Global Marketing Conference (GMC) Report

The 2012 GMC was held in Seoul, Korea and was jointly organised and hosted by the Korean Scholars of Marketing Science (KSMS), Japan Society of Marketing and Distribution (JSMD), European Marketing Academy (EMAC), International Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA) and the Australian & New Zealand Marketing Academy (ANZMAC). The conference was attended by 500+ delegates from 40 countries and papers were spread over 110 sessions.

ANZMAC’s involvement and presence was twofold; to run an ANZMAC Symposium and to develop stronger ties between our two academies. Janet McColl-Kennedy did a great job on the former and I was charges with the latter. Roger Marshall, Rod Brodie and Harmen Oppewal were also delegates and involved in various capacities.

My own objective was met over a series of engagements all highlighting cooperation and dialogue. A short summary follows:

1. Thursday 19/VII – Attended Welcome Reception.
2. Thursday 19/VII – Attended VIP Dinner.
3. Friday 20/VII – Attended Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science (JGSMS) / Journal of Global Fashion Marketing (JGFM) Editorial Board Review Meeting.
4. Friday 20/VII – Attended and presented at EMAC-KSMS Special Sessions, paper “Welcome to the new Normal – now learn to navigate it”.
5. Friday 20/VII – Conference Dinner ‘Welcome Speech’.
6. Saturday 21/VII – MoU (GAMMA) Breakfast Meeting
7. Saturday 21/VII – Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) – KSMS Joint Symosium Panelist “Cutting Edge Issues in Global Marketing Research”
8. Saturday 21/VII – Conference Lunch Awards Presenter.
9. Saturday 21/VII – MoU (GAMMA) Signing Ceremony.
10. Saturday 21/VII – KSMS – ANZMAC Business Meeting.
11. Saturday 21/VII – Meet Young Leaders in Marketing.

The MoU mentioned above (GAMMA) arrived in my Inbox shortly before I left Otago. GAMMA, Global Association of Marketing and Management Academies is an initiative led by the Koreans and, I understand, encouraged by Arch Woodside. In Korea all parties were keen and willing to sign. On that basis I made an executive decision, on consulting Rod and Roger, to sign too. As seen by the attached file, it commits us to nothing but has sent a very positive signal. There was discussion at the breakfast meeting and I took the opportunity to diplomatically edit the original document as well as changing the order that ‘marketing’ and ‘management’ appear in the text. There were attempts to open discussion on preferential conference rates across for members of GAMMA. I declined on our behalf as that is a big issue and could have financial implications for ANZMAC.

In summary, I believe we served ANZMAC well and everyone left Korea energised by the potential such cooperation holds. It was also good to catch up with Udo Wagner, President EMAC. All my travel, accommodation and conference costs were met by Otago.

Kenneth R Deans
ANZMAC President