Abu Dhabi September 15, 2010: The first step by world renowned marketing 'guru' Professor Philip Kotler, to help United Arab Emirates businesses market themselves, was taken today at the official launch of his Marketing 3.0 - Values Driven Marketing seminar.

Professor Kotler will deliver his first one-day certified training seminar in Abu Dhabi on October 13, which is being organized by the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in conjunction with Kotler Impact. The highly anticipated event is sponsored by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (exclusive financial partner and gold sponsor) Etihad Airways (official carrier) and Al Arabiya News Channel (exclusive broadcast media partner).

Professor Kotler, who invented the 'four Ps' of marketing and Social Marketing, founded the concept of values driven marketing in the wake of the disastrous global financial crisis to assist companies rebound, reset growth potential and address challenges of doing business.

His new model of marketing (Marketing 3.0) treats customers as technology savvy, highly motivated members of a community and not just as consumers. The Abu Dhabi seminar is designed to make corporations review how they market themselves, and their products, to clients and consumers.

Speaking at the seminar's official launch at the CERT Technology Park Abu Dhabi, HCT Vice Chancellor Dr Tayeb Kamali said the Higher Colleges of Technology was very pleased to host Professor Kotler for his ground-breaking event.

"We have a deep appreciation for Philip Kotler and the work he does around the world, and this will be his first seminar with HCT to discuss his many different ideas on marketing businesses," Dr Kamali said.

"We have three of the best partners working together for this very important event - a major media company in Al Arabiya, a major bank in ADCB and our official carrier, Etihad Airways."

Kotler Impact CEO Dr Fahim Kibria said at the launch the seminar was the kick off for important marketing initiatives from Philip Kotler.

"Philip is very proud to make HCT the centre point for his marketing ideas in the Middle East region," Dr Kibria said.

"He is very proud to come to the UAE to discuss and teach about his ideas on value driven marketing, which will allow business leaders to know what needs to be done in marketing in the next 10 years.

"Ideally, when he comes here next month Philip wants to see people who listen, grab ideas and then use them in their businesses."

MBC Group Director of PR and commercial Mazen Hayek said its Al Arabiya News Channel's involvement, as exclusive broadcast media partner, was a "perfect fit" for the media broadcaster.

"We are firm believers in what HCT does and we have the expertise of Dr Fahim Kibria and Philip Kotler with this seminar," Mr Hayek said at the official launch.

"We are here to highlight the meeting of similar minds and convergence of great brands as well as the emergence of social media in today's fast paced world."

The October 13 one-day seminar will cover such topics as dealing with business challenges and opportunities, finding new ideas and improving branding power. It will also showcase a new collaboration between HCT and Kotler Impact in the form of a marketing research and consultancy portfolio.

For more information visit http://philipkotler.hct.ac.ae

-Ends-

About Professor Philip Kotler
Philip Kotler is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA. Prof Kotler, who is the inventor of the "4 Ps" of Marketing (which now he has transformed to "7 Ps") as well as the inventor of "Social Marketing", has been involved in the research & development of marketing for the past 55 years.

He is the author of Marketing Management (Prentice Hall), now in its 13th edition and the most widely used marketing textbook in graduate schools of business around the globe, with more than 20 million copies sold to date. He has authored over 50 other successful books and he has published over 150 articles in leading journals. 

Professor Kotler received his Master's degree at the University of Chicago and Ph.D. at M.I.T., both in economics and has received 12 honorary PhDs.  

He is the only three-time winner of the coveted Alpha Kappa Psi award for the best annual article in the Journal of Marketing. Prof Kotler has been named among the Top 50 business gurus since 1998. In 2008 & 2009 Prof Kotler was ranked amongst the top 10 Business Thinkers of the World by The Thinkers 50. See www.thinkers50.com

About the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT)
Founded in 1988 with four colleges, The Higher Colleges of Technology has grown to be the largest of the higher educational institutions in the UAE, gaining a well-respected reputation for innovative learning. More than 18,000 students attend 17 modern men's and women's campuses in the cities of Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Fujairah and the western region of Madinat Zayed and Ruwais.

HCT offers more than 90 different, English-taught programs in Applied Communications, Business, Engineering, Information Technology, Health Sciences and Education.  These programs are offered at the Diploma, Advanced and Higher Diplomas, Bachelor and Master levels, which are, all relevant to the UAE's fast growing and evolving economic sectors.  All programs are designed in consultation with business and industry leaders to ensure that the skills students learn are job-relevant and to high standards. They are constantly monitored to ensure they are at the cutting edge of industry standards and technological change.

About the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) continued...
All students learn in a technologically sophisticated educational environment that encourages development of the independent and life-long learning skills necessary to success in a fast changing world. HCT graduates have developed a reputation throughout the UAE for their technical and communications skills and for their adaptability to actual workplace conditions. Hence they are eagerly sought by many UAE organizations, and enjoy a very high employment rate. The HCT has awarded over 44,000 academic credentials to its graduates. These graduates have gone into the UAE employment market, making a significant impact on sustainable economic and social development of the country.

Combined with the fundamental principle of educating the UAE's future leaders in business, technologies, industry and the community, the HCT has a desire to make the region a nexus point for innovative and cutting edge ideas and in-practice applications. 

Since its inception, HCT has focused on meeting the needs of the local economy and community while at the same time meeting international benchmarks and accreditation standards.

HCT has established active and dynamic links, collaborations and relationships with many major companies and organizations in the UAE and with many world's leading universities and organizations, such as the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, University of Waterloo, Oxford, MIT, Harvard, Stanford, University College London, IBM, Boeing, Siemens, TERI, University of Melbourne and the Asia Pacific University-Japan. 

For more information contact:
Paul Lancaster,
HCT Corporate Communications Executive,
Office of the Vice Chancellor.
Phone: 02 404 8543.
Mobile: 050 616 0964
Email: paul.lancaster@hct.ac.ae

© Press Release 2010