The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG) has sworn into office new Governing Council members for a two-year period.

The investiture ceremony was conducted by Her Ladyship Justice Rebecca N.S. Sittie, Justice of the High Court, at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra last Friday.

The 17-member Governing Council has Dr Daniel Kasser Tee, a Senior Manager at Ecobank and Deputy Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications for Ecobank Ghana and Anglophone West Africa (AWA), as its National President with Mrs Agnes Emefa Essah, Marketing and Sales Director/Consultant, Nyaho Medical Centre as the National Vice President.

Also inducted into office were Mr Franklin Sowa, Director of Marketing and Sales, Graphic Communications Group as the National Secretary and Ms. Shirley Acquah-Harrison the CEO of Kwikbrand Ghana Limited as National Treasurer.

Supporting the National officers as Governing Council members are; Mr Theodore Osae, Managing Director, NCR Ghana, Mr Kwasi Kyere, Commercial Manager, Ghacem, Mrs Annie Babah-Alargi, Managing Consultant, Customer Matters Ltd, Mr Paul Yao Asafo, Head, Agency Training, Prudential Life Insurance, Mr Kojo Demanya, Head of Marketing, Rana Motors, Mr Emmanuel Neequaye, Marketing Consultant and Marketing Lecturer, Simon Page College of Marketing, Ms Doris Adabasu Kuwornu, Director Enigma Images Ltd, Mrs Mary Asaa Ackuaku, Marketing Analyst, Barclays Bank Ltd and Mr Kojo Mattah, MD of ARB Apex Bank and immediate past President.

Dr Kasser Tee delivering inaugural address

The remaining 4 institutional representatives drawn from selected Ministries and relevant Business Associations are; Olivia Opoku Adomah (Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture), Mr Ebenezer Paul Adjirackor (Ministry of Trade and Industries), Mrs Grace Amey-Obeng (Association of Ghana Industries) and Mr Fredrick Adu Amoako (Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industries).

In his acceptance speech on behalf of the new council, the President, Dr Kasser Tee said; “We humbly accept the responsibilities that we are being entrusted with and, accordingly, make a solemn promise to serve and serve well.

I would like to assure you of our commitment to work conscientiously to carry further our collective aim of building a viable, vibrant and reputable professional body with national and international recognition and acceptance.

In doing this, we shall be guided by the Institute’s constitution and collective decisions of members. The Institute’s main object of operating as an independent autonomous professional body to set standards and regulate the practice of marketing in Ghana will never be lost on us”.

He commended the past Council, under the leadership of Mr Kojo Mattah, for their good work, which he said will be an inspiration to guide the new team.

He also paid glorious tribute to all past presidents of the institute and assured members that the new team will collectively ensure that the aims of the CIMG are achieved. He restated his vision for the Institute, built around a 7-point agenda as follows;

1.         Strengthen the Advocacy role of CIMG to promote and influence government policy on Marketing-related matters, particularly those on consumerism and consumer rights.

2.         Forge stronger Partnerships & Collaborations with the Media and relevant Public and Private sector agencies, including international bodies, for cost-effective execution of agreed programmes.

3.         Intensify Education and whip up Membership Drive to improve retention and loyalty for members, while encouraging marketing students in all public and private institutions of learning to see CIMG as an aspirational professional body. We will start this by building branches at the regional levels, using structures at the Marketing Departments of existing public Universities and, particularly, Technical Universities.

4.         Generate and Sustain interest and excitement of the general public around the Marketing Profession through Content Marketing and Thought Leadership programmes

5.         Digitisation of Marketing Projects will be key to us, and we need to accordingly encourage the older generation of Marketers to adapt quickly to newer trends, particularly in today’s world of ICT.

6.         Introduce reforms that will transform the CIMG secretariat to operate as a modern-day professional body, comparable to its peers elsewhere around the globe by leveraging technology.

7.         We will pursue relevant UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) to attract global attention to what we do here in Ghana. Some SDGs that come to mind immediately are;

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being, SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 5: Gender Equality, SDG 10:

Reduced Inequality, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal.

Dr Kasser Tee further indicated that the desire of the CIMG to begin its own local marketing examinations was still on course and remains a key focus area for the incoming team.

It is for this reason that his team will passionately pursue the passage of the Marketing Bill, which is currently pending in Parliament.

“When passed into law, we will then have the requisite legal and state backing to start our local Marketing examinations and to set standards for regulating the practice of Marketing in Ghana. This, we believe, will be a huge contribution towards achieving Ghana beyond aid agenda, since most people can now acquire professional Marketing qualifications right here in Ghana to enable them to contribute their quota both in the public and private sectors of Ghana. They will do so without the need to pay huge sums in foreign currencies to other nations, who will turn around to give us aid in its various forms. We will acquire local knowledge, apply the same to solve local marketing problems to promote industrial growth that will, in turn, contribute meaningfully to the GDP of Ghana” he concluded.

The new president comes into this role with a worth of experience, having previously served in various capacities under four different presidents over the past 16 years. He is a Chartered Marketer, Certified Project Communicator and a Fellow of the American Academy of Project Management (FAAPM). Dr Kasser Tee also has a PhD in Business Administration (Marketing), MBA in Project Management with over two decades of working experience in Banking and Insurance. He is a visiting Faculty at the National Banking College and Adjunct Lecturer at the Accra Institute of Technology and Ghana School of Marketing.