Philip Kotler

The purpose of this brief guide is to direct you quickly to material by and about Philip Kotler. At this time (cAug. 2003) biographical information is readily available at the Kotler's site atKellogg. For a brief written biographical account and essay see the following which begins with the sentence "Philip Kotler is the founder of modern marketing management": "Kotler, Philip, in The IEBMHandbook of Management Thinking, p. 361. In a recent article in the Financial Times, Morgan Witzel stated that: "Kotler's contribution to marketing and to management generally has been threefold:
"First,he has done more than any other writer or scholar to promote the importance of marketing, transforming it from a peripheral activity, bolted on to the more "important" work of production.
Second, hecontinued a trend started by Peter Drucker, shifting emphasis away from price and distribution to a greater focus on meeting customers' needs and on the benefits received from a product or service.Third, he has broadened the concept of marketing from mere selling to a more general process of communication and exchange, and has shown how marketing can be extended and applied to charities,political parties and many other non-commercial situations."
As well, it is pointed out in the article that the American Marketing Association described him as "the most influential marketer of all time."(FT, August 5, 2003).

Update: 2008. This guide was originally done in 2003. Since that time we have not systematically updated this information, but we did just notice the following article whichwill be very useful for those who wish to assess Kotler's influence: "How Philip Kotler Has Helped Shape the Field of Marketing," Maureen A. Bourassa, Peggy H. Cunningham and Jay M. Handelman, EuropeanBusiness Review, Vol. 19, No.2, 2007, p.174-192. - "This research allows the reader to see the man behind the work and the influences on his thinking".

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