PANEL DESCRIPTION:

When Philip Kotler, the “father of modern marketing,” speaks publicly, every marketer listens carefully, especially if the topic is as thought-provoking as this.

In one of his recent speeches in 2022, Kotler stressed that while “society’s mission is endless economic growth,” we must pay the price for “depleting natural resources…. even threatening the survival of our planet.” What is interesting, however, is how does this affect the marketing profession? According to the professor, “degrowth” is intended, among other things, to reduce consumption – but doesn’t this contradict the main goals set by marketing executives?

Is -relatively new in the business environment – the idea of “less is more” – pushed so far only by social marketers who “use marketing to change behavior and lifestyles” – is it likely to find its way into B2C business as well?

During the discussion, we will focus on the future of marketing and a meeting on the strategic direction of its further development; together with the speakers, we will consider whether the path paved by automation, metaverse, and AI is the only way forward. Or are we facing a social and cultural revolution of “unplugging” and brands consciously giving up investing in marketing? Finally, our new technologies will likely transform how we think about sustainable marketing and point to yet another path of change that has so far been inaccessible to us. Together, we will also consider what sustainable marketing is – and to what extent we can teach, obey and enforce businesses to follow the “new” marketing rules.