at least a decade ago .
But for the profession to achieve a legal status it has to professionalize its membership and this is where we stated earlier that we require both an aggressive leadership and an effective secretariat to move the association under the legal umbrella .
This move will answer one of the questions raised earlier about what value the association brings to the individual member since to front yourself as a marketer will require that you are recognized by a competent body that adjudicates the criteria for membership .
This will require that all voluntary bodies that operate marketing associations , firms and agencies will have to be affiliated to the body that regulates the membership . The immediate effect of this will be to get rid of quacks and other shadowy firms that pass themselves off as marketing agencies .
In this new dispensation all marketing functions will be subsumed in one legal entity that will be charged with regulating the thresholds of admission and maintaining the professional standards of the association and representing marketers on the national arena .
There would of course be different grades of membership and to denote academic attainment and experience and there would be a mechanism to transition from any discipline into the marketing profession by undertaking training and passing the requisite exams .
This is where we will need the education institutions to come up with a Kenya relevant basic training module that prepares an individual for a career in marketing . A curriculum would have to be developed and certified by the necessary government bodies as suitable preparatory material .
One would then have to work out the modalities for transitioning the many marketers that do not have formal qualifications . It is a truism that for every business that exists there is a marketer in the business irrespective of what title he is referred by .
The mark of a profession is the continuous personal development that would have to be incorporated into the profession to ensure that marketers receive the cutting edge knowledge they need to keep abreast the fast-paced changing business environment .
For this venture to succeed you will need the support and sponsorship of the stalwarts of marketing who in many cases are already influential business people as many of them are CEOs of their firms . They have to be galvanized into an effective lobbying force to enlist government support .
It is in the interest of the government to regulate the marketing profession as many organizations slip through the cracks and avoid scrutiny purely by the fact that the government does not have the manpower or the resources to net all businesses .
There are several government ministries and parastatals that would benefit immensely if the marketing discipline was professionalized . It would root out the political interference and ensure that jobs and projects are awarded to deserving not connected individuals .
We would as a country have dealt a big blow to the deal mentality prevalent in Kenya today where the get rich quick con-artists position themselves as intermediaries who we call brokers where awarded projects are paid for but never done , which is theft by any other name .
We would also like to ensure that those that invest time and resources in acquiring the necessary marketing skill sets will be in a position to reap the benefits of government sponsored projects instead of going to the charlatans and conmen .
All the suggestions above will not take place overnight but the vision of what the marketing profession can be will have to be captured in a coherent document that will be used to initiate a recruitment drive that is necessary to achieve the association ’ s goals .
The various stakeholders necessary for the success of the professionalization of the marketing discipline would have to be contacted and roped into the working groups that will deliver the results needed . It must be made clear to everyone that failure of this project is not an option .
The leadership will have to realize that not all the team members will stay the course and many will fall by the way but the vision must be so compelling that it will attract the marketing purists who will want to see their profession take its rightful place in Kenya .
We have attempted to synthesize what we believe needs to happen for the marketing discipline to acquire the long overdue professional status . We have analyzed the necessary activities and we believe we have defined the current reality and suggested a path for future action .
Marketing needs the legal status to be able to mobilize its members to assist the government in its development targets and we wish to see Kenya regain its dominant status as the hub for economic development in the East African and Great Lakes region .
We actually need to stop talking about our crippling debt burden and start to raise our GDP to enable us pay for the debt . The government needs all the help it can to realize its economic growth targets and this will happen with the help of Marketing .
We have to market the country as an attractive investment destination and for this to happen fundamental changes will have to take place in the business environment and the marketing profession will be at the forefront of championing those changes .
It would be derelict for marketers to stand on the sideline and castigate the government however incompetent it is for running down the country but fail to offer solutions even if they are ignored . In order to have a voice the discipline must attain legal status .
We need to remind all and sundry that Marketing is the engine that drives business and if you emasculate the engine then it is small wonder that the government efforts to brand the country are lack-luster and uncoordinated since Marketing is not at the core .
If the eighties and nineties were the golden age of marketing in Kenya then it behoves marketers to ensure that the current decade will be the platinum age of marketing as we move the profession into the legal status and recognition it requires and needs to serve Kenya .
The cover piece was pieced together by the Marketing Africa editorial crew . For feedback or any more discourse please drop us a line at : Info @ marketingafrica . co . ke .