Marketing 3.0 by Philip Kotler

After reading fiction for so long, I (strangely) craved some non-fiction to read. I guess it's all those rom-com novels finally affecting my brain. But no matter, my friend's dad (books now gravitate towards me ^^) lent me this really interesting book: marketing 3.0

Marketing 3.0 is divided into three simple parts - trends, strategy and application. The essence of marketing 3.0 is that now, customer's are involved and they want more - like environmental considerations. So, the marketer must learn to engage the customers, and well, basically show how they're product is value-added.

I think the tag line sums it up best: "From Products to Customers to the Human Spirit". What I've learnt in Business and Management (the Marketing component anyway), is that there are 7 P's of Marketing - Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Physical Evidence and Process. It's still pretty much centered around the product, although the rise of e-commerce has changed things. But I think most significantly, the change in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) attitudes drives this whole process. A few decades ago, (for at least, Singapore) most people were still struggling just to get the basic necessities on the table. But now, a good majority of us are what can be termed as "middle-class" and social media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest now connects us and raises our awareness of social issues. E.g. SOPA, Occupy Wallstreet (the Singaporean version, by the way, failed miserably), Arab Spring, etc.

It's really interesting, actually, to think about how things will move on from here. I've always wanted to work in a bookstore, yet cries of Amazon.com are all around. But yet, this book suggests that it is possible for physical bookstores to survive, if they can provide an added dimension. And looking at stores like Littered With Books, it's certainly possible. I have absolutely no idea what they do in the area of CSR, but I like chatting with the employees about books and their willingness to order in books that they don't have makes it very convenient to shop there (not much location wise).

So to sum it all up, here are the 10 credos for Marketing 3.0: it's time to make a change
1.Love your customers, Respect your competitors.
2. Be sensitive to change, be ready to transform.
3. Guard your name, be clear about who you are.
4. Customers are diverse, go first to those who can benefit from you
5. Always offer a good package at a fair price.
6. Always make yourself available, spread the good news.
7. Get your customers, keep and grow them
8. Whatever your business, it's a service business.
9. Always refine your business process in terms of quality, cost and delivery.
10. Gather relevant information, but use wisdom in making your final decision.

And of course, in your application process, you should be delivering socio-cultural transformation (chapter 7), creating emerging market entrepreneurs (chapter 8) and striving for environmental sustainability (chapter 9).