'Marketers Must Be Innovative'

Shola Safo-Doudu
President of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG), Shola Safo-Doudu has urged marketers to be proactive in order to keep up with new trends in the profession.

According to the CIMG Boss, innovation has become an integral aspect of marketing, which practitioners have to adopt in order to remain relevant in the profession.

She disclosed this at the launch of the 2014 CIMG Awards in Accra under the theme, 'The Future of Marketing: Evolve or Die' on Thursday.

The 26 edition of the event is slated for August 15.

'Marketing as a profession thrives on innovation, hence practitioners must be proactive so as to be able to move with the times, new technologies and social engagements, among others. Change, they say, is the only constant thing in life. Every living thing responds to one stimulus or another and where necessary, rearrangement, adjustments and appropriate steps are taken to fall in line.  The inability to respond to your environments or stimuli may result in extreme cases in death,' she stated.

She said the profession has over the years been responding to new trends and developments to ensure that the awards scheme reflected the practices, standards and principles expected from the winners.

'Innovation is an important aspect of marketing and this requirement becomes very demanding in the face of economic challenges within the society, and Ghana at this time, needs to seriously consider how to effectively innovate in order to come out of this complex economic, social and political quagmire we find ourselves in. Over the decades, we have seen firms innovate constantly on their products, business processes and technology. However, the most practical changes have been seen in the field of marketing,' she said.

The CIMG Boss added that innovation has emerged as a key ingredient in ensuring that marketing strategies are used to deliver new products, services and brand positioning.

'Companies have done incredible jobs in the area of innovation by connecting with their audience through understanding their motivations and tailoring their marketing plans accordingly. Companies and the nation must continue to innovate in order to work their way out of the current problems and thereafter.'

Vice President of CIMG, Kojo Mattah explained that the awards would cover six major areas-the CIMG Hall of Fame, Personalities, Media/MARCOMS organizations, Business organizations, Products and Not-for-Profit organizations.

He noted that the institute has introduced two new awards -e-Commerce Company of the Year and Emerging Media (Digital) Company of the Year in view of the many changes in technological platforms and emerging media.

By Nii Ogbamey Tetteh
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