New Delhi, January 31:  "The challenge of the future would be to manage the winds of change rather than withstand it for most changes don't come announced, they just happen. So 'don't wait for change, here and now is all you have." That was Escolife IT services COO Mr Ganesh Eashwar presenting his point of view at the marketing summit on 'Winds of Change: Raising Marketing Storms' organised by the School of Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in the Capital, on Friday.

Deliberating further on the issue, he pointed out to three imperatives that could help manage change: intelligence; courage and realistic assessment.

According to him, only three fundamental business drivers have not changed be it to expand markets; retain customers or to increase efficiencies.

Earlier, HE Michel Caillouet, head of delegation - European Union Commission during his inaugural address said: "Winds of change have brought several challenges to society. Whenever there is a transition from one economy to another, the political economy has witnessed a change. Advances in technology and building of institutions have been made possible with the advent of WTO. Now that there is more information available, marketing a product has become an indispensable prerequisite and European Union is a classic example of that".

Mr Vikas Verma, executive vice president (operations), Barista while delivering the keynote address referred to the era of black and white television and the innovations that took place thereafter.

Prof Ajay Pandit, convener of the summit discussed how fierce competition, cutting-edge technological innovations and info-intense environment had driven the firms to a battleground where marketing battles are being staged without any sign of truce.