Marketing Personified

 Marketing and Dr. Philip Kotler’s name are inseparable. This is a big reason why one can hardly believe that he started his career as an economist. He took a stand to ask management to look at marketing with more serious approach. He believes that marketing is much more than just salesmanship. He finds it innovative and interesting and tries to find new ways to enhance it day after another.

The marketing legend, Dr. Philip Kotler, is known to be world’s #1 Marketing Guru. He has written the bible of marketing and is the inventor of 4 Ps and social marketing. At least two generations of marketers can claim to have learnt the basic principals of marketing from his writings. Presently, he is working as the SC Johnson & Son Distinguished Philip Kotler Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Because of his global reach and appeal, he is included in the Thinkers 50 list of the most important management thinkers alive in the world. 

"Kotler’s contribution to marketing and to management generally has been threefold. First, he has done more than any other writer or scholar to promote the importance of marketing, transforming it from a peripheral activity, to the more ‘important’ work of production. Second, he continued a trend started by Peter Drucker, shifting emphasis away from price and distribution to a greater focus on meeting customers’ needs and on the benefits received from a product or service. Third, he has broadened the concept of marketing from mere selling to a more general process of communication and exchange, and has shown how marketing can be extended and applied to charities, political parties and many other non-commercial situations,” Morgan Witzel, in one of his articles in the Financial Times. 

Kotler received his Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Chicago and later a PhD, (also in Economics) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kotler did his post-doctoral work in two disciplines: Mathematics from Harvard University, and Behavioral Science from University of Chicago. He has been presented with honorary doctoral degrees by several universities like Stockholm University, University of Zurich, Athens University of Economics and Business, DePaul University, the Cracow School of Business and Economics, Groupe H.E.C. in Paris, the University of Economics and Business Administration in Vienna, Budapest University of Economic Science and Public Administration, and the Catholic University of Santo Domingo. The Management Center, Europe hails him as the“world’s foremost expert on strategic practice of marketing.” His book Marketing Management is considered as the most authoritative textbook on marketing. He has authored and co-authored a number of books on marketing, viz., Kotler on Marketing, Lateral Marketing, Strategic Marketing for Non-Profits, Marketing for Healthcare Organizations, Marketing Professional Services, Marketing from A to Z, The Deadly Marketing Sins, Marketing Moves, Marketing Places, Marketing of Nations, and Social Marketing.

It is only because of Dr. Kotler's efforts that marketing has reach to this level where it is today. He first understood customers and then asked companies to implement their strategies accordingly. His foresight helped many companies grow their business. Kotler believes that only that marketing job will give the utmost satisfaction which provides health and education to the underprivileged and makes a huge difference in the quality of their lives. 

We all know that change is the law of nature and same thin applies in case of marketing. Things change rapidly in marketing world and Dr. Philip Kotler loves change. Even at the age of 81, he looks for better ideas and innovative thinking. He believes that customer needs change  frequently so why not marketing strategies and planing. He thinks that experiments are necessary and a blend of experience help to make the experiments successful. However, he also considers that the fundamental rules of marketing can never change and all the current and upcoming formulas will be derived from those fundamental rules only. 

Kotler has served as professor and visiting professor in many of the world’s reputed universities and business schools. He is the Chairman of the College of Marketing at the Institute of Management Sciences and also Director of American Marketing Association (AMA), and Director of the MAC Group. He is also a member of the Copernicus Advisory Board. He has served as a Member of the Board of Governors of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and also as a Member of the Advisory Board of the Drucker Foundation. In addition to his contribution to academics, Kotler has been associated with many multinational companies. He has been a consultant for many US and foreign companies such as IBM, General Electric, Merck, Motorola, Michelin, AT&T, Honeywell, Bank of America to name a few in the areas of marketing organization, marketing strategy and planning, and international marketing. 

Dr. Philip Kotler's contribution to marketing is beyond any praise and words can't explain it. He is the father of modern marketing and truly a man of honor. The impact that Dr. Philip Kotler has on marketing will never loose its prominence.