Professional presentation
Thank you so much Mr Kotler for accepting this exchange of views . I am Marco Amir El Sayed Fathi, Senior CDO .
Purpose of the comparison
I would like to have an exchange of views with you, Mr Kotler, on some topics that are relevant to me and I I would like that also marketing lovers will be concerned, in order to give a contribution to the following concepts:
What are the topics involved in modern marketing?
First question
Customer’s journey: what is the journey we have to choose and what is the structure of this journey within a marketing plan?
My personal experience taught me that the approach you propose, which includes data analysis, archetypes and also customized funnels based on buying behavior, is a complete approach that allowed me to reach high goals.
About that: how do you think that in the futurefirms could develop customized processes?
For example, by creating processes such as funnel customization through concrete actions?
And what kind of approach do you recommend firms to use to develop this new awareness?
Every company must study how different customers managed to visit its premises. For example, an automobile company will discover that some customers spotted their dealership, came in, and bought a car; another customer had engaged in extensive research to discover which brand could deliver the most value for the money. In the later case, the auto company would want to study what that customer relied on in his search for information, and the role played by outside media and the company’s marketing activities. The aim is to identify archetypal journeys and for each type, the company develops a customized process for maximizing its influence on that type of customer.
Second question
In this moment, the focus is on data and artificial intelligence, so we forgot the importance of the Human component.
How is it possible to deliver what you call the human component?
And when you deal with the theme of empathic research, which means using technology while comprehending the outcomes, both data and meta-data, in a comprehensive way, thanks to the help of people that have different professional background, to create value under different point of view, I have noticed how firms are starting to ask this kind of approach to creative and innovative marketing firms.
Do you think this will be a value increasingly demanded by the market?
In buying any product or service, the customer usually encounters different company personnel. The way the customer is treated by a company’s salesperson is critical. A company needs to define the major types of customers and the appropriate human interaction process that is effective with each type of customer. In the case of an automobile dealership, the sales person should be trained to quickly identify the type of customer and then relate to that customer in most effective way.
Third question
We all know the risks for firms that don’t follow new upcoming models of business and changes in society.
This concept is valid both for products and services that they have to develop for the market, and for developing an internal global digital view.
• As a Chief digital officer, in my firm my work is to developa global digital view, coordinate and manage all digital global changes, and even develop brand new activities.
Thanks to my experience I learnt that this process can promote the development of different activities inside the firm, such as the awareness and the structure that are necessary for the development of a modern marketing.
To what extent do you think that firms that want to take the full potential from modern marketing have to invest in the internal project of digital progress?
Company survival and success depends on becoming a data-driven, AI company. The company needs experienced digital professionals who can gather big data and analyze it for customer insights. Then the company needs to create algorithms drawing on these insight to handle different customer situations.