Marketing Before the Market: Turning Problems into Opportunities

What if marketing is not the last step in innovation—but the first? 

This talk challenges the traditional view of marketing as a tool for promoting products and explores its role in discovering problems, identifying opportunities, and shaping successful innovations. Through real-world examples, startup stories, and interactive discussions, we discuss why understanding customer needs matters more than falling in love with an idea. The session introduces the principles of entrepreneurial marketing, problem–solution fit, and hypothesis-driven validation, emphasizing the importance of testing assumptions before investing in product development.

Slavica Cicvarić Kostić is a Professor at the University of Belgrade. She currently serves as a Manager of the Center for Marketing at the Faculty of Organisational Sciences, and the co-chair of the board for master program Management. Slavica has become a visiting professor at the Bologna Business School in 2020. She has also been a visiting lecturer at several universities and business schools across Europe. Over the course of her career, Slavica has mainly been focused on fields such as brand management, corporate communications, and digital communications. She is the author and co-author of several books, as well as over 100 publications in various journals, books and conferences. Slavica has been engaged in several international research projects. Currently, she is involved in the project “Exploring co-creation in services”, under the patronage of the University of Rijeka, Croatia. In addition to teaching, professor Slavica works as a consultant in companies and not-for-profit organizations in the areas of marketing and communications. She was a director of communications for both an international consulting company and an investment company. She was a member of the Managing Board of the PR Society of Serbia. Slavica holds a PhD degree in Organizational Sciences from the University of Belgrade. She holds a DIMAQ (digital marketing qualification) certificate, issued by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.