~ SLIM spearheads revolutionary solutions for future Marketers

The Marketers Summit 2017 held recently by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) at Waters Edge concluded on a successful note.  The programme was aimed at providing participants with global insights on CRM, Advertising, Retail Marketing and Branding which have revolutionized the Marketing sphere.

Held for the second consecutive year, with the objective of driving Sri Lankan Marketers in the right direction by cutting-edge and unconventional business/marketing strategies and tactics, the Summit was aimed at the Heads of Organizations, CEOs, Top Corporate Sector Personnel and the future generation of trailblazing Marketers.

‘We Believe Every One is a Marketer’ was the theme of the entire summit series and the whole campaign for this year was woven around the core message of ‘Are you in the Right Direction?’ This message was delivered with a high degree of precision by connecting multinational industrial exposure through five persistent areas of marketing, namely ‘Driving Brand Loyalty through BTL Channels’, ‘Understanding the Future Consumer’, ‘Strategic CSR & Sustainability’, ‘Business Disruption’ and ‘Revolution in Sales’.

Mr Michael Koest, Managing Director/CEO of Ceylon Tobacco Company in his opening address to the gathering, spoke on ‘Driving Brand Loyalty through BTL Channels’. His case was created around the crux of ‘Shining Bright in a Dark Market’, where he spoke on the Challenges of the Tobacco Industry, the Way of the Market, Transforming Your Organization, 360° Activation and Illustrations, all of which provided invaluable insights to the Branding sphere. He further elaborated on how the regulatory system changed for CTC and how it faced its challenges and broke through boundaries to transform their marketing strategies into Responsible Marketing, excelling in execution.

Mr Carl Cruz, Chairman of Unilever Sri Lanka, was next to talk on the topic of ‘Understanding the Future Consumer’. His speech was woven around how Unilever linked with the evolution of the global consumer with emerging characteristics and how the brands of Unilever knit together to anticipate the needs and wants of future Marketers. Furthermore, he spoke on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan and how they introduced it to the Sri Lankan lifestyle, with emphasis on getting ready to foresee customer requirements in 2020.

Mr Sharang Pant, Managing Director of Nielson Sri Lanka spoke on ‘Business Disruptions’, with his case study accentuating trends that drive disruption.

Ms Farzana Khan, Sustainable Development, External Affairs and Communication Director of Siam City Cement (Lanka) Ltd, spoke about ‘Strategic CSR & Sustainability’. Her speech was broken into three aspects: CSR Concepts, Stakeholder Perspectives and CSR & Strategy.

The key address was made by Mr. Tom Abbot, Managing Director of SOCO Sales Training Singapore. Mr. Abbott is the President of Asia Professional Speakers Singapore (APSS), and an author and speaker on Sales, Sales Leadership and Social Media Selling. He has delivered hundreds of motivational sales keynotes, kick-offs, presentations and workshops to audiences of over 10,000 in over 10 countries throughout Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Mr. Abbott is a pioneer in evolving the sales processes of organisations worldwide and the author of ‘The SOHO Solution’ and ‘Social Selling’ and is a contributor to Singapore Business Review, The Singapore Marketer and The Straits Times, another Singaporean publication. His topic was ‘Revolution in Sales’, spanning the revolution of selling from history to today, while emphasising on selling techniques which are used throughout social media.

The President of SLIM, Mr. Karthik Elangovan stated that “As the National body for Marketing, SLIM has always remained proactive in ensuring added value to the Nation’s efforts toward economic prosperity in the sphere of Marketing. Connecting five persistent areas of Marketing with five challenging topics on one platform, bestowed a wealth of knowledge to the Sri Lankan Marketers”.

Mr. Sanath Senanayake, CEO and Executive Director of SLIM said, “Credible and value-adding training programmes like the Marketers Summit, and the affordable prices of studying the topic of Marketing at SLIM have made the Marketing fraternity and the corporate sector in Sri Lanka perceive SLIM as an invaluable mentoring entity to the nation. I believe that facilitating collaboration with five multinational industrial experts havs enhanced and encouraged local Marketing professionals to gain valuable insights, which would  enrich the enterprises of Sri Lanka,” he concluded.