The early Dotcom Industry is a story of a gold rush where talented entrepreneurs flaunted both sane and insane ideas on how to make money. The disillusionment came when many dotcoms failed to live up to their expectations and had to close their websites. A few were big winners, Ebay, Yahoo, Google, Amazon. Each of these had winning value propositions. Today new dotcoms have to face more sophisticated investors who have learned from the past and demand more evidence of probable success. Less money is available than before and only the better ideas will be picked up.

Most of your theories find exceptions in India, which is going to be a very important market in the future. Will it be necessary to develop unique approaches for India?

All good marketing is local. Theories must be applied with judgment and local relevance. This is why Professor Abraham Koshy and Professor Mithilesh Jha are adapting my book, Marketing Management, 12th edition, to India. They are describing the Indian economy and society and how marketing can be adapted to the Indian realities. They are supplying fascinating cases of poor, good, and excellent marketing done in India. I am impressed with their efforts to make marketing fit the realities of the Indian economy.

With the entry of global retailers/opening up of FDI norms for retailers, what option are the brand owners left with in the Indian scenario?

Global retailers entering India will bring a set of benefits and disbenefits. The benefits may be lower prices (because of economies of scale) and a larger selection of merchandise. Another benefit is they may arrange for local production of the goods they will carry and this will create a large number of jobs. The disbenefits are that very small businesses may go out of business because their prices are high or selections are too limited. Yet many “mom and pop” businesses can survive because they are local, more personable, easily reached by walking, and they may extend credit.

Nowadays, everybody knows what is Business and what is Marketing and how we should go about it. Despite this expertise, why do companies still fail to achieve success?

Competition is so intense and sophisticated that weaker companies will be pushed aside. Many companies are still-production or product-oriented and fail to know their customers intimately and render quality service. Many have a 1960 understanding of marketing and business. Even a 1990 understanding is no longer adequate in the age of the Internet, computers, and cell phones.

In the 21st Century, is doing business all about building a network of relationship?

No company is an island. Successful companies have acquired a set of trusted partners on the supply side and the demand side. They have built a superior network and supply chain. They honor their promises to their customers, distributors, and suppliers and turned their business from an “I win, you lose” game to “We all win.”

If you were going to give somebody just one piece of advice about how to be successful in this new age, what would it be?

Study the histories of successful companies such as Starbucks, Ikea, Barnes and Noble, FedEx, and Southwest Airlines and draw the innovative lessons from these companies. We don’t succeed by making more of the same, but by inventing something better. Future marketers will need a heavy dose of creativity backed by an understanding of the new technologies and a facility with financial thinking.





Dr. Philip Kotler (born 27 May 1931 in Chicago) is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was selected as the #4 management guru of all time by the Financial Times (behind Jack Welch, Bill Gates, and Peter Drucker), and has been hailed by the Management Centre Europe as "the world's foremost expert on the strategic practice of marketing." He is also considered one of the pioneers of social marketing.

Dr. Kotler has authored what is widely recognized as the most authoritative textbook on marketing: Marketing Management, now in its 12th edition. He has also authored, or co-authored a number of other leading books, including Kotler on Marketing; Lateral Marketing; Strategic Marketing for Non-Profits; Marketing for Healthcare Organizations; Marketing Professional Services; Marketing From A to Z; The 10 Deadly Marketing Sins; Marketing Moves; Marketing Places; The Marketing of Nations; and Social Marketing.

In addition, Dr. Kotler has published more than one hundred articles in leading journals, including the Harvard Business Review, Sloan management Review, Business Horizons, California Management Review, and the Journal of Marketing. He holds many major awards, including the Distinguished Marketing Educator of the Year Award of the American Marketing Association and Marketer of the Year by the Sales & Marketing Executives International (SMEI).

Through his consulting firm, the Kotler Marketing Group (KMG), Dr. Kotler has consulted to many major U.S. and foreign companies - including IBM, Michelin, Bank of America, Merck, General Electric, Honeywell, and Motorola - in the areas of marketing strategy and planning, marketing organization, and international marketing.

He presents continuing seminars on leading marketing concepts and developments to companies