Report on 2005 MCEI World Congress

The MCEI World Congress took place in the Lake of Geneva region on September 19–21, 2005, the "Ethics in Marketing Communication" theme promising a wide-ranging and interesting program. Representatives from the Annecy, Brussels, Liverpool, Melbourne, Osaka, Rome, Taipei, and Tokyo chapters were warmly greeted by the members of the Geneva chapter at a reception on Sunday, September 18. The Board of Governors also met that evening to establish the objectives for the next two years: uniformity of aims and image, autonomy in chapter management, and continuing membership and program quality.

  
Monday, September 19

The Congress itself officially opened on Monday morning at 8:30 with an address by Dr. Paul Genton, MCEI International Chair, who welcomed all participants and conveyed the regrets of those unable to come. He also expressed his appreciation to the Geneva team who worked so hard to make this Congress a success, as well as the Annecy members who prepared a day of visits for delegates attending from abroad.
  

Prof. Michelle Bergadaà, OVSM-HEC Geneva University, led off with a talk on "How is the purchasing risk understood by the interface company-client personnel" based on a case study conducted by The Observatory of Sales and Marketing Strategies of Geneva. It appears that consumers are evidently aware of the risk factor and have established purchase strategies to overcome their anxiety. The problem is that company management rarely undertakes on-the-ground studies of consumer requirements. They are thus unaware of consumer needs and wishes and do not notice changes in consumer attitudes. This study is still in progress, with the final results expected next year.
  

Dr. Mazou Moussibahou, PhD in economics and former Vice President of the Universal Postal Union in Bern, then captivated the audience on the theme "Communication: from talking drums to email." We experienced a voyage in time and space, starting with body language when word and writing were non-existent and then going to talking drums and fire, handwriting, printing with Gutenberg, the telegraph, radio, telephone, satellites, the Internet, and looking ahead to machine translation and interpretation. Unfortunately, each new technology has its own downside: anonymous letters, spam, bugs, hackers, viruses, and whatnot. Ethical rules are thus essential to ensure efficient communication.
  

Mr. Piet Steel, Vice-President for Toyota Motor Europe, gave us some insight into Toyota's worldwide activities (turnover of EUR36 billion, 240,000 employees, and 8.16 million units sold) and explained the group's communication strategy. Based upon a good knowledge of its consumers, Toyota, with 5% of the global world market, has developed the "lifetime value" concept. Their 2010 Global Vision Plan aims at raising market share to 15% and is based on four themes: a. Kindness to the earth b. Comfort of life c. Excitement for the world d. Respect for all people To this end, a Global Knowledge Center has been established in California to analyze consumer behavior worldwide. Communication, consideration, and cooperation are the axes upon which Toyota bases its ethical marketing communication.
  

Dr. Romeo Paioni, Novartis Pharma SA Director for Scientific Affairs and External Relations, told us that "communication in the pharmaceutical industry is in fact a case of ethics in marketing." He first outlined the various developmental phases in the launch of a new medicine: discovery, pre-clinical and evaluation tests, registration, and launch. The whole process takes 6–11 years and costs USD500-800 million, with only a 12% probability the product will actually make it to market. Novartis employs 8,000 collaborators in research and development on generic and alternative quality products. Their ethic is to promote global communication within and without the company. The problem is who communicates what to whom when. Prematurely announcing a new medicine, for example, may give sick people unfounded hope if the product does not live up to expectations. Novartis has a global vision. It respects the United Nations Global Compact and has founded an external Novartis Ethics Committee to oversee the company's activities. Novartis invests CHF4 billion a year in research.
  

Mr. Guillaume Motte, Director General of FNAC Switzerland, carried us into the realm of books, videos, and electronics, where he feels that marketing ethics is respected via an organizational system. Any promise to consumers should be backed by a solid structure. Some 78% of FNAC's turnover is in France, but they are also represented in Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. FNAC is not a discounter but does propose competitive prices allied with quality products and service. FNAC calls upon an independent technical lab that tests and rates their products. Employees are constantly trained in new techniques and client relations, and such training represents a big investment. "Mystery shoppers" are regularly sent to the various stores to evaluate the competence and service of FNAC salesmen. Their strategy is consumer-based, not supplier-based.
  

Our guest of honor at lunch was Prince Charles Napoleon, PhD (economics and politics), Deputy Mayor of Ajaccio (Corsica), and Township Vice-President, who invited us to Corsica and, with great passion, explained the "Challenge of development versus ethical identity" his country faces. The centralization of Europe is a real threat to this island and illustrates the existing conflict between development and ethics. In 1769, the year  Napoleon Bonaparte was born, Corsica was united to France. This island of 260,000 is separated from the continent by a sea-branch wider that that which separates France and Great Britain. Conflict arose in 1970, when Paris decides to override Corsica's objections and develop mass tourism there. It was only in 1980 that the French government finally yielded to Corsica's quest for autonomy, and they still have to work at living together in harmony.
  

After lunch, Mr. Beat Dreier, Geneva Tourism Board Marketing Director, gave our foreign visitors a close-up look at Geneva and how the Tourism Office does its work. The whole group was then taken to visit historical Geneva with the appropriate guides and ended up at Bucherer's prestigious watch and jewelry store and gallery.
  

At 18:00, Mrs. Micheline Spoerri, President, Justice and Police Department of the State and Republic of Geneva, and member of the MCEI Geneva chapter, welcomed everyone with a typical Genevese reception with local wine, meats, and cheese at the Geneva town hall. Mr. Dominique Louis, Chief of Protocol, enchanted us with his inimitable recounting of historical events that took place in the various places we visited. Exceptionally, we were lucky enough to be invited within the Geneva Government hall, generally closed to the public, where the destiny of Geneva has been decided for the past 500 years. While we sat in the deputies' chairs facing an immense table on which were inscribed the words "love your country," Dominique's passionate description of events was so realistic that, if we closed our eyes, we could easily imagine us assisting an ordinary parliamentary session. We finished off the day with dinner at a typical bistro in the historical old town district.
  

Tuesday, September 20

On Tuesday morning, bright an early, we drove to Annecy to the Entremont cheese factory, built in the 1980s, for a presentation of the production line of grated and melted cheese as well as the refinement area for 80 Kg Emmental round cheese. After having deposited our jewelry, we were all transformed into walking ghosts in our plastic blouses, caps and shoe covers. The company was created in 1911. In 1972, Entremont was the first to commercialize grated cheese which represents today 50% of the French market. Turnover is in the range of EUR1 billion on 450,000 tons sold. The company is active in four sectors: cheese, processed cheese made from leftovers, butter and powdered milk, and lactoserums.
  

Back to human beings, we were welcomed at the House of Trades of Annecy by Mr. Couilloud, Entremont Marketing Director, who give us a detailed presentation of the various modifications they had to undergo as a result of the development of brands and distributors (dealing today with 80% of the Emmental cheese) and the impact on margins and volume. At the outset of this presentation, we were all invited to a typical "Savoyard" buffet meal, including local wine. Unfortunately, the gods were not on our side as the weather was rather cloudy. We could, however, still catch glimpses of the magnificent sites and the outstanding beauty of the Lake of Annecy.
  

We then took the road to Thônes, on the outskirts, to reach the Mobalpa show-room of kitchens, bathrooms, and dressing rooms. Mr. Tesson, Marketing Director , gave us insights into the positioning of the company worldwide in the field of "made-to-fits." Mobalpa commercializes approximately 40,000 different kitchens, 60,000 bathrooms, and 6,000 dressing rooms a year through a network of 700 sales points, 75% of which are exclusive agents. Each and everyone found a presentation among the wide assortment offered which suited perfectly his or her taste. We departed with a pile of catalogues to dream over and arrived at the Ramada just in time to get ready for the gala dinner.
  

This gala dinner offered all delegates a chance to enjoy good cheer together over a good meal and good wine, along with an admittedly hard-to-translate comic show that had some of the members dressed in Heidis, ringing cow bells, and ... typically Swiss.
  

Wednesday, September 21

Wednesday morning, even earlier than on Tuesday, the delegates were in the buses on the way to Fribourg to visit Nestlé's Cailler factory in Broc. After a complete guided visit of the chocolate machinery, we were directed to a huge "tasting table," just the look of which put a few more pounds on the hips. There Mr. Stefan Feltgen gave us further information on the group. Nestlé is No.1 in the global food industry, No. 2 being Kraft with half of Nestlé's turnover. It had sales of CHF88 billion and profits of CHF6 billion in 2003. It employs 250,000 workers worldwide 2,700 of them in Switzerland, and has 500 factories in 86 countries, the USA being their main market, followed by France and Germany. The best sales per consumer is in Switzerland followed by France and Germany. The food industry is now awash in choices different from the traditional marketing mix. Consumers are now concerned with environmental respect, biological production, fair trade, child labor, etc. and are more aware than ever of nutritional aspects. With Nespresso, Nestlé has further boosted its coffee market. The question with the chocolate market is not to create another variety of stuffing or color-packing but how to innovate the product itself with new design, arts, architecture, and technology. A box of Cailler chocolates (the "Dessert" assortment that is not yet on the market but will be launched for Xmas) was offered to each delegate on the way out.
  

We then boarded our buses for the medieval town of Gruyère, well-known for its cheese, cream and meringue, for lunch before proceeding on to Lausanne and the Olympic Museum. It is a lovely town and was a delicious lunch, and we left with many fondu memories. A beautiful sunshine glittered off the Lake of Geneva and an exceptional panorama of the Alps and the French border was offered to our incredulous eyes. After a guided tour of the Museum, Mrs. Giselle Davies, Communication Manager, gave us a presentation on ethical values in sports, with special attention to drug testing and zero tolerance in keeping with the Olympic spirit.
  

As we reached our point of farewell, our buses dropped us off at Nyon where we all embarked on the steamboat "La Suisse" (78 meters long, built in 1910) to enjoy a beautiful sunset on the lake at the foot of the Alps on our way back to Geneva Bay already illuminated with thousand lights. It was already almost 21:00 when we all wished each other farewell at the dock in Geneva. So many old friendships renewed and so many new friendships born. Au revoir MCEI friends from all over the world.
  
See you in 2007 in Dubai.