Published article.

1. Published in Ad Age | CMO Strategy–April 28, 2011
Want to Evolve Your
Marketing?
Let People -- Not Products -- Lead the Way
Looking for big ideas to take your marketing
to the next level? "Marketing 3.0," by Philip
Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya and Iwan
Setiawan, proposes a fundamental evolution
to our marketing strategies. It seeks to move
our focus from product and customer models
to a human-centric model. It challenges us to
evolve from pushing products to solving real-
world socio-cultural issues, while
concurrently creating relevant value
propositions that ultimately lead to higher
profit.
To better understand the theory behind
Marketing 3.0, it helps to place it in some
context. Marketing 1.0 was developed in the
Industrial Age, a "product-centric" era
focused on mass-selling products through
functional value propositions. Marketing 2.0
was developed during the Information Age,
and it adopted emotional value propositions.
The authors of Marketing 3.0 propose that
we are now at the dawn of the "values-
driven" era, characterized by consumers who
want to satisfy functional, emotional and
spiritual needs. Marketing 3.0 seeks to
satisfy the whole person -- mind, body and
soul.
Why this evolution to
human-centric value
propositions? The authors
point to 3 trends that are
shaping the future of
marketing.

2. Published in Ad Age | CMO Strategy–April 28, 2011
The first trend is mass
participation/collaborative marketing. Social
media has tapped into natural human desires
for connectivity and interactivity. People not
only consume media, news and
entertainment, but also seek to produce its
content via social networks. This move from
consumer to "prosumer" is not simply
reserved for the individual, but also enables
mass-to-mass collaboration (think Wikipedia,
Craigslist, InnoCentive). As influencers have
gained power and status, companies should
seek collaborative marketing strategies -- co-
creation of products and services with
consumers, employees, channel partners and
other firms with similar goals and values.
The second trend is global paradox. Ease
of travel and technology advances have
created truly "global citizens" who still want
to be considered individuals. Marketing that
addresses both local and global communities
will succeed. For example, marketers should
seek to create micro-communities that serve
the interest of its members.
The third trend is the rise of a creative
society and human-spirit marketing. The
authors suggest that the influence and status
of creative people -- who generally tend to
innovate, collaborate and express themselves
more than others -- is on the rise because the
creative class pursue self-actualization and
place the same demands on the products and
services they consume. Marketers wishing to
capitalize on this trend should focus on
communicating credibility and supplying
meaning to its consumers.
So how does a marketer function in
Marketing 3.0? Borrowing from Ries and
Trout, the authors suggest that Marketing
3.0 should be redefined as a triangle of
brand, positioning and differentiation, but
then build on this formula by introducing
their own "3I" model, which they feel
completes the connections in the Ries/Trout
model.
In the Marketing 3.0 model, the three I's
stand for identity, image and integrity:
Identity is the relationship between
positioning and brand and seeks to address
the rational portion of the value proposition.
In Marketing 3.0, the key here is how you
address the mind, the consumer's rational
thoughts about the brand.
Image lies at the juncture of differentiation
and brand and strives to capture the
emotions of the target audience. The key

3. Published in Ad Age | CMO Strategy–April 28, 2011
here is how you address the consumer's heart
– what they feel about the brand, themselves,
the category.
Integrity is the intersection of positioning
and differentiation, and it aims to
authentically fulfill the brand promise and
foster trust. This is the "newest" of the three
I's and speaks to such issues as authenticity
and soul – of the consumer and the product.
At first glance Marketing 3.0 appears overly
ambitious. The idea of addressing the whole
person -- and doing so on a global scale -- is
difficult to grasp from a segmentation
perspective. However, the book provides
strong evidence and references to human-
centric marketing currently under way. And I
can personally vouch for the practicality of
their thesis as I find myself attempting to
solve both human and global concerns via our
strategic alignment and collaboration with
key constituents.
My only criticism of the book is the 3I
model. The section is underdeveloped and its
theory is ambiguous. Had they made this
more of a how-to chapter, explaining step-by-
step how marketers could implement it, their
thinking would have been much more useful.
Marketing is evolving and the stakes are
higher. If you want to differentiate, you
cannot do so through tactics, you must
choose a different strategy. Marketing 3.0 can
raise your thinking to the next level.
About the author:
Ramiro Roman's mission is to share through his
personal experience the science & art of
marketing leadership. He provides practical tips
and answers marketing related questions
through his blog: Marketing4Marketeers. He
moreover serves on the Editorial Advisory
Board and is a writing contributor for PM360 –
The Essential Resource for Pharma Marketers -
magazine.
Beyond his passion for marketing, Ramiro
devotes his life to being a better husband &
father of 5.
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