’. Crises produce all sorts of new opportunities. The third wrong response is to just cut budgets across the board by some fixed percentage. Let’s say a service-focused company cuts its service budget by 20 per cent. This basically removes the key factor that led people to prefer this company over others in the first place. So if there must be cuts -- and often there will be some slashes in both budgets and in hiring -- this must be done with great selectivity and care.
Single Page View
Especially social marketing, the different approach which involved ethics is required not only in corporates but also in the Government it self.
It is funny that Government knows this particular "Cigar, Liquor, Plastic Bags" injurious but it is giving permission. Government protects the votes by not taking society oriented steps.
Like you and us we have to become eye opener for Government, Industrialists, Consumers.
Awareness is important.
In this way your work is excellent.
