Adhere to professional standards - Abdul-Hamid urges marketers

The Minister of Inner Cities and Zongo Development, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has urged professional marketers to justify the relevance of their profession by strictly adhering to professional standards.

He explained that marketing, as a profession, could easily be taken for granted due to the misconception of the concept.

That, he said, was evident in the absence of marketing departments in many organisations, while those with such departments usually employed marketers on a commission basis.

"People generally feel that marketing simply means the ability to convince people to buy a product and that once you are eloquent, you can be a marketer," he said.

Graduation

Dr Abdul-Hamid was speaking at the 11th Graduation and Awards Ceremony of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Ghana held in Accra last Saturday.

The theme for the ceremony was: " Ghana Beyond Aid: The role of professional marketing".

It saw the graduation of 44 people in Chartered Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Level 7 and 41 Professional Diploma in Marketing Level 6.

Two Chartered marketers and two fellows were also inducted.

Role of marketing

The Head of International Relations at the CIM, Mr Ian Marshall, emphasised the importance of marketing in helping Ghana to achieve its agenda of going beyond aid.
 
He said Ghana would require strategic marketing in order to promote its image, attractiveness and products.

That, he added, would involve branding Ghana to attract investments and promote the entrepreneurial spirit that would develop the economy.

He, therefore, called on businesses and governments to understand and recognise the role marketing played in providing positive growth and development.

Mr Marshall advised business executives not to undervalue the role of marketing, as it was critical to delivering long-term business advantage.

Creativity

The President of the CIM Ghana, Dr George Eric Gyamfi-Osew, challenged professional marketers to make relevant contributions to the country's vision of moving beyond aid through creativity.

He envisioned the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda as a reality that would require attitudinal change and the application of professional standards.

He urged the graduands to continously update their marketing knowledge and practice by taking part in periodic continuous professional development programmes organised by the institute.

Best students

Two students, Mrs Selassie Esther-Laudis and Mrs Portia Amedzekor, were adjudged the overall best students for the professional Diploma in Marketing Level 6 and the Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Level 7, respectively.