Indigenous marketing in Sri Lanka

If you want to learn marketing, first you should learn Sri Lankan culture; then you can absorb 80% of the theories which you learn from the Western context

Now the subject of ‘marketing’ has become popular among the general public and ‘most wanted’ for all. We have learned many theories and concepts from the West and we should not forget about best practices in ‘Sri Lankan marketing’. There are many examples which we need to discuss on this. The following can be extracted from a book review I have done for the South Asian Journal of Marketing. 

“…Furthermore, there is an interesting observation in Marketing 3.0 where, according to Marketing 3.0, instead of treating people as consumers, marketers must approach them as whole human beings with minds, hearts and spirit. This argument goes hand in hand in line with Buddhist philosophy as well. Matsuoka (2005) discusses this very point in an article titled ‘The Buddhist concept of a Human Being’. The article explains how Shakyamuni (Buddha’s religious) movement attempted to realise a moralistic revolution of society by reforming the hearts and minds of the individuals in that society. 

“Buddhism offers methods to clarify the mind, open the heart, and face the realities of human life. One can see evidence of this in the history of countries in which Buddhism is practiced and in their civilisations. One can also witness the same ‘humane’ approach to relationships in business practices in these countries. I recently read the success story of Maliban Biscuit Company which is led by Angulugaha Gamage Hinniappuhamy, from Akmeemana, in Galle District, Sri Lanka which solidified these points. 

“It went this way – Hinniappuhamy arrived in Colombo (more than 125 kilometres from the rural, 50 years back). He was given a sound advice by his mother before he left his village. His mother reportedly said, “Son you may leave the village and go to Colombo, but remember that whatever you do, it must be in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha and has the blessings of the gods”. Taking this advice to heart, Angulugaha Gamage Hinniappuhamy and his brothers started their business in biscuits. 

“The sons also treasured the advice to give consumers only products that could be safely given to their own family and children. They tasted the biscuits first before giving them to customers. An argument could be made that it is through applying the teachings of basic principles in their culture and traditions that they understood the heart, the values and the minds of their customers. This means that marketing 3.0 was implemented in Sri Lanka way back in the 1940s. This is one of the indications that there is a need for scholars and practitioners to study people’s value systems and traditions in the past to read different perspectives which is essential to add new knowledge to the existing domain of subjects such as marketing.” (Abeysekera, 2020).

And also, there can be many practices and implications that can be discussed in this context. One of the best examples is ‘Kataragama’ and ‘Kalu Dodol’. Once we reach the Kalu Dodol shop, the Mudalali always offers a piece of ‘Kalu Dodol’ to taste. Then we can decide whether to buy or not to buy. This is unique in Sri Lankan culture. Anyway, in Western theories, we discussed this under Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) as a strategy of sales promotion. Nevertheless, if you learn and conduct such practices from a book, you could not have this ‘natural happiness’ which we need to critically evaluate further. Actually, if you want to learn marketing, first you should learn Sri Lankan culture; then you can absorb 80% of the theories which you learn from the Western context.

And also, the subject of marketing existed two or three decades ago as a ‘luxury product’ used only by one ‘branded segment’ and could not access to the general public. Because of that, I want to propose to teach and disseminate the knowledge in ‘marketing’ more with the best practices in Sri Lankan context. Learn something from this and follow the marketing that suits the country, that is, ‘our marketing method’ that is very much similar to when Romesh Kaluwitharana got behind the stumps and exclaimed “Ohoma Yan (we will together)” in Sinhala which is also one of the indicators for us for winning the 1996 World Cup. 

And also, most of the time we have observed experts using ‘English’ to teach the subject of marketing. That can be commendable. But for entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, I proposed to teach and disseminate the subject of marketing in their native language (Sinhala or Tamil) because in the world, research has proven that the native language is always important to inculcate imagination and creativity among all.

So, there is a need for experts and scholars in this subject domain of marketing to get together and investigate ‘Indigenous Marketing’ in Sri Lanka which would be one way we have to learn the best practices of Sri Lankan culture as well.

References

Abeysekera, N. (2020), Book Review: Marketing 4.0: Moving from Traditional to Digital by Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya, Iwan Setiawan, South Asian Journal of Marketing, Volume 1, Issue 1, PP178-181

(The writer is a Professor in Management Studies at the Open University of Sri Lanka and can be reached via [email protected].)