A History of Marketing / Episode 8

“Anytime there was a budget cut, marketing was cut first. So I took it personally to make executives believe marketing is an investment, not an expense. The only way you can prove that is to show the ROI of marketing.” - V. Kumar

This week, we have a marketing titan joining us: Dr. V. Kumar, also known as “VK.” He's among the most cited and influential scholars in the field of marketing. He has published over 300 scholarly articles and 35 books.

VK’s has been recognized with over 20 Lifetime Achievement Awards, including being inducted into the Analytics Hall of Fame and being named a Marketing Legend as part of the "Legends in Marketing" series, alongside the Philip Kotler and Jag Sheth. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Marketing and is the Goodman Academic-Industry Partnership Professor, Goodman School of Business, Brock University.

In our conversation, we trace VK's journey from his engineering roots to how a talk by Philip Kotler sparked his passion for marketing.

We also dive deep into the evolution of marketing research and analytics, from surveys and diaries to scanner panel data and the rise of database marketing and CRM. VK shares a behind-the-scenes look at his work measuring the Customer Lifetime Value of Coca-Cola consumers, revealing insights about Coke vs. Pepsi.

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We'll also explore VK’s paper, "Evolution of Marketing as a Discipline," charting how marketing organizations have adapted, using Coca-Cola as a case study.

Finally, we'll discuss the relationship between marketing academia and practice, highlighting VK's extensive collaborations with companies like UPS, IBM, P&G, Comcast, Home Depot, Wells Fargo, and Pitney Bowes, and how this work has helped demonstrate marketing's value as an investment, not just an expense.

Now here it is, my conversation with V. Kumar.

Early Influences: Philip Kotler and the Journey into Marketing

Andrew Mitrak: Welcome, Dr. Kumar. It's an honor to have you here.

Dr. V. Kumar (VK): My pleasure, Andrew. Thank you.

Andrew: So, before we get into some of marketing's history with you, I wanted to talk about your history. Before you were a marketer, you studied at the Indian Institute of Technology, and you earned your master's in engineering and industrial management. So, I'm curious, how did you make the jump from engineering into marketing?

VK: Both my undergraduate bachelor's in technology as well as my master's were from IIT. In the master's program, there was a segue. I majored in industrial engineering and industrial management, whereby we still continued with some engineering classes, but predominantly focused on the management of the engineering function. That was the time that Phil Kotler had come to India to give a few talks and meet with a few people. And I was blown away by the influence of him in the business field in general, particularly in marketing.

And so, I started reading about what it is, and it was his textbook that we used in marketing in the master's program. So, when he came, and as well as I heard his talk, and I followed his book, I said marketing is what I'm going to do. And I reached out to him and he said to join Northwestern, but then I chose the University of Texas at Austin because they gave me a full scholarship, and it's a warmer place. I grew up in Southern India, Chennai, and, Texas being warm, it was a natural liking for me to join the University of Texas at Austin. There, I did both marketing and a minor in statistics. So, I brought in the engineering expertise throughout my life, even majoring as a minor in statistics. That's the segue that happened.

Andrew: So, you came to the US to start studying marketing. What were your initial impressions of marketing as a consumer, versus an academic? Were there advertisements that made an impression on you when you were young? Were there specific brands or examples that stood out to you?

VK: The first thing is, when you land in the US and start watching television, you see a plethora of advertisements. You get glued to that as to how colorful it is, how beautiful it is, and what the message is. We have this AIDA model: awareness, interest, desire, and action. So, I used to evaluate each of these ads as to where they stop. Are they just creating awareness, or are they going through the process till the end to make me go and buy that product?

So, that was very fascinating. But the one ad growing up that really caught my attention, which for many people and the whole ad world talks about it, is the renaissance of advertising, the Apple 1984 Macintosh ad in the Super Bowl. That transformed Super Bowl ads from then on, and also the ad industry in terms of how to be creative and catch the attention of the consumers. So, that was there. Then after that, a series of Coke ads and Budweiser ads all followed through, but this was like a moment to reflect, and that still stands in the mind.

Andrew: Yes, I think we can all envision that ad, almost frame for frame in our heads. It made quite an impression.

VK: Definitely.

Andrew: And so, you mentioned Philip Kotler, of course. Who were some of the other individuals that first shaped your understanding of marketing as you were first entering the field?

VK: So, I was admitted to the University of Texas at Austin, and my advisor throughout my stay was Bob Leon, Professor Bob Leon. He was a significant influence then, and till now. He's the best friend, he's the mentor, guide, everything. So, he prepared me for life saying that there's only one thing you need to remember. You just put in your hard work, and if the expected outcome doesn't come, don't give up the hard work, keep persisting, putting it in.

That was great advice because as an academic professional, you would see that when we submit manuscripts, rejection is the norm. So, every paper we write, we keep rejecting it. So, we cannot give up. So, he prepared me well. And then also in terms of quantitative marketing, he is a great quantitative marketer. So, he taught me some of the basic statistical techniques as well as advanced. I was his research assistant.

But I was the one who was fortunate upon graduation, and then even before I got promoted to associate in the '90s, Dave Aaker and George Day adopted me and said, "V. K., we want to write this marketing research book with you. We have done something so far, but we want you to take over from here."

I was like, is this a dream? And then I took it over and wrote the book, as the fourth edition or so was the first one that we co-authored together. And now, it's the 13th edition, and we'll release the 14th edition very soon. It is the standard. And then in the middle, somewhere, Jag Sheth also influenced me significantly, adopted me and said that the work that you do, make sure you also give back.

You know, I was adopted by many people at different stages. So, what do I do? And now, fast forward to today, I've had 40 doctoral students I could mentor. And it was the most rewarding experience I have seen, and probably one of the largest numbers among the academics, to mentor, and they are all doing very well in the academic field. Most of them in the academic field, some in the practitioner world. They keep switching back and forth.

The Evolution of Marketing Research: From Surveys to Scanner Data and Beyond

Andrew: You've clearly taken these early lessons of hard work to heart because you've had a very prolific career. Of course, you've contributed to virtually every field of marketing in some capacity, but one area that stands out is marketing research, and you mentioned the book, Marketing Research, which is now in its 13th edition and the 14th edition's on its way. Can we dive into marketing research as a category? What was the evolution of marketing research, and how did it change and what was your role in shaping it?

VK: This is a great point to reflect. So, when I came to the US in the '80s, we had one of the companies of marketing research was

Dr. V. Kumar: Marketing Research and the Data Revolution