Sustainable Development And A More Socially Relevant Marketing Profession
Olu Akanmu
What is sustainable development? And what is sustainable economic development?
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development, this is the definition.
And what is sustainability itself? Sustainability can be defined in four pillars: people, society, economy and environment. We use translations from Futurelean.com.
Human sustainability is the maintenance and development of human capital in society. Investment in health and education systems, access to services, nutrition, knowledge and skills. Social sustainability is about staying for future generations. We recognize that we have an impact on others and the world in terms of the quality and overall social cohesion of our society, country or society. Although society is never unified, it is utopian. However, we all agree that the coexistence of extreme inequality and deprivation and extreme wealth and prosperity is not good for social cohesion. Economic sustainability can be defined as economic growth accompanied by an improvement in living standards that can be experienced by all. Essentially inclusive economic growth. Nigeria's economy is growing at 3% per year, but most people don't realize this. Even in good times of 7% growth, the challenge was inclusive economic growth and the impact on the quality of life of our people. The final capacity is the area of the column. Essentially, protecting our natural capital for future generations. Simply put, sustainable economic development is inclusive economic growth and development that is felt by all , from Brass River to Sarvana Birni KB and from the white sands of Badagry Beach to Beau Farmlands.
Does it have anything to do with marketing? And what should this role be? Let's get back to basics and look at marketing definitions to put our discussion in perspective. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing as:
"...as an activity, a set of organizations and a process of creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging value propositions for customers, clients, partners and society at large. ..."
Search and focus on customer, client, partner and community keywords. In their wisdom, AMA scholars deliberately included the term community in their definition of marketing. However, the words most marketers hear are customer, customer and partner. Most marketers not at this event tonight, and I think that's a good thing, don't have "community" in mind when they talk or describe marketing.
Why did this happen? The problem may lie in the most popular definition of marketing that we have learned and passed down from generation to generation.
A popular definition of marketing by Philip Kotler states that marketing is "the science and art of seeking, creating, and delivering value to achieve market objectives at a profit."
Philip Kotler's definition of marketing, which we all grew up with, suggests that there is no such thing as an "unprofitable" market. An additional benefit of this is the way you define your target market in the business plan based on who wants it and the products/services we can sell.
The main problem is that Kotler's traditional definition of marketing has serious implications for the social value of marketing in Nigeria and the developing world where chronic poverty and widespread social exclusion prevail. Come with me I told you before I want to blow your mind tonight. I didn't come to take your applause.
About two weeks ago, the National Bureau of Statistics released a damning and disturbing report on Nigeria's poverty index. This poverty in Nigeria is more than we think, even more than the estimate of the World Bank. According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics, there are 133 million poor people in Nigeria. Cry Dear People In Nigeria, 84% of children under the age of five are poor because they lack the intellectual support they need for early childhood development. Cry Dear People This means that 65 percent - 86 million people - live in the poor north and about 35 percent - 47 million - in the south. Cry dear people In the oil producing country of Bayelsa, 89% of the population is poor, followed by Soko with 91% of the population. Cry Dear People This poverty is widespread in urban areas of Nigeria, where 42% of the urban poor and 72% of the rural poor live in rural areas. cry dear man
Nigeria has a population of 211 million and 133 million people are poor, while 63% of our population is poor, making them less likely to provide our businesses with profitable markets. According to Kotler's popular definition of marketing, an unprofitable segment of the population is not a viable market. In short, we can conclude that our high level of social exclusion in Nigeria translates into a high level of commercial exclusion. Our shop and market vendors cater to approximately 40% or at most 50% of the Nigerian population . Tonight, while we celebrate ourselves with various awards, we are not connected to 50% of our human lives. We see this with formal financial inclusion in banking at 50% and internet and broadband penetration at around 40%. Telekom is an exception to the voice input rule. Telecom's voice business demonstrates the power of technology, especially digital technology, by opening untapped markets to traditional populations with lower marketing and distribution costs that were previously unviable.
Before we conclude, let's go back to the definition of marketing. Even if most of us win our awards tonight, if we do not benefit 50% of Nigerians, can we say we are doing responsible business in a country like Nigeria? America doesn't have such a big, deep exclusion problem (at least not in our context), so Kotler can define marketing in the sense that only profitable markets qualify. For entrepreneurs in developing countries, Africa and Nigeria, where 50% of our population is socially excluded, we need to proactively seek them out to address widespread social and business exclusion and unlock the potential of innovative services and business models in these untapped markets. They can be profitable. As a result, we will double our effective market size, create more inclusive wealth and become more socially relevant.
Clayton Christensen, professor of non-strategic marketing, addresses the problem of the social value of marketing in developing countries through the paradox of neglected markets and disruptive innovation. There is no time tonight to discuss Christensen's theory. Suffice it to say that Christensen's theory has a lot to do with marketing becoming more socially relevant in developing countries. If not, I suggest you get a copy of Christensen's Inventor's Dilemma and read it carefully. Today, traditional marketing knowledge is very important.
Finally, congratulations once again to tonight's nominees and award winners , and everyone who came to celebrate with them. As you collect your prize tonight, ask questions and think about how your products and services fit in with the 50% of Nigerians you are least likely to serve. To make our marketing and business more relevant to the Nigerian people, practicing more inclusive marketing is a responsible practice. Let's develop a new socially responsible brand. We are talking about access to financial services. Let's make milk inclusive for those of us in the dairy industry, soap industry and healthcare, let it be inclusive health . Let us periodically measure these measures, whether progress or retardation, to tell our conscience how much we must do to influence the lives of our people. Therefore, when the history of our generation is made, we act as entrepreneurs who brought responsible change driven by the struggles and historical challenges of our time.
Olu Akanmu delivered this keynote speech at the Nigerian Association of Advertisers Africa Marketing Awards.
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