Fifty Shades of Marketing: Know your shade and be in control
Manila, Philippines – It is every marketer’s goal to be able to control the market, making consumers believe a brand’s promise and behave favorably. But according to a marketing guru, to be in control, brands must first learn to submit. “Marketing is always about brands being dominant and consumers submitting. But in reality, every brand has to submit first because the submissive is the one who is in control,” explains Donald Lim, over-all chairman of the Philippine Marketing Association’s “Fifty Shades of Marketing.”
He further explains by citing Facebook as an example. While all brands want to engage their customers, some are afraid of setting up a Facebook Page because of the fear of getting bad feedback or comments. But Lim believes that should not be the case. “Creating a channel for interactive engagement with the market is an example of submitting to them. When you start submitting to your market, you will learn how to manage. Eventually, you will realize that you become the dominant.”
This lesson in marketing is pretty much parallel to the premise of the book, “Fifty Shades of Grey”. Taking inspiration from the bestseller, the theme of this year’s 1st Asian Marketing Leadership Summit is “Fifty Shades of Marketing.”
The Asian Marketing Leadership Summit (AMLS) is the new brand of the annual marketing conference that PMA stages. But unlike the previous conference, this year is much more of a gathering of marketing leaders, a summit where there will be more discussions and interactions.
To fit the theme even more, the association has invited fifty different marketing practitioners, each bringing what they know — their own marketing shade. “We felt that every marketing person has his or her own shade of creativity and innovation. Basically 50 shades mean 50 kinds of marketing persons showing their expertise.”
Participants could choose from different tracks like Branding, PR, and Media. There will be speakers from government, showbiz, branding, digital, all talking about their marketing shades – how they solved their marketing problems and what makes their solutions different.
The event will be held on July 8 and 9 at the Sofitel Tent. Senator Chiz Escudero will deliver the keynote during the plenary session while Francis Kong will close the plenary. On day two, ABS-CBN CEO Charo Santos will open the session while the closing plenary will be an ABS-CBN Special Aquino & Abunda session with celebrity guests.
The summit is not only an opportunity for every marketer to grow and learn. It also serves as a venue for them to get to know fellow marketers. “Participants could learn as much by choosing the track that they want. They should also take this chance to network like they’ve never networked before,” advises Lim.
For more information about the 1st Asian Marketing Leadership Summit, please visit www.50shadesofmarketing.com.ph
