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I think the number one trend is globalization. And you know, the message I would send out
to marketers is it’s not just globalizing your markets, meaning where you sell. That’s
obviously very, very important. But it’s globalizing your marketing function. The changing
face of marketing is literally in those words. It’s the changing face. And I think what
we all need to come to terms with is the fact the one out of every four people under 25
lives in India, as an example. There’s a huge demographic bulge in India. There’s
a huge skilled population that can’t wait to catch up with the west and China. There
are already economies in Europe that may be called reemerging because they were once very
sophisticated, like central Europe, went into a time warp for a number of years and are
reemerging. So the point here is our marketing talent needs to reflect the markets we serve,
and also draw on the talents in the markets we serve. And I would submit many marketing
organizations haven’t yet, you know, got religion with that one major trend. There’s
an enormous amount of talent. Sometimes they don’t speak the same way we do, some of
them may have cultural differences, but they are very embedded not only in their markets
but in the global trends, because the internet cuts across all borders practically. Around
technology in my mind, the real trend is people want solutions. People want not to be sold
a preconceived, preconfigured, you know, closed system. They want the ability to find something
that is adaptable to their needs. At the same time, it’s capable and it’s affordable.
And I think that people also want relationships, not transactions. So, you know, there’s
a couple of things in what I just said, a couple of points. One is solutions not specific
transactional needs being met. And a solution by definition is broader. So in our situation
we don’t just sell hardware, we sell hardware, services, storage, software, and we configure
it to the individual’s need. We try and automate it as much as we can to remove the
element of human error, but also to make it scaleable and more affordable. But we have
that. The second dimension was this whole idea of a relationship. And fundamentally
in my mind, all business is relationships. And all relationships at the end of the day
become business. You know, there’s a-- there is a interlinkage there. And the point about
relationships is they grow and thrive when you can add value. And value is not defined
frankly as wining and dining, that’s not value. Value is when you can help me succeed.
And sometimes that involves giving you ideas, helping with innovation. Sometimes it may
involve helping you network. Sometimes it may involve helping you find something ahead
of the competition. But the whole idea of a relationship and of continued sustained
value add, I think, is the huge trend.