Tencent SY Lau Dialogues with Mr. Philip Kotler, the Father of Modern Marketing

BEIJING, March 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Tencent, a leading provider of comprehensive Internet services in China, recently hosted the MINDSTORM forum on Managing the New Marketing in Beijing. Mr. SY Lau, president of Online Media Group and senior executive vice president of Tencent, led the discussion along with Mr. Philip Kotler, known as the father of modern marketing and a key force behind Marketing 3.0. The participants included over 100 marketing elites from local Chinese and multinational companies as well as media.

The forum urges all marketers to be prepared for the opportunities and challenges brought by new media and technology, and re-defines marketing's value to brands in the era of the Internet. SY Lau iterated that the core of marketing is to create demand in the marketplace based on comprehensive understanding of consumer behavior, and to fulfill customers' needs by providing a superior product. Marketers in China must take the lead to build a bridge between marketing investments and business decision making. Mr. Kotler emphasized that marketing has to evolve, and the enterprise must shift toward more customer-led strategies if it is to last.

Marketing Will Never Die

"The rise of the Internet and big data makes old ways of doing marketing obsolete. Big data makes traditional research ineffective, and the rise of social media has fragmented consumer segmentation. The long-tail market has overturned the 20/80 rules," said SY Lau.

However, Mr. Kotler said the conclusion that "Marketing is dead" is overblown and that organizations need to adopt marketing strategies that match their new environment.

Mr. Kotler continued, "Consumers today are becoming increasingly empowered, and are playing a more active role in influencing consumption behavior within the community. The ignorance of consumer needs causes failure for many companies. CMOs will no longer stick to old traditions and will become more digital-savvy in the coming years."

Best Practices for Building A Marketing-Centric Organization

Being a link between consumer and media platforms, marketing is in the best position to detect business opportunities. Mr. Kotler emphasized, "In addition to its traditional role, marketers must do a good job in integrating media resources and enhancing digital marketing strategic planning. CEOs will view their marketing department as a front-end resource in allocating internal resources and understanding market trends."

SY Lau resonated Mr. Kotler's insights: "The rise of digital media further elevates the significance of marketing. The duty and mission of providing an enlightening user experience extends to everyone, from CEO to employee. Upholding the user experience is indeed the first call of duty for every Tencent employee. "

Marketing 3.0 Calls for "Shifting toward Humanism"

Mr. Lau fully agrees with Mr. Kotler that a company should take on corporate social responsibility and proliferate humanism. He encourages companies operating in China to have the courage to stand for something more in the eyes of their consumers.

Tencent, Lau said, is an Internet company that brings people together. Because of its wider range of product categories, from games, to media, to Internet finance, to eCommerce services, Tencent hopes it can inspire and empower a new generation of Chinese people to utilize the power of the Internet in a positive manner, to unleash their imagination, to unleash their productivity, and finally to realize their dreams.

Five Best Practices for Chinese Marketers

Based on shared understanding with Mr. Kotler on the tasks of the CMO (http://www.bainbridge.com.au/blog/philipkotlerdiscussesmarketing), SY Lau suggested these five best practices for Chinese enterprises to build marketing-centric organizations:

• Look beyond the scope and duty of the marketing department
• Measure the business value created by marketing over time
• Consistently uncover actionable consumer insights
• Embrace digital capabilities to unleash the power of big data in a way that results in more product innovation and escalations in business values
• Regain consumer trust by returning to an integrity-based marketing culture.

"It was a rare opportunity to hear two marketing pioneers, Philip Kotler and SY Lau, lay forth their vision of marketing in the digital age. We in the MINDSTORM audience came away with fresh insights and ideas for making our businesses more marketing-centric, and therefore more successful," said Kaize Ma, marketing and consumer communications director, Great China Area, Nestle

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140312/CN82636

SOURCE Tencent