BREAKFAST WITH KOTLER

Videocast first for Marketing 2001 delegates; students invited to attend

Participants of the upcoming conference, Marketing 2001 – Strategies for Success in Arabia – will share breakfast with marketing guru, Professor Philip Kotler. In addition, more than 100 UAE-based students have also signed up to attend the Kotler videocast.

The presentation opens day two of the region’s first strategic marketing forum. It is the first time Kotler has presented to an audience in the region.

"In a realtime videocast from the US, Kotler will discus his views on how to create, win and dominate markets, including the impact of Internet and database marketing", said Barry Gray, managing director of Gray Business Communications, the conference organiser.

"He will also highlight his view of the new skills that the e-age demands of marketers and describe how the New Economy differs from the Old" continued Gray.

Kotler is professor of international marketing, Kellogg Graduate School of Management in the United States. He is also the author of numerous best selling marketing texts, many providing the base for university curricula worldwide.

"We have extended a special invitation to students to attend the Kotler session as a majority of business and marketing studies in this region, like their peers worldwide, use Kotler’s material," he said.

According to Gray, other leading voices participating in Marketing 2001 are Professor John Quelch and Dr Henry Azzam : "The trio will be joined by a number of the region’s business influencers who will focus economic and business planning techniques such as market domination tactics, the localisation of global strategies, building brands, and integrated marketing.

Quelch, a leading British marketing academic and noted author, is the forum’s day one keynote speaker. His most recent titles offer marketing insights specific to Muslim populations and business strategies specifically for Middle East markets.

While, Azzam, chief economist and managing director of the Lebanon-based Middle East Capital Group, is set to give a fresh economic overview of the Middle East, preceeding a panel session where Iran, Syria, Libya and Lebanon have been picked for individual concentration.

On attendance and participation, Gray said that the two-day Marketing 2001 forum is attracting widespread attention : "Interest from both speakers and delegates has been intense from day one," said Gray. His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Information Minister, is the event patron.

Other noted speakers include Marketing 2001 sponsor, Cisco Systems, Michael Wilde, Chief Operating Officer of Dubai Media City, Jim Sillars of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce, and Fadi Ghandour, president and CEO of Jordan-based Aramex.

In addition to Cisco Systems, the event has attracted a band of heavyweight sponsors, including Al Hayat, British Airways, Canon Middle East, DoubleClick, General Motors, MEMRB and Zamil Air Conditioners.

Gray stressed that Marketing 2001 is designed as a forum from which business leaders can take fresh, strategic information and direction on which to base their mid-term business and marketing planning."

He advised that pre-conference workshops are also planned. They will provide in-depth dialogue on specific management issues such as multi-cultural marketing, e-commerce marketing and personnel strategies specifically for the Middle East region.

Marketing 2001 – Strategies for Success in Arabia workshops and conferences will be held at Emirates Towers Hotel for three days starting 13 November 2000.