India marketers have great ideas on how to make products affordable but one of the most basic mistakes that some make is not trying to know how to engage with customers, renowned marketing guru Philip Kotler said.

Addressing a packed audience of management students and professors in Mumbai, stressed that not knowing how to engage with customers' beliefs, values, needs & aspirations is one of the basic mistakes made by Indian marketers.

Speaking on the topic, the 83-year-old marketing guru added, "Sometimes marketers fail to segment effectively. They've got to decide what type of consumers they are looking for."

He suggested that in case marketers are in a service industry, they should focus on employees, sales force, which delivers their services to the end users.

Kotler pointed out that there are some small countries like Switzerland in the world that have the most brands, yet they managed to create the brands in their own way.

He said he wanted marketers to be proactive, rather than being just reactive.

The octogenarian marketing guru, the S C Johnson & Son distinguished professor of International Marketing at the Chicago-based Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management, also propagated a judicious blend of traditional and modern digital marketing.