Philip Kotler

Author, professor of marketing

• Born: May 27, 1931
• Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois

• Education: DePaul University, University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Significance: Philip Kotler is a best-selling author and professor of marketing. He has written nearly sixty marketing books and is the S. C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is regarded as the father of modern marketing.

Background

Philip Kotler was born on May 27, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois, to Ukrainian immigrant parents. He attended DePaul University for two years and was then accepted into the master’s program at the University of Chicago, graduating with a master’s in economics in 1953. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and received his PhD in economics in 1956. Kotler completed postdoctoral work in behavioral science at the University of Chicago and in mathematics at Harvard University.

Kotler began his teaching career in 1962 at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He encouraged his students to think of marketing as a facet of economics and explained that sales promotions, direct mail, advertising, and institutional advertising can all affect the demand for a product or service. "The organization’s marketing task is to determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets," Kotler has said, "and to achieve the desired results more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that preserves or enhances the consumer’s or society’s well-being."

Life’s Work

Kotler’s philosophies stress the interconnectedness of societal well-being and consumer satisfaction. He believes all businesses, including government agencies and nonprofit organizations, should implement a marketing strategy that targets consumer happiness. According to Kotler’s model, different forms of marketing can be applied to places, causes, and individuals, as well as to products and experiences. An important facet of Kotler’s philosophy of marketing is that despite the fluid nature of marketing, marketing efforts should always focus on fostering and maintaining customer relationships and encouraging consumer loyalty.

Kotler was an original promoter of the 1960s idea of the 4Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. The marketing mix, as the 4Ps are also called, is viewed as a set of fluctuating factors that can be structured in ways to positively influence buyers. Many believe that with the advent of the Internet and consumer dependence on it to shop and research and compare prices of myriad products, the marketing mix is no longer relevant. Kotler disagrees and believes that each of the 4Ps can be adapted for effective digital marketing. "Place," for example, would traditionally refer to a physical location where the consumer could touch, smell, or even test a product before purchasing it. In the virtual world, bright, clear photographs of the product, links to consumer reviews, and videos of the product being used all help consumers experience a product while they consider purchasing it.

In 1971, Harvard Business Review published a paper by Kotler and fellow Kellogg School professor Sidney Levy titled "Demarketing, Yes, Demarketing," which outlined a strategy for discouraging consumer buying. This was a revolutionary concept for managers and sales professionals whose primary focus was to increase profit and grow market share. Demarketing, Kotler and Levy explained, is used to reduce and oftentimes discourage demand and guide or even change consumer behavior. Kotler and Levy discussed three kinds of situations where demarketing is effective: general demarketing, to reduce overall demand, such as by a city water supplier during a drought; selective demarketing, to deter demand by certain groups of consumers, such as a senior-living community that does not allow young children; and ostensible demarketing, to give the impression of shortage or limited supply that then results in increased demand for the product. Many believe this demarketing strategy to be deceptive, and companies rarely admit to using it. Kotler later advocated using demarketing for social change to affect consumer behavior, such as discouraging cigarette smoking and encouraging healthy lifestyle choices.

Kotler published his first book, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, and Control, in 1967. Although he initially wrote it to use in his own classes, the book became an immediate bestseller and especially popular in graduate schools. It has been translated into more than twenty-five languages and was named one of the fifty best business books by the Financial Times. By 2024, he had published ninety books and one hundred and fifty journal articles, many of which have been awarded best-article designations.

Kotler has served on numerous boards and has received a host of honorary degrees from colleges and universities worldwide. Among his many awards and recognitions, he was the first-ever recipient of the American Marketing Association’s (AMA) Distinguished Marketing Educator Award in 1985, was chosen by SAGE Publications as the subject of the 2012 nine-volume Legends in Marketing series, and was inducted into the 2013 Management Hall of Fame. In 2021, the Institute of Management Consultants honored him with a Lifetime Contribution Award and Thinkers 50 recognized him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was the first recipient of the American Marketing Association's Leader in Marketing Thought Award.

Kotler is a frequent consultant at major US companies such as General Electric, IBM, and Bank of America. He travels throughout Europe, Asia, and South America to lecture and serve as an adviser to companies and governments, to encourage global competition, and to share his knowledge and expertise on economic and marketing science. He founded the annual, two-day World Marketing Summit in 2011 to focus attention on global markets and ending poverty worldwide.

In addition to his many books and papers, Kotler has also published his own story. His autobiography, My Adventures in Marketing, was published in 2017. He followed this with a 2021 memoir, My Life as a Humanist.

Impact

Since 1967 and the publication of Marketing Management, which was in its fifteenth edition by 2024, Philip Kotler has been a significant contributor to the fields of marketing, economics, and business. He has championed the importance of corporate and consumer social responsibility and believes in the power of combining democracy and capitalism. His most recent books are Confronting Capitalism: Real Solutions for a Troubled Economic System (2015) and Saving Democracy: Real Solutions for a Troubled Political System (2016).

Personal Life

Kotler and his wife, Nancy, live in Florida. They have three daughters and nine grandchildren.

Bibliography

"Biography." Philip Kotler, www.pkotler.org/bio. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

Calvert, Drew. "Philip Kotler on Marketing’s Higher Purpose." Kellogg Insight. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 3 Aug. 2015. Web. 2 Aug. 2016.

"Guru Philip Kotler." Economist. Economist Newspaper, 12 Sept. 2008. Web. 2 Aug. 2016.

Levey, Debbie. "Philip Kotler, PhD ’56: Mr. Marketing Management." MIT Technology Review. MIT Technology Review, 23 Feb. 2016. Web. 2 Aug. 2016.

Mahajan, Neelima. "The Thinker Interview with Philip Kotler, the Father of Marketing." Forbes India, 29 Jan. 2014, www.forbesindia.com/article/ckgsb/the-thinker-interview-with-philip-kotler-the-father-of-marketing/36951/1. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

"Q&A: Philip Kotler on Whether Traditional Marketing Is Dead." The Conversation, 12 Nov. 2014, theconversation.com/qanda-philip-kotler-on-whether-traditional-marketing-is-dead-34121. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.