A World Marketing Summit was recently organised in New Delhi. Supposed to be an initiative backed by Philip Kotler, a globally acclaimed professor of Marketing from the US, the underlying theme of the summit hinged around the objective of creating “a better world through marketing”. It could not have been timed better. We are deeply mired in an era driven by commerce. Everything is commerce and commerce is everything. It is this preeminence of commerce that probably would have made the people behind the idea of the Marketing Summit think about the changed role of marketing. Marketing, interestingly, is a creation of commerce. It is also a very potent tool of commerce. Naturally, then, too much of commerce would have led to the thinking that it is the time to change the goal of marketing. But can it create a better world? A big question and perhaps a very difficult one to answer is: Isn’t the very idea of creating a better world through marketing an antithesis to the purpose of marketing as it is commonly understood and practiced? But the idea certainly merits consideration. Marketing has given many things to this world. One view is that marketing has given God to this world. For the atheists as well as the agnostics, the very idea of God is a creation of marketing. That, however, is for the non-believers. Coming to the believers, marketing gave man to this world. Had it not been for Satan’s design in the guise of a serpent to coax Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, man would still have been in heaven, enjoying the fruits of the Garden of Eden. That apart, marketing has certainly changed lives and lifestyles, tastes and preferences, perceptions and perspectives, ideas and attitudes and most significantly, consumption patterns. Converting needs into wants, marketing has flared desires and aspirations, wishes and dreams. So, that was what marketing could do and what it has done. But as we the humankind come of age, a realisation dawns that marketing could have done something more. Rather, something else. It is this that needs to be pondered over. What does marketing need to do? How it needs to change the world? The answer would come from our reflection, an introspection to find out what the next goal of marketing needs to be. The answer certainly would come from within. There is need to change this world from commerce driven to conscience driven. In Freudian terms, transform the world from Id and Ego driven to Super Ego driven. From want driven to need driven. From impulse driven to reason driven. From the so called realism to idealism. From the apparently right approach to an appropriately righteous approach. There is need to change from consumption orientation to redemption orientation. And for this, the marketing process must now change its basic objective. Marketing was aimed at increasing sales volumes through creating wants and desires. It has to change its role to sell values now. There is need to redefine and reorient marketing. From creating consumption needs to arousing higher order needs. The aim should be to make people believe in the ultimate goodness of humanity where integrity and honesty become the fashion and greed and consumption are relegated to back seat.

Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com