some guy in lebanon

Link to Original Article Published in the Daily Star, Published December 3rd, 2008

BEIRUT: The American University of Beirut (AUB) on Monday welcomed esteemed Harvard Business School professor John Quelch for a discussion on the ramifications and theories of his most recent book, “Greater Good: How Good Marketing Makes for Better Democracy.”

Quelch, the senior associate dean and Lincoln Filene professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, co-authored the book with Katherine E. Jocz, who was not in attendance.

Quelch’s lecture did not veer considerably off track from the structure of theory that his book presents, and specifically did not address realities of Middle Eastern or Lebanese marketing practices and their effect upon democracy in the region.

However, his schema for addressing the concerns and tactical importance of marketing in the 21st century raised intriguing questions, even if they were confined to the US, where the body of his research is based.

Quelch’s work focuses principally on whether modern marketing practices operate in a back-and-forth transference with consumers that are “more democratic” than American republican democracy. It also considers whether modern marketing practices are in-effect “undermining” democracy, and whether marketing operates within democratic nations to strengthen “social glue” and civic institutions.

Quelch asserted that marketing academia does a “bad job marketing marketing,” preferring to focus on the “marketing tool kit” and not on the broader social implications of wide-spread marketing throughout a civic and democratic society.

He seemed convinced that marketing, as it works with and for consumers to advertise buying choice, selection, and freedom on a day-by-day and minute-by-minute basis, is inherently more “freely democratic” in the traditional sense than modern democracy in America and the United Kingdom – places where politicians are required to prove their worth only once every two, four, or six years.

Quelch also said the same marketing practices that he believed were inherently more democratic than modern politics are also undermining traditional realities of democracy itself.

He gave the example of Starbucks’ mission statement to be the “third place in our customers’ lives,” after home and work. Quelch said this demonstrates how business is replacing state and citizenship with brand and consumer, respectively, in importance.

But the lecture did not connect the theory’s potential implications with Middle Eastern political realities. The only remedy Quelch offered for the region was that governments should use marketing tactics similar to those of corporate entities to advertise the roles of citizens and civic institutions in everyday life.

Speaking with The Daily Star after the lecture, Quelch noted that this was his third visit to Lebanon in the past 30 years, the first in 1983 when he was invited by a consulting firm for a seminar aptly titled, “Marketing Warfare.”

Quelch was clearly moved by the experience of Beirut amid the strife of the early 1980s. He returned to Beirut in 2003, and noted the vast “improvement in morale, stability and reconstruction.” He also mentioned that he had dinner with then-Finance Minister Fouad Siniora.

“It is fascinating to see the political situation evolve,” he said of his most recent trip. He also praised the leadership of President Michel Sleiman.

Discussing the rising status of AUB, he said he was excited to “find someone in the audience from Berkeley,” and was happy to see AUB move to take a global standing.

Asked by The Daily Star about how his theories on modern marketing might have a role within Lebanon, Quelch replied: “I think that in a country that’s had more than its fair share of strife, persuading citizens and especially young people to invest in civic institutions is hugely important … You have to be a citizen first before you can enjoy … being a consumer.”