www.ikekalufile.blogspot.com

This is the text of a speech I delivered at the recently concluded Marketing Forum of the Dar es Salaam University Marketing Association on Saturday 17th March 2012. It gives me great pleasure to speak at this great occasion-The gathering of great minds.   Peter Drucker   said ‘There are two main functions in any enterprise-Marketing and Innovation. The rest are cost’. I know, not too many of you appreciate this at this point in your education; I think he is spot on. I hope I can support my position as I speak today. What is marketing? Simply put, it’s the act of identifying and meeting the needs of your customer at a profit. You know the need your customers have, you provide the solution at a cost they consider commensurate with the value they are getting and your business makes profit. The profit helps to keep the business alive and in good health. Who makes thing happen in the business? It’s the people that work there. Jack Welch in his book 'WINNING' say

Thinking about this subject, I am reminded of a latin maxim - Sovitoambulando.. Meaning problems get solved as you move on in life... Just keep moving.. Don't be stagnant. This is true..things get done anyway. It might take time. But is this really true about money and creating the future we want? Money is a wild beast and has to be tamed. We require wisdom to tame money and make it work for us. We all desire good life, good future and to live behind godly inheritance. We need to work at it from now. Solomon said in Eccl.7:12 For wisdom is a defense even as money is a defense, but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom shields and preserves the life of him who has it. Money and wisdom are placed on the same pedestal.. They are both important. We need them to lead a good and godly life. But wisdom will help you manage money... keep it under control. My son asked at one of our P3 meetings...if God promises to supply all our needs and says we should a

I was on East Africa Radio to talk about Personal branding on the breakfast show. It was fun. Special thanks to all those who listened and joined in the discussion via Facebook and Twitter. We succeeded in defining branding in a way that connected with the people. It is the process of developing a product or self to have a meaning that connects with your audience. We said that a brand is what people say about you when you are not there, or when you have left the room. It is the 'You' that people connect with. It is a process that starts with you discovering what you can do with ease and better than others as well as your Point of Difference, and developing it to have 'a meaning'. If properly done, this process can help you stand you out as an expert in your field or career. We said a great brand must have some basic qualities. They must be authentic, distinctive, compelling and excellent. This means that you must consciously work on yourself to become a brand.

There are several ways to engage in brand marketing. Increasingly, brands are getting more results from engagements that identify with the passion of the target audience. One way is to go the route of careless abandonment of real values, bu t a better route is that of CAUSE marketing. Do you believe in any cause OR do you know the cause that your customers are passionate about? you can use the cause as a marketing tool to create value in an endearing way. Kindly share your thoughts below. Ike kalu