Promoting the ‘Sri Lanka’ brand in the world

SLIM President Nuwan Gamage

• SLIM President speaks on turning challenges into opportunities

Innovative thinking and the continuous pursuit of learning stand out in the modern times of striving for a brighter future. Having practiced these values since the beginning of his career, Nuwan Gamage, the 44th President of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), continues his efforts to make an impact by taking the study of marketing to levels beyond the ordinary.

With 20 years of experience under his belt in diverse fields such as strategic marketing, brand management, corporate communications, digital marketing, and more, Gamage is the Head of Corporate Communications at Arinma Holdings Ltd., an established sustainable infrastructure development conglomerate in Sri Lanka.

In a special interview, Gamage shared his thoughts on his role as the President of SLIM, facing the challenges of the 

economic crisis, and his vision for a knowledge-driven economy and Sri Lanka. Following are excerpts of the interview. 

Q: As the newly elected President of SLIM, elaborate on your role in terms of providing leadership and direction.

SLIM is a national body for marketing. As a person who came from the grassroots of a marketing career, I believe I can understand the pulse of the marketing and sales ecosystem. As the SLIM President, I have to give my leadership to SLIM to fulfil its mandate of establishing marketing as the driving force, enhancing business and its national value.

Q: Briefly share with us what your journey with SLIM has been so far.

I was elected to the SLIM Executive Committee in 2016, where I served as an Executive Committee Member for two years. In 2018, I was elected as a Secretary and in 2019 as Vice President – Education. I served as VP – Education for two consecutive years before being elected as President.

During my tenure, I was able to add Digital Marketing Awards and SLIM Digis to SLIM’s awards portfolio to recognise digital marketers’ efforts in Sri Lanka. I was also a Project Chairman for a few other national-level projects conducted by SLIM.

Q: What significant strategic and operational changes do you plan to initiate within SLIM during your tenure?

The vision for SLIM is to lead the nation’s efforts towards economic prosperity, and its mission to establish marketing as the driving force that enhances business and national value. In order to drive and align with this vision and mission, I will be focusing on a five-pillar strategic approach. The five pillars are future-proof education, entrepreneurial marketing, sustainable marketing, digital marketing ecosystems, national-level research, and advocacy. I plan to implement to its full effect during next three to five years.

In the same vein, I’m planning to launch SLIM Startup Incubator to help local start-ups take their businesses to the next level, by way of providing seed funding, mentoring, training, and growth opportunities. These will certainly go a long way in the initial stages and help the economy greatly in the long run.

It is also my intention to initiate sustainable marketing practices in Sri Lanka by developing a green brand evaluation matrix and accreditation framework. This would encourage Sri Lankan corporates to implement the best possible sustainable practices aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), and also encourage sustainable consumption amongst the community, which would in turn promote a circular economy.

Q:How have the current macroeconomic factors impacted marketing education in the country as well as within SLIM?

I firmly believe that education is the key to the development of any nation. But there should be a balance between formal and professional education. SLIM provides professional education in marketing.

Due to the forex issue in the country, all foreign course prices have gone up significantly. At SLIM, we also offer a widely recognised set of market qualifications, including some internationally affiliated programs. Anyone who walks into SLIM will discover that we continue to offer the best value in marketing, sales, and digital marketing education. There is an impact on the education sector due to the current inflation rate of the country, but we are managing fairly at the moment.

Q: As a marketing professional, what do you think should be done to take the country back to normalcy from its present crisis situation?

Our approach should be two-fold. We need strong short-term and long-term plans to ensure economic stability.

In the short term, we need to look at the way our debts are structured. For that, we need to ensure political stability. Secondly, we need to develop a strong economic policy framework for the country – this should focus on entrepreneurship development. Micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) are the life blood of any economy, but the MSME sector in the country is totally collapsed. We need to establish this immediately and have a strategy in place to promote them for more exports, aspiring to establish an export-oriented economy.

Next, we should have to have a strong foreign policy. One sector we can focus on developing is the tourism sector. Furthermore, we ought to develop a one-window policy for FDIs with a specific focus on assembling and semi-knockdown operations, while fully utilising our harbours, opting for fuel bunkering as a service hub for global shipping lines, and paying special attention to alternative energy, LNG, solar, and wind. Even exploring our natural resources, such as fuel deposits in Mannar basin is vital. Further, restructuring loss-making public enterprises or privatising some are plausible options.

There are many things we can do to come out of this situation. I strongly believe that promoting research and innovation, too, greatly contributes to the development of a knowledge-driven economy. We should establish better engagement in national universities and industries.

Finally, I believe in the need to build and promote Sri Lanka to the rest of the world as a place people and businesses can not only visit, but also invest in and live in peacefully. It is a crucial part of revitalising Sri Lanka’s economy and enhancing the country’s reputation on a global scale.

Q: Setting long-term goals for the growth of the marketing education industry at this juncture is tedious. How do you, as the President of SLIM, plan to head this task?

Education should be future-proof; whatever we learn today should fulfil tomorrow’s requirements. Establishing a knowledge-driven economy would be key to any country’s transition to the next level.

In marketing, we have identified key verticals such as digital and data-driven marketing as booming. SLIM is to further strengthen our digital marketing products. According to recent research findings, digital marketing will be among the top 10 jobs in the world. Sales has evolved into a digital selling platform, focusing on consumer development rather than sales. Finally, the development of marketing leadership needs focus, where we need more marketers to sit in board-level positions in the future.

Q: How does SLIM contribute towards promoting and upholding ethical standards and best practices of marketing in Sri Lanka?

 Last year, we launched an Ethical Marketing Guideline with the support of the leading advertising associations in Sri Lanka. This year, we are planning to promote how Sri Lankan brands can practice sustainable marketing, including supply chain innovation, developing a green brand framework to align with the SDGs with special emphasis on environmental pollution, carbon emotion, and climate action. Also, we look to promote sustainable consumption among consumers.

Q: What do you envision for the marketing fraternity of Sri Lanka, especially the upcoming young generation of marketers?

 We have a very good IT and digital literacy rate among our young population. I invite all students who successfully passed their Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations to spend some time studying digital marketing, because it is now becoming a global requirement. Furthermore, we have to enculturate an entrepreneurial mindset among our young population – encourage them to invest in start-ups and develop a start-up culture and ecosystem here in Sri Lanka.

We see that most of our talented younger generation are now looking for avenues to migrate. We need to develop trust and confidence for them to live here and contribute to our motherland, because if not, the next big crisis faced by our country in the future will be a severe lack of skilled professionals.