Excellent response at the first CIM Talking Point 2011

The first CIM Talking Point programme for 2011, “The Evolution of Marketing - Past Century and Beyond” ended reiterating the importance of understanding the difference the conventional marketing practices that are always carried out, and the importance of considering that they may not be valid anymore, in a competitive environment.

The programme was held on 23 February 2011 at Galadari Hotel, chaired by Professor Uditha Liyanage, Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Indrajit Wickramasinghe Chief Operating Officer, NDB Bank and Ramal Jasinghe Director/Chief Executive Officer, Asian Alliance Insurance PLC served as panelists whilst the programme was moderated by Bertram Paul - General Manager, Sales and Marketing Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC. The programme was sponsored exclusively by HSBC, the world’s local bank and organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region.

Giving an introduction to the programme Chitrangani Herat Gunaratne, Chairperson CIM Sri Lanka region, welcomed all invitees to the first CIM Talking Point series for 2011 and   highlighted its significance of marking 100 years of excellence in professional marketing. “”The topic, “The evolution of marketing past century and beyond” was selected as a result of the Centenary year celebrations of CIM, with the importance of focusing on marketing over the years””. The CIM Talking Point series was established in 2004, with the objective of enhancing the knowledge of its members by addressing topics which are relevant to the current environment, thereby to offer value to participants.

She stated that CIM looks forward to assisting individuals in their career paths and enable them to become successful chartered marketers.

Eardley Perera Past Chairman and Founder of CIM Sri Lanka Region addressed the gathering and shared his views on the establishment of the CIM Sri Lanka regional office. He stated that with the opening of new educational opportunities, students have a wide variety of choices in selecting their career paths and that it is our task to educate the youth in selecting the best career path of their choice.  

Chris Lenton Chairman CIM UK speaking to the audience via tele-conference shared his views on the future changes of  CIM; stating that the main objective is to continue promoting and uplifting the corporate profile and organisation standard of all marketers. In preparations of celebrating 100 years, he thanked the CIM members of the Sri Lanka Region for being on board with CIM.

Professor Uditha Liyanage, Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, highlighted several important frameworks through a splendid presentation.

 He highlighted the history of marketing focusing on five phases, phase one focused on production and the challenge to “Make Much” through the Economies of scale and operational efficiency. Phase two focused on product again and the challenge to “Make Well” through functional performance and product quality. Phase three focused on selling and the challenge to “Sell Well” through customer persuasion and incentives and rewards. Phase four and five was to “buy well and bond well “respectively, providing descriptive details on the challenges on how to do so.  

In addition, Professor Liyanage presented five phases on the future of Marketing focusing on the challenges of “What got us here, won’t get us there?” thereafter he illustrated 15 mega trends moving into the future of Marketing with adequate emphasis on strategic marketing, strategic partnering, strategy complexity and strategy context- duality. He also stressed the importance on strategy formulation Vs. implementation: the importance of linking perspectives with complex adaptive systems.

In order to deliver more value towards its membership and to encourage its members to avail themselves to these valuable programmes, CIM Sri Lanka Region made the CIM Talking Point series free for the first 50 Chartered Marketers who registered for the programme. Further, a discount of 50% was offered to its members.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region organises many versatile events catering to the varying needs of its members thereby adding value to its membership and contributing towards the excellence in the marketing profession of Sri Lanka. The CIM Talking Point series has been initiated as a part of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme which enables the members of the Institute to further their professional careers.