WMC 2013 - 2013 World Marketing Congress

In 1995 John Major occupied 10 Downing Street, Bill Clinton was the 42nd US President, Nelson Mandela had been in office for a year and Paul Keating’s tenure as Australian PM was drawing to a close. The world’s population was 5.6 billion, and Microsoft unveiled its long awaited Windows 95 software. The San Francisco 49ers won the Superbowl, Everton won the FA Cup, Carlton won their 16th AFL premiership and South Africa their first rugby world cup. Toy Story 1 was the top grossing film and Mariah Carey topped the US charts. The World Trade Organization (WTO) replaced GATT and a referendum for Quebec to secede from Canada was narrowly defeated. Justin Bieber was still learning to walk, U2 were rock legends, JAMS was in its 23rd volume and Monash University hosted the 7th biennial Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress in Melbourne, Australia.
In 1995 Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Second Life did not exist. Neither did iPads, iPhones or Blackberries. The now-defunct Netscape was a year old and relational databases were just beginning to transform direct marketing. Marketing scholars (and practitioners) were grappling with issues such as media fragmentation and website design and evaluation. In 2013 marketing scholars (and practitioners) are likely to be contemplating social media, simultaneous media consumption and attention fragmentation, semantic and distributed search engines, cloud computing, the Web as OS and intelligent personal agents.
In 2013 Monash will host the 16th AMS World Marketing Congress in Melbourne. Same academy, same host institution, same location ? but decidedly different global marketing environment. A great deal has changed since 1995 (albeit not for U2). As John Deighton so eloquently notes: “The ferment in the field of marketing in particular is unprecedented. It is not difficult to argue that the rate of intellectual capital depreciation in marketing today exceeds that at any time over the past 100 years, including the decade in which TV was introduced”. These words challenge scholars and practitioners to learn from the past to better navigate the marketing future. They have also inspired the 2013 WMC co-chairs to challenge marketing scholars to take stock of the last two decades and think about the next decade and beyond. Is change the only constant? Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past? Or, more realistically, what facets of our profession are more susceptible to change? As ‘torch bearers’ for the discipline and members of the Academy, it falls on us to consolidate, review and extend our knowledge base. To push the boundaries and chart new directions that will hopefully lead to a successful future across both commercial and not-for-profit marketing contexts. Predicting the future may be impossible, but ignoring it is surely irresponsible?
The conference will be held at the Langham Hotel on Melbourne’s scenic and vibrant Southbank, nestled along the Yarra River. Melbourne is Australia’s sporting, shopping, cultural, culinary and coffee capital. Frequently ranked as one of the most likeable cities in the world, Melbourne was first settled by Europeans in 1835. Located on the spectacular Port Phillip Bay (on the south-eastern corner of mainland Australia), Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city with a population of over 4 million. Popular tourist attractions include the two major wine regions (the Yarra Valley and the Mornington Peninsula), the Great Ocean Road (home to the 12 Apostles), Phillip Island and its fairy penguins, native zoo at Healesville Sanctuary, Otway Fly Tree Top Walk, Werribee Mansion and much more!
Michael Ewing
Department of Marketing
Monash University
PO Box 197
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
Email: Michael.Ewing-AT-monash.edu
John Ford
College of Business and Public Administration
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA 23529 USA
Phone: 757.683.3587
Email: jbford-AT-odu.edu