Stakeholder

The Galbraith Lecture which is the keynote event in the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s annual Marketing Week provided guests with many thought-provoking words of wisdom.

Renowned Marketer Charles Nixon MBA FCIM FCAM FRSA was the keynote speaker at the event which took place in the Ulster Hall on Wednesday 21^st October 2009.                                                

Charles Nixon is the Chairman and Director of Cambridge Marketing Colleges and is world renowned for his business and marketing expertise. Charles was joined by brand expert Susie Galbraith, daughter of the late Frank Galbraith.

The Galbraith Lecture honours the memory of the late Frank Galbraith who is remembered for his original thinking and his creativity as well as his unswerving commitment to marketing as a benign driver of society. Frank Galbraith passed away in 2005 following years of commitment to the Chartered Institute of Marketing and marketing as a profession in Northern Ireland.

During the keynote address guest speaker Charles Nixon was very forthcoming in his views that the current recession is over. We cannot be guaranteed that there won’t be a second wave but he stated that history shows that single recessions never last longer than one year. He said the difference in this recession and others is that it is global. Every market has been hit and must take steps towards normality, not as we used to know it but as he called it, ‘the new normal.’

Charles Nixon was also very clear about the role that marketing plays in recovery. He proclaimed that marketing is a fundamental part of everyday life. People expect to be marketed to by companies. In a time of ‘globalism’ where the wider world is becoming more accessible to a greater number of people, there is a better understanding of consumer choice. Companies need to take advantage of what is going on around them and instead of just doing nothing because there is a recession they must seize opportunities.

Charles Nixon also highlighted that 50% of the existing Fortune 500 companies were founded during recessionary times which shows how companies can use the current downturn to acquire other companies or diversify to enable them to flourish when the recovery comes.

The event ended with a lively question and answer suggestion which stimulated debate and discussion among the participants.