Kotler and marketing

Rohantha Athukorala

I am not into reading books but the one author that I have a great deal of respect is for Dr. Philip Kotler.

Not for just the power his brand name carries but more importantly how he predicted that the world was going to be consumer led and it required a strong implementation of science called marketing.

Why he is termed a guru in the world of marketing by many in my view is because he originated some of the most popular ‘best practices’ ensuring success in the complex market place which we are indebted to this gentleman.

Theory or practice?

Many confuse the work ‘theory’ and comment that there is a difference between theory and practice but if we carefully examine some of the best theories from the works of personalities like Kotler or Drukker, they actually originated from practice in the real world.

Dr Philip Kotler the guru of marketing will be in Sri Lanka on June 5

How this comes to being is that an MBA or doctorate student analyzing a successful practice in the world of business and then capturing this on paper and subsequently with some empirical validation it becomes accepted as a theory.

Hence there is no such thing as ‘theory’ and practice is different.

On the visit of Philip Kotler to Sri Lanka, I will be failing in my duty if I do not congradulate the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) for venturing out and staging this great man to come into Sri Lanka.

When the Chairman of the committee met me to discuss some probable strategies that could be done at his visit, my mind went back to the time that I was studying for the Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification when we loved and hated the name Philip Kotler.

Meaning loved his works for the simplicity and logic but hated for the concepts that had to be studied. Anyway, graduating and moving to the real world of business many of us realized how important the teachings of this great man was but also realized that there were lessons that even a great guru like Philip Kotler did not capture. Let me share some of them under this banner ‘What I did not learn from Philip Kotler’.

Crazy objectives

When I was managing one of the power brands in Sri Lanka –Dettol, my boss wanted me to agree for a stretch target of doubling business on one its key variants Dettol Liquid. I found it crazy. The logic being if a brand has a share of over ninety percent and driving for such an objective did not make sense.

Under duress I agreed but I made it a point to state it on my Performance Development objectives (PDR) so that end of the year I will not be held responsible.

The reason for this action was because in a multinational culture PDR once agreed is normally carved in stone and it is paramout that it is delivered.

Getting into the drawing boards we embarked on insights into the consumer’s usership habits. We unearthed that the brand variant was available in almost all homes but the usership was restricted to just twice a year.

Meaning only when a child falls on the ground and injures himself that Dettol liquid was required. So the challenge was if we can get a typical household to use the brand at least once a quarter then the market can be doubled. The question was how does one do this and change the behaviour of a typical household.

With repeated home visits in different parts of the country we cracked it. If the many places that a typical household can get exposed to germs can be highlighted with a remedy provided by the brand variant then may be doubling volumes was a possibility.

We pursued this strategy and in fact not just doubled but grew by two hundred and fifty percent. I guess sometimes unconventional targets drive us to pursue new strategies which is the power of the human mind.

It also taught me how as a boss you need to stretch your high potentials to deliver results that books do not teach.

Back tracking

After having been picked by the Chartered Institute of Marketing for a Gold and Silver in the ‘Marketing Achiever’ awards for brand marketing performance in two consecutive years, one Monday morning I walked to office like a hero and my boss called me and said that he wanted me to take a one year assignment in field sales management.

I was surprised as I had already done a two year stint in sales in the formative years of my marketing life and it did not make sense for me to once again track back to a field assignment.

However, in a multinational organization, personal objectives does not hold ground as organizational objectives takes precedence. With much reservation I went on to the field but within six months I had turned around a sales area and recalled to office to head a category business unit and then within a year got hand picked to head a total business for Sri Lanka and Maldives where I went on to win a global award for business performance. So the lesson is that back tracking a career sometimes pays dividence in the long term provided one understands the bigger picture. Which is yet another lesson that books do not teach.

Drastic changes

After a string of achievements in the world of marketing and business I was appointed to be Chairman of a State Corporation driving global exports worth over six billion dollars at that time by the government of Sri Lanka.

I flatly refused as none of my family members are into politics or political appointments. But due to pressure I accepted the challenge which in fact turned one of the most enriching experiences that I have had.

Being involved in national level decision making that effect the growth trajectory of thousands of people was really interesting and challenging. Thereafter focusing on sector specific economic development initiatives resulted in me being part of a delivery mechanism where exports crossing a multi billion dollars and GDP at seven percent plus gave a new twist to skill development.

Subsequently being part of a larger team in the war against the LTTE that included working in extreme security environments led me to now working in the United Nations today. I guess, unless I was prepared to take drastic decisions one could not have got this diverse exposure and books cannot teach them.

Against SWOT

In the height of the war on terror in 2009, three were appointed by the government to stage a demand-supply meeting in the war torn peninsula of Jaffna that was only accessible by sea and air.

A typical SWOT will sure indicate for a direction of not staging this event. But amidst all uncertainities over 150 companies took part in the industrial exhibition with over 300,000 people from the peninsula defying the call of boycott from the LTTE that led to the private sector unearthing an opportunity that was not there on paper.

I guess there are times that paper analysis not holding ground in the reality of the business world.

Today there are almost 400 companies that operate the market which I guess breaks traditional text book architecture of marketing.

Consumer adjusts

When I was heading Economic Affairs for the government Peace Secretariat there was once a cross functional team set up to drive tourism in the country. We decided to position the beach stretch of Hikkaduwa as the entertainment hub for the youth of Asia and the first event was to stage the Hikkaduwa Beach Fest. The only issue being that with just over 6,000 rooms in the vicinity how does one accommodate a 10,000 revellers.

The final tally was 17,548 with over a hundred percent occupancy in all the hotels at Hikkaduwa and its adjacent properties including houses being used as make shift home stay outlets and most, sleeping in their own cars given that the age groups were young adults.

Post event research indicated that it was one the best parties that Sri Lanka had seen. I guess sometimes reality works differently to paper analysis. .

How honest

My uncle once said that until one is really tested you will not know if you are honest.

When I was at the helm of a particular organization I was confronted with a situation where an unethical financial transaction had to be authorized by me which I refused.

Though in the short term the slack was high in the long term it boosted my career and credibility that led to many senior positions to be shouldered by me for the country.

Give back

While pursuing a high pressure lifestyle, I learned from my mentor Eardley Perera, that we need to give back to the fraternity with the talents that we have been blessed.

Hence on a weekly basis there is a group of us who dedicate time to develop youngsters in the area of marketing and business where with some of them being world prize winners or working at top level positions in organizations.

I guess the joy of someone else doing well in life is more enriching than all the accolades that some of us have been bestowed with.

This is not taught in books to my mind and comes over time in the real world of business based on family values.

Late developers

Even though some of us have failed our A-level studies at school with the support our friends we have gone onto not only secure outstanding performances locally in the field of education and business.

Some of us have completed MBA programs and are now pursuing doctoral and post graduate studies in top European and American universities which means that some us can be termed late developers. This again does not get captured in the world of academia like in the works of Kotler in my view.

As we await the great marketing guru’s arrival into Sri Lanka, it’s important to keep in mind that sometimes our practical experience superceeds lessons from books.