Sat, 03 Dec 2016 10:56:09 +0000
THE marketing profession has been infiltrated by unqualified people masquerading as marketing practitioners, says the Zambia Institute of Marketing. ZIM president Evans Muhanga says that this has resulted in the profession’s image being dented by masqueraders who are holding marketing positions. Mr. Muhanga observed that it was against this background that the institute was campaigning for the strengthening of the ZIM Act to regulate marketing so that only qualified people were employed in marketing and sales positions.
“Today we have masqueraders holding marketing positions, thereby denting the image of our profession when the limited knowledge they have falls short of expectations from management and the board during times of economic downturn and turbulence,” said Mr. Muhanga. He added that the limited marketing knowledge such people had failed to provide turnaround strategies for organizational survival. “The basic knowledge they possess in sales and advertising is insufficient to move the organization through rough patches. Marketing is far much more than just selling and advertising because it is strategic in nature,” he said.
Mr. Muhanga was speaking at the 20th annual marketing conference at Avani Victoria Falls Resort in Livingstone on Thursday under the theme “Disruptive thinking in a changing technological environment”. The ZIM president urged members to rise to the challenge and find solutions to the current economic hardships which the country was faced with. He noted that with effects of the economic shock, marketers suffer the most as they were called upon to change the scenario. “The business environment has remained extremely challenging to all and sundry and hence our preoccupation to focus on addressing this phenomenon.
It is true to say that everyone is affected by this unfolding event. As an institute, we feel this is time for us to share ideas and experiences in order to respond to this challenge,” he said. “We are called upon to turn things around in our respective organizations. This in itself is a realization of the importance of our profession.’’ Earlier, conference chairperson Jessie Simukoko called on marketers to brace themselves for challenging times, saying that the environment is not favorable for the marketing profession.
“The Minister of Finance in his Budget speech said we are walking a tightrope and that life is going to be extremely difficult going forward. This in itself means that marketers need to brace themselves for challenging times. ‘‘It is expected that marketing budgets are going to become tighter while markets will adopt a cost-conscious approach to purchasing. These developments are not and have never been favourable for marketing practice,” she said.
