Next month the Island’s marketers will have the unique opportunity to hear from a Google executive at an event organised by the Isle of Man branch of The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). 
 
Ralph Chiti, New Business Development Manager at Google’s European headquarters in Dublin, will give a presentation, discussing the need for marketing to evolve to an audience-centric model and questioning whether the established theory of the marketing mix remains fit for purpose in the digital age.
 
Ralph joined Google in December 2013 having earlier co-founded London-based technology company Brisk which developed a ‘real-time hyper local discovery’ app of the same name for the iPhone.
 
In addition to the presentation the CIM will be holding this year’s second marketing surgery.  The first surgery, held in May, was fully subscribed.  The surgeries are free and provide local businesses with the opportunity to talk to the Island’s Chartered Marketers on a one-to-one basis about their business, future growth and the role marketing can play.
 
Both events take place on Tuesday 4 November at the Villa Marina.  The presentation is ?10 for CIM members and ?15 for non-members.  Anyone who wants to attend should book online at www.cim.co.uk/65811, telephone 01628 427340 or email cimevents@cim.co.uk.  Registration is from 11.00 with the presentation starting at 11.30.
 
The marketing surgery sessions are free on a first come, first served basis, but require pre-booking.  Anyone interested in a one-to-one discussion with one of the Island’s qualified Chartered Marketers should email CIMChair@manx.net.  Surgery sessions will run from 13.15 and there is no obligation whatsoever to attend the presentation.
 
Daren Ward, Chair of the Isle of Man Branch said: “We’re excited to have secured a speaker from Google to come and talk to the Island’s marketing community.  Digital is an integral part of modern marketing and continues to grow in prominence and importance, playing a key role in the success of an increasing number of businesses.  One of our main aims as a local branch is to support the Island’s marketers with relevant and ongoing professional development.  Providing access to industry experts of this calibre is one way of achieving this.”
 
Daren continued: “The Marketing Surgery is for businesses of any size and is an opportunity for us, as professional marketers, to give something back and assist the local business community.  Demand was extremely high for our surgery in May and we’re hoping to see the businesses we couldn’t accommodate last time.  However we also want to encourage other businesses who haven’t previously considered attending our surgery to take advantage of this opportunity.”