Professor Philip Kotler, who is considered the "father of modern marketing," says Viet Nam should vitalize its own image in the eyes of visitors and foreign visitors through its people and businesses.

Speaking at a press conference in HCM City yesterday, Kotler said: "Viet Nam is possessing a very good image. The Vietnamese people are recognised as friendly, hospitable and ambitious."

"When Viet Nam has decided on what image it has to build in the eyes of visitors and foreign visitors, it needs to put forward guidelines for the people and businesses to vitalise it."

He said: "It is more likely if the people and businesses also take part in selecting the image that they stand for. It is required for their agreement to be reached in a natural way and acts as an impetus for them to represent the image that they want to build up."

Professor Kotler today chairs a conference on contemporary global marketing issues relevant to the regional business community at the Sheraton Sai Gon Hotel and Tower.

The conference, hosted by Vietnamese educational institution PACE and titled "New Marketing for the New Age", attracted some 700 businessmen and marketing professionals from around Asia, including many CEOs and senior marketing officials from leading domestic companies.

It aims to resolve around the four key topics like Improving Marketing’s Role and Relationships in the Company; Finding New Opportunities; Finding New Ways to Communicate; and Using New Technologies and Measuring Results.

Kotler said he would talk with economists and business comunities in Viet Nam and the region about progressive business thoughts of the age and global marketing issues.

Born in 1931 in Chicago, Kotler is a marketing legend who was named by the UK’s Financial Times newspaper as the most influential marketer of all time.

Kotler has authored over 45 marketing books, including "Marketing Management" – a famous book in the marketing profession. He has published over 130 articles in leading journals, several of which have received best-article awards.

He is also the recipient of numerous outstanding awards including AMA’s "Distinguished Marketing Educator Award", the European Association of Marketing Consultants and Sales Trainers prize for "Marketing Excellence", the "Leader in Marketing Thought" by the Academic Members of AMA, AMA’s "Paul Converse Award", the Annual Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Research Award and the "Marketer of the Year" award from Sales and Marketing Executives International.

He has received honorary doctoral degrees from Stockholm University, University of Zurich, and others.

He now runs consulting firm Kotler Marketing Group, and is also the S. C. Johnson&Son Distinguished Professor at the Kellogg School of Management in the US.