On Tuesday, PM Modi received the first-ever Phillip Kotler Presidential award in New Delhi. The award citation states that PM Modi was selected for his “outstanding leadership for the nation and his selfless service towards India, combined with his tireless energy that has resulted in extraordinary economic, social and technological advances in the country.” The award citation also recognises the fact that under PM Modi’s leadership, India is now identified as the centre of innovation and manufacturing (Make in India), as well as a global hub for professional services such as information technology, accounting, and finance.
The award is named after Philip Kotler, who is known as the ‘Father of Modern Marketing’. He is a professor of marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. Kotler has authored 60 marketing books, including the bestseller, Principles of Marketing. The 87-year old professor has also written extensively on other fields such as education, environment, government marketing, healthcare, hospitality, and innovation. He also became the first person to receive the “Leader in Marketing Thought” award from the American Marketing Association. Apart from this, Kotler has received 22 honorary degrees in his highly successful career.
However, Phillip Kotler could not be present to confer the award owing to his ill-health. In his absence, the award was presented by Jagdish Sheth of EMORY University, Georgia. In a letter addressed to Jagdish Sheth (accessed by rightlog), Phillip Kotler thanked him for conferring the award to PM Modi. Kotler wrote:
“Dear Jagdish,
I can’t find the words to express how wonderful you have been in making it possible to give the Kotler Award to Prime Minister Modi for his public leadership. It looks like the event went well. I am only saddened that I couldn’t be there. My letter hopefully expressed with deep admiration of Prime Minister Modi and his accomplishments.”
In his letter to Jagdish Sheth, Kotler also elaborated on the objective of the award, stating “Our idea with the World Marketing Summit is to choose each year a national leader who epitomizes the best ideas for advancing their society with democratic values and ideals. I talked to a number of people from India and elsewhere who felt that Prime Minister Modi is doing his best to advance the Common Good in India. We choose a public leader who encourages companies in that country to pursue the triple bottom line of profits, people and the planet.”
While the award to PM Modi has rattled some elements in media and many in the opposition, the man in whose honor the award has been created, has remained firm on the fact that there was no one more deserving of this award than PM Modi as is evident from this letter.