Entrepreneurial Marketing as a key Factor in the Realization of Nigeria’s vision 2020

Abstract

In business environments, business leaders have to unlearn traditional management principles and replace them with new thinking and new behavior that not only incorporate change but also create the necessary changes in the marketplace. All successful entrepreneurial businesses are based on well thought thorough marketing. The key is marketing and not the product or service. Taking into cognizance the forty-four thematic issues highlighted in Nigeria’s Vision 2020, this paper attempted to examine the challenges posed by Entrepreneurial Marketing toward the actualization and realization of the vision. The paper is divided into three segments. The first section examined the expectations of Vision 2020 and traced the evolution of Entrepreneurship from the times of Cantillon to the emerging concept of Entrepreneurial Marketing (with special emphasis on its approaches). The second part x-rayed the seven themes of entrepreneurial marketing necessary for value creation and went further to address the ‘perceived’ dichotomy between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship. The last segment evaluated several alternative marketing techniques appropriate for entrepreneurs with a focus on entrepreneurship as a way out of the woods for biting youth unemployment. We concluded that Vision 2020 is realizable. The government and the people of Nigeria need to re-orientate themselves on the objective. The Federal Government can help directly and indirectly by encouraging entrepreneurship (including entrepreneurship marketing) in the vital sectors of health, agriculture, and technology of the Nigerian economy.