We don't use "today" -- which day, Monday, Tuesday, etc?

We don't use "today" -- which day, Monday, Tuesday, etc?

Notes: Sponsored article for ASEAN Marketing Forum 2005

Philip Kotler Center for ASEAN Marketing launched

MarkPlus&Co will host, in Jakarta today, two important international gatherings -- the launch of the long awaited non- profit marketing organization, the Philip Kotler Center for ASEAN Marketing, and the inaugural ASEAN Marketing Forum.

The ASEAN-based consulting company -- founded by Asia's leading marketing strategist, Hermawan Kartajaya -- will inaugurate the new marketing center at the ASEAN Secretariat.

With its aim of supporting an ASEAN-ist marketing strategy as a formidable approach to competing in the region, the think-tank will also stage its first event at the same venue: ASEAN Marketing Forum 2005.

With a population of about 500 million, a combined gross domestic product of US$737 billion, and total trade of $720 billion, ASEAN today is very much an essential force on the global economic playing field. Along with China and India, ASEAN is on the verge of becoming a new global economic power center.

At the government level, ASEAN member countries have agreed to establish one community for the ten-member nations by 2020.

The ASEAN Community, comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, will rest on three pillars, the ASEAN Security Community (ASC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and ASEAN Socio- Cultural Community (ASCC).

One thing that has spurred marketers' interest is that by 2020, ASEAN -- one of the world's most successful regional groupings -- sees itself becoming a single market and regional production base.

As a single market, ASEAN will be targeted by both multinationals focusing on ASEAN and locals going regional.

Multinationals think of ASEAN as a prospective, unsaturated market. On the other hand, local firms seeking to expand their businesses see ASEAN as a real, tangible market to go after as the Asia Pacific region is too far away for them. That is why ASEAN has now become one of Asia's major geo-economic attractions, besides China and India, for businesses across the globe.

One direct consequence of a single ASEAN market is that for multinational corporations and local companies seeking entry into the ASEAN market, they will need to adopt a regional marketing approach.

Specifically, they will need ASEAN marketing approaches. This is where the Philip Kotler Center for ASEAN Marketing, a non- profit organization, fits in, convincing ASEAN marketers that ASEAN marketing is far more formidable than local or global marketing.

Co-founded by Phillip Kotler, the world's number one marketing authority, Hermawan Kartajaya, and Hooi Den Huan, an Associate Professor at Nanyang Business School, Singapore, the Philip Kotler Center for ASEAN Marketing aims to promote regional marketing in the ASEAN region, while encouraging ASEAN marketers to support the ASEAN Community 2020 and further enhance the ASEAN brand.

It envisions the creation of ASEAN Marketing 2020, which will equip regional marketers with global standards, regional perspectives and local champions.

This regional-based, non-profit-making organization is headquartered in Jakarta and aims to make this city the capital of ASEAN Marketing. Besides the fact that the ASEAN Secretariat is located in Jakarta, Indonesia, as the biggest country in the region, has 40 percent of ASEAN's population and is considered to be the anchor of ASEAN.

The center will be launched by ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong. Among the highlights of the event will be the launch of a commemorative first-day cover by Hana Suryana, the president director of Pos Indonesia, the launch of the book Think ASEAN co- authored by Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya and Hooi Den Huan, and a video link-up with Philip Kotler in Chicago.

The launch of the center also features distinguished speakers from academia, government and the business world. Among these will be Lim Chong Yah (Emeritus Professor, Nanyang Technological University), and Indonesian Minister of Trade H. Dr. Mari E Pangestu.

Marketing Forum

The launch of the Philip Kotler Center for ASEAN Marketing will be followed by the inauguration of the ASEAN Marketing Forum, which will be attended by prominent marketers from across the region.

The forum will provide up-to-date regional market information. There will be a special lunch talk by Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia -- the pride of Southeast Asia.

Experts from the region's professional marketing bodies will also provide market updates on their respective countries.

As ASEAN is set to become a single market, marketing reach must no longer be limited to the home market but will need to be larger in scope, reaching the entire Southeast Asia region.

This has the potential to create serious business threats to the local players in each country. However, the regionalization of ASEAN also offers huge marketing opportunities. The increasingly dynamic and tangible ASEAN market is attract both local players and multinationals seeking to expand their businesses. It is up to them to exploit this lucrative regional market that has half a billion consumers.

In his concluding remarks, Hermawan Kartajaya, also the President of the World Marketing Association for ASEAN Marketing, said he believes that the future starts today, at this second. He argued that the globalization era is a done deal; it is now the time for regionalization.

The year 2020, which envisions ASEAN as a single market and regional production base, is already happening today. Of course, there are still hurdles to ASEAN integration. However, progress towards integrating the regional economy has been made and the results are already visible to some extent.

At the government level, initiatives, schemes and measures are increasingly being put forward and negotiated, while at the private sector level, some businesses with proactive attitudes already benefit from a "think-regional" mind-set.