World Marketing Summit Malaysia 2013 Concludes With Businesses Agreeing On Driving Sustainable Profits Through Community Partnerships

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct. 1,  2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Marketing Summit Malaysia 2013 (WMSM 2013) concluded today with an engaging and insightful discourse, resulting in delegates exploring case studies, shared experiences and future direction on how social purpose can be injected into business objectives, elevating marketing to address and achieve the United Nations 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and at the same time, create a consumer market built from shared prosperity.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131001/HK89594)

Over the course of three days, more than 2300 delegates representing 68 countries have relished the outstanding speeches and thought leadership on how social purpose can and should be injected into business practice to allow for businesses to make money while furthering a social cause. The list of high profile speakers included Minister Dr. Bernard Kouchner, ex-French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Founder of Doctors Without Borders, Professor Dr. Hubert Gijzen, UNESCO's Director of Asia & Pacific, Mr. Shahid Malik, ex Labor Minister of the U.K. and Chairman of Global Cooperation and Development Partnership, Dr. Ashok Khosla, Chairman of Development Alternative Groups, India, and Dr. R. L. Bhatia, Founder of World CSR Day.

The brainchild of iconic marketing guru, Professor Dr. Philip Kotler, the WMSM 2013 aimed to revolutionise the way marketers and consumers think, live and act as an individual and how society can collectively make contributions towards a better future by creating new approaches through marketing. With the vision that it will be an annual gathering of thinkers, social activists, marketing professionals and government officials, the WMSM 2013 aims to encourage large multinationals, local SMEs and NGOs to become agents of social change, changing the old model of the developed economies providing charity to the developing nations. This must entail all countries working in concert to address long-standing humanitarian malaise and devise actionable solutions with measurable objectives to resolve the issues.

On the sidelines of the World Marketing Summit, the Youth Parliament, in conjunction with the Revolution Starts Now project, saw 30 children from various schools across Malaysia, a students' research competition where schools explore new ways to achieve the eight United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The key take-outs of the summit stressed on the importance of Public-Private-Purpose partnership to provide universal primary education, gender equality and the need for businesses to adopt strategies to foster sustainable and continuous improvements rather than one-off donations. The insights generated from influential experts and NGOs in their relative fields defined the key areas of improvements from the health, environmental and educational sectors and what we can do to solve them. Further to that, government institutions and officials resonated the importance of national support and aligning goals with importance.

Finally, the private sector which encompasses large multinational corporations as well as SMEs and small business owners can also implement strategic social purposes as all sectors of society can help contribute towards the betterment of society.

Dr. Marceline Lemarie, Organising Chairperson of WMSM 2013 said: "Ideas to change the world are only actionable if we have the support and cooperation of the public. And it is only though marketing that we can get people interested, aware and accept what you can do to change the world. I am glad the speakers here in this summit are able to share their experience, revolutionary ideas and success marketing stories to everyone and show businesses that purpose can be injected to profit without hurting their bottom-line. I look forward to the new paradigm of Public-Private-Purpose partnership and action plans to implement this immediately."

"The World Marketing Summit Malaysia 2013 has been a wonderful experience and I thank all speakers, sponsors, and partners for their undivided support towards making this summit a success. I hope all corporations, NGOs and everyone who have attended the summit can take home something valuable, implement it and create a better world through marketing," added Dr. Marceline.

Issued on behalf of World Marketing Summit (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. by Edelman PR Worldwide Sdn Bhd.

For further information on this release, kindly contact:
Edelman Malaysia                         
(03-2287 8689)              

SOURCE World Marketing Summit Malaysia 2013