SL celebrates inaugural National Marketing Day with global guru Phillip Kotler

From left: Brand coach Denzil Perera, Prof. Nalin Abeysekara, Prof. Thilakaratna and Prof. Philip Kotler

Sri Lanka celebrated its inaugural National Marketing Day on 27 May with a mark of respect to Prof. Philip Kotler, known as the ‘Father of Modern Marketing’ for his great contribution to the subject domain of marketing. Prof. Kotler is well respected for his involvement in making the world aware that the subject of marketing is important and popular, among other disciplines, for sustainable development.

The event was organised by Denzil Perera who is a marketing and growth strategist, business consultant, and brand coach on the invitation of the Open University of Sri Lanka.

As Prof. Philip Kotler celebrated his 91st birthday on 27 May, he joined the event online and did a wonderful session based on the topic of sustainable marketing and a few other new domains under modern marketing. He was appreciative of the initiative taken to declare a National Marketing Day on his birthday and mentioned that Sri Lanka is the first country to do so.

He was also touched by a special tribute video that was played to bring best wishes to him. He thanked the Vice-Chancellor Professor Thilakaratna and Open University of Sri Lanka Management Faculty Dean Prof. Nalin Abeysekara for the declaration.

Addressing the event, Prof. Abeysekara mentioned that: “As Sri Lankan scholars and academia, there is a need for them to socialise the subject of marketing by mainly concentrating on the SME sector.” He mentioned that they have done this for the last 3-4 decades and in the post-COVID era, there should be improved approaches and strategies to take this subject to untapped corners of Sri Lanka and to also study indigenous marketing practices with a global touch.

Addressing the gathering, Denzil Perera mentioned that without the initial thought of declaring an inaugural Marketing Day, this would have never been a reality and hence stressed the importance of new thoughts and thinking of Prof. Abeysekara. He mentioned The English Tea Shop with gratitude as it would have been difficult to organise something of this nature without their help.

He also The English Tea shop CEO Suranga Herath and his team for the special tea box delivered to Prof. Kotler in advance to his residence. As Professor Kotler highlighted and spoke on the importance of Sustainable Marketing, Denzil Perera highlighted the relevance and importance of sustainable consumption, which needs to be widespread in Sri Lanka and around the world.

At the invitation of Prof. Abeysekara, heads of the marketing departments of the key universities also joined as speakers of the conference. Prof. Ravi Dissanayake of Kelaniya, Prof. Dinesh Samarasinghe of Moratuwa, Dr. Ruwangi Chandrasekara of Colombo, Prof. Amila Jayarathna of Jayewardenepura, Dr. Sujeewi Sapukotanage of the Open University, Prof. Shivany Sammugathas of Jaffna, Prof. M.I.M. Hilal of the Eastern University, Dr. J.D.T. Madhushanka of Rajarata, Dr. Nuresh Eranda of Peradeniya, Prof. Imali Fernando of Uwa-Wellassa were among the universities which were represented by heads of the marketing departments.

Denzil Perera thanked Dr. Mahesh Dhall of the Nepal University, who was also the Chairman of Nepal National Television for his cooperation and taking part in the session with an impactful message. He further thanked Oshadee and the TIIKM team, Tharindu Rathnayaka from the Open University of Sri Lanka, Kaushalya Abeywickrama, and Manjula Fernando of the ICBM campus for all the support extended towards organising the event and also mentioned and appreciated the support extended by the services marketing guru Ron Kaufman for supporting the initiative. A special collage of Professor Philip Kotler was presented by Lanka Salusala Ltd. as a hand-made creation at the event.