How did Kotler become Father of Modern Marketing?

Professor Philip Kotler 

Professor Philip Kotler, fondly known as the Father of Modern Marketing, is a living legend. Not only is he the founder of the base of modern marketing, he’s also a man who has proven himself to be living his values. Addressing the inaugural National Marketing Day of Sri Lanka in 2022, I still remember him stressing the importance of making a sustainable world for everyone. Marketing is not about overexploitation of human and natural resources. It’s about assuring everyone has an opportunity to fulfil their needs and desires. This aligns better with principles of inclusivity and sustainability. 

Returning to the subject, in 2022, we aimed to honour Professor Kotler, as the entire Sri Lankan marketing community gained insights from his renowned book, Principles of Modern Marketing. He was thrilled to have received such an honour at the age of 92, noting that even in his homeland, no such recognition had been given to him. He expressed his gratitude for our heartfelt tributes and would like to express my sincere appreciation for the generous guidance and direction provided by the esteemed Professor Nalin Abeysekara, the Dean of the Management Faculty at the Open University of Sri Lanka.

The birth of Modern Marketing 

 Professor Kotler has witnessed numerous transformations in the theory and practice of marketing since earning his Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1953. In 1960, three years after earning his PhD in Economics from MIT, he became part of the marketing department at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, joining a group of esteemed faculty including Sidney Levy, Stewart Henderson Britt, Richard Clewett, Ralph Westfall, and others.  In his classes, he utilised content from various textbooks that thoroughly explained marketing institutions and practices, offering prescriptive advice. Nevertheless, the textbooks fell short in providing a robust theory of consumer behaviour, referenced an inadequate number of findings from academic journals, and poorly articulated the actual processes companies used to make their marketing decisions.

In 1963, he began writing his own textbook, “Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control.” When Prentice-Hall introduced it in 1967, Professor Kolter believed it would either emerge as a significant success or become just another unsuccessful textbook. It proved to be more successful than he had anticipated. Marketing professors valued the content of the newly adopted textbook “Marketing Management” for its ability to elevate respect for the marketing discipline, focus on creating value for the customer, provide improved theories on customer decision-making, incorporate academic research on marketing, clarify the decision-making processes of professional marketers, and share compelling stories of successful marketing companies.

This marked the birth of modern marketing to the world. 

What was marketing like in the past?

In the early 1900s, marketing appeared in some textbooks, written mainly by economists. These textbooks described wholesaling and retailing, sales force, pricing, advertising, and promotion. 

In the 1960s, marketing was a fairly simple discipline. A company would:

• Decide the product’s features and set the price,
• Seek a strong position in the distribution channels,
• Hire an agency to create advertisements and campaigns, and
• Run a strong sales force to pursue sales.

It appears that what we see here is quite distant from the marketing practices we engage in today. It was primarily focused on selling. Students at business schools often choose among finance, marketing, operations, strategy, or information. Students with a strong mathematical background opted for finance or operations. Students who were less inclined towards mathematics opted for marketing. Marketing was straightforward and provided engaging human interest stories. As time passed, marketing became increasingly refined and analytical. Two significant books enhanced marketers’ comprehension of customer behaviour and served as a reminder to practicing marketers about the various factors influencing customer attitudes and behaviour.

The broadening concept enters marketing

In January 1969, Professors Sidney Levy and Kotler introduced an expanded concept of marketing. It was stated that marketing activities are present in all aspects of life and should extend beyond just commercial marketing. Nonprofit organisations, including churches, colleges, museums, performing arts organisations, city governments, social agencies, and social action groups, engage in marketing planning. Political parties engage in marketing campaigns. Organisations focused on environmental issues, including Greenpeace, the Nature Conservancy, and the Sierra Club, strive to encourage citizens to adopt more eco-friendly practices. Religious organisations employ marketing strategies to draw new members to their congregations. These organisations must utilise marketing tools to achieve their goals. Subsequent publications emerged that extended marketing concepts to wider domains. 

As the content and concept of marketing evolved, so too did its emergence as a philosophy or doctrine, transcending its role as just a function within an organisation. We owe a deep sense of gratitude to Professor Kolter for his invaluable contribution to marketing by organising the previously scattered knowledge and bringing it together to create a more coherent discipline for the world. Subsequent publications emerged that extended marketing concepts to wider domains. We should recognise his humble gesture after achieving so much in academia, especially as he approaches his 90s. 

Professor Kotler once stated; “You can learn marketing in a week, but it takes a lifetime to master. After fifty years of teaching marketing, I am still trying to master it. Do not be fooled by my title ‘Father of Modern Marketing’. If I stop following the latest developments and ideas, my marketing knowledge will quickly lose value.”

In conclusion, we express our gratitude for his outstanding contributions to marketing. The Sri Lankan edition of his book, the Essentials of Modern Marketing, will soon be launched in Sri Lanka, featuring local brand stories and case studies as its inaugural edition. As the official local representative of Professor Philip Kotler in Sri Lanka, I would like to extend my best wishes for his good health and happiness as he approaches his 94th birthday this May. As readers of his books and followers of his writing, I am certain that your best wishes will also be with him. Because blessings hold greater value than any other figures. 

(The writer is Founder, Deyo Consultancy & Advocacy – Official Representative of Professor Kotler in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. He can be reached at [email protected].)