The European Marketing Confederation (EMC) has unanimously decided to designate the 27th of May as
the International Day of Marketing. The day aims to highlight the importance of marketing in business
and society and to promote pride in the marketing profession. The day is a celebration of marketing in a
loud and bright way, welcoming members of the marketing community, colleagues, and partners around
the world.
"The evolution of marketing around the world has been an impressive journey, with many changes. Marketers
have helped many new organizations to emerge and enabled change in old companies with centuries of history.
They have changed societal attitudes and helped people to communicate and find compromises. Today, in the
context of digital transformation, we can explore our environment more than ever, analyze consumer and
customer needs in real-time, and build relationships, the importance of marketing people is paramount. Let's
recognize and appreciate this as we celebrate marketing on 27th of May", says Ralf Strauss, Chairman of the
Board of EMC.
According to Ralf Strauss, the 27th of May was chosen as the day to celebrate the marketing community because
it was on this day in Chicago in 1931 that Philip Kotler was born - an American professor, a renowned marketing
practitioner, and theoretician who has written more than 80 books and has had a huge impact on the
development of marketing worldwide.
27th of May 2024 – The European Confederation of Marketing (EMC) is proud to announce that Simon Sinek, renowned author and inspirational speaker, has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Marketing. This prestigious honor recognizes Sinek's exceptional contributions to the field of marketing, particularly through his Golden Circle theory, which has inspired leaders worldwide to achieve success through purpose-driven action.
"The Board of the European Marketing Confederation has decided to recognize a person of outstanding merit in the field of marketing each year on the International Day of Marketing. All countries have offered candidates and voted for the most remarkable one. This year, the winner of the award is Simon Sinek" said Ralf Strauss, Chairman of the Board of the European Marketing Confederation during today’s award ceremony in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Simon Sinek is best known for popularizing the concept of "WHY” in his 2009 "TED Talk”, which has become the third most-watched talk of all time on TED.com, with over 40 million views and subtitles in 47 languages. Sinek’s Golden Circle theory, which focuses on the fundamental questions of "Why," "How," and "What," has revolutionized leadership and marketing strategies across the globe. By starting with the “why” and understanding the purpose behind their actions, leaders can inspire their teams and create a robust foundation for success.
From Simon Sinek:
“People choosing to inspire others helps our movement grow. We are so honored that Simon has been selected for this award! Thank you for nominating Simon and for what you are doing to positively impact those around you. Together, we can better our world”
At our last marketing forum in Hamburg, Tom Trainor, Chief Executive of the Marketing Institute of Ireland and EMC board member, spoke to our members about his perspective on governance for businesses.
At our last annual forum in Hamburg, we brought together marketing membership associations from across Europe to discuss a variety of opportunities and threats to marketing as we look ahead to 2020.
Ask any marketing director what one of the biggest challenges they face is, and they will tell you that it’s their ability to get marketing a voice at the board table.
In our last blog, we explored the importance of marketing associations recognising the challenges that they face.