Marketeers urged to prioritise 3Ps to remain relevant

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Rafidah (fifth right) signs the plaque to symbolise the launch of IMMSC, in the presence of other dignitaries – Dr Chan (third right), Mienczakowski (fourth right) and Sharifah (fourth left).

MIRI: Marketeers not only need to be technology and internet savvy to market their products globally but must get their producers or companies to prioritise the three Ps – profit, people and the planet to remain relevant.

Former International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz said by being technology-savvy using the Internet of Things (IoT) devices they will be able to apply various solutions to meet the demands of various market segments.

Quoting recent statistics, Rafidah said the number of IoT devices increased 31% year-over-year to 8.4 billion in the year 2017 and it is estimated that there will be 30 billion devices by 2020 while the global market value of IoT is projected to reach U$7.1 trillion by 2020.

“Marketeers’ duties are beyond promoting and selling the products to the customers.

“They must be able to get back to their respective companies and advise them what the people want and how to shape the market. Of late, beyond the financial market line, the priorities are three Ps – profit, people and planet,” said Rafidah during an Industry Public Talk when launching the nation’s first Institute of Marketing Malaysia Student Chapter (IMMSC) Curtin University yesterday.

Among those present were IMM president Dato’ Sharifah Mohd Ismail, former Sarawak deputy chief minister and Curtin Malaysia Pro-Chancellor Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan, Curtin Malaysia Pro Vice-Chancellor, president and chief executive Professor Jim Mienczakowski and acting Dean of its Faculty of Business Associate Professor Pauline Ho.

Elaborating on the 3Ps, Rafidah said above profit, the company must prioritise the welfare of their staff, clients and customers while their products and services must be produced using environmentally friendly technology that ensure sustainable planet.

She stressed that such efforts among other things included proper waste management while the products and services must not endanger the life of the consumers, failing which when negativity starts spreading, no amount of promotion could sell their products and services.

Among factors that make good marketeers are innovation, ability to pre-empt what is going to happen including changes in the industry particularly the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) as the current technological innovations have the potentials to strengthen and improve not only the economy, but also the world as a whole.

On IMMSC, Rafidah hoped that it could be the conduit for the development of marketing graduates in the real world of marketing.

She commended Curtin Malaysia for pioneering the IMM Chapter at the university and hoped it could inspire more universities to set up their own student chapter of IMM.

The IMMSC of Curtin Malaysia, established in January 2018, is the Institute of Marketing Management’s (IMM) very first student charter dedicated to providing students of all disciplines a platform to enhance their marketing knowledge and skills through talks and workshops featuring key industrial and education facilitators and other marketing-related activities.