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Thursday May 16, 2024
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Dr. Victor Hettigoda
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Wherever in the world if you are a Sri Lankan, you will always have a pack of Siddhalepa with you. It is synonymous with our traditional belief system. “Try some Siddhalepa first” for any kind of ache or pain.
What a marketing feat to be achieved by an ordinary balm vendor who started his journey taking the product made at home with his wife and traversing every nook and corner of this island by foot and by public transport. Ending up with a business conglomerate that stands shoulder to shoulder with many corporate giants.
It was the mid-80s, I was at De Alwis Advertising. Renton De Alwis was the GM. He and D.C. Ranatunga were compiling a unique magazine called Marketing/wf,úlrKh a bilingual publication. It had two cover pages. One for Sinhala and the other for English. The lead article was the interview with Dr. Hettigoda. It was in that process I first met this legendary person.
Dressed in white, sarong and a shirt small made. He enjoyed a good “bulath wita” and if my memory serves right, he did enjoy a smoke also occasionally. In one of the meetings with him he told me how he balances his food intake. A very disciplined life in that.
Subsequently he asked our agency to develop a brochure for his newly established Siddhalepa hospital. Our art director Pulasthi Ediriweera came up with a very creative format. He had incorporated the motif of the board of the hospital roof to the design of the brochure. Dr. Hetttigoda liked the brochure but felt that the motif was a bit too much. I offered to remove that in that case. But his response was far more professional than any of the professional marketing managers I had served ever, in my advertising career.
“But Deepal, please ask your art director, he must have a good reason to do so. If he also agrees let us remove.”
Imagine, this is from a successful businessperson who has already built a strong brand on his own, done the creatives and copy all by himself yet willing to see the point of view of an art director.
His humbleness of respecting the expertise of a professional is not common among many leaders including entrepreneurships. We can see this arrogance in government and even among some business leaders. Surprisingly so-called professionals too dis regard opinions of other professionals.
We have come across many instances where professionals have left entrepreneurs because their professional advice was not heeded and in many instances to the peril of their very own business.
Later Dr. Hettigoda started perhaps the first-ever business magazine in Sinhala, called Velenda. This was edited by veteran journalist and actor G.W. Surendra who also worked at De Alwis for a short time. He was my immediate supervisor and asked me to subscribe to the final column of the magazine. In response I wrote my first business article in Sinhala titled “ane magenuth mal ganna
අනේ මගනෙුත් මල් ගන්න” where I explained the 4Ps of Marketing using the process of selling flowers near temples. That culminated in me publishing my first book “Sinhalen Business” the first-ever comprehensive book on marketing in Sinhala. A series that saw nine other titles subsequently.
I am ever so grateful to Dr. Hettigoda for the opportunity I received through the magazine to share my knowledge and to establish myself as an author reaching a completely new market segment when it comes to business literature namely the Sinhala reader. Dr. Hettigoda provided a generous appreciation to my book, attended the launch and subsequent book launches and addressed eloquently.
During the launch of four of the books in the series of Sinhalen Business at the Galle Face Hotel, Dr. Hettigoda challenged the thinking of Sinhala businesspeople by raising a simple question: “We get a TV made in Japan all the way to a rural home in Embilipitiya. But the man in Embilipitiya does not observe this and asks the question, ‘why cannot I send my banana harvest to Colombo without 35% of it getting damaged during the transport?’ Until we start thinking like this, we will not succeed,” he opined.
He was a keen observer who could reflect on those observations creatively, a core competency of an innovator. Once during a casual conversation, he told me, “Deepal, I did a good study about the Bulath Vita (Beetle) market, I do not want to displace thousands who make a living out of it. Otherwise, it is a huge market that can be developed and make a good business out of it.”
Later in the mid-90s while I was heading the marketing function at CTC Eagle Insurance, I invited him to join me in conducting a series of business seminars. That was a time the local business community was not very keen to learn. We invited the local business owners offering dinner to take part in these seminars. At these sessions Dr. Hettigoda selflessly shared what he learned in a hard way with the audiences. Those who took part really benefitted. I am sure it was these business seminars which inspired him to conduct weekly seminars all over the country. They were later telecast over TNL and I hope someone will be able to curate them and serialise on social media for they were full of practical insights to life and business.
Sharing the business success with businesspersons was not so common at that time. Even now they do so very carefully. Dr. Hettigoda in that sense was a pioneer. He was brave enough to share what worked for him and what did not as well. He authored a book titled “වෙළදපොල දිනුමට දැනුම - අත් පොත – a handbook on how to win the market”. It was printed on special paper using a unique font not so common at that time. To my knowledge this would be the first such book in Sinhala to be authored by a businessperson himself.
This book contained many important lessons especially to those who are engaged in retail trading activities. In that he dedicated a special chapter on how to assess the credit worthiness of a customer by a small trader for he had experienced the fall of many small traders due to poor debt management. His principles and practical tips are valid even for other businesses. So basic yet fundamental.
In 1998 at the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing we organised the first-ever National Brand Symposium, to showcase successful local brands. Now it has become the nation’s premier platform to recognise brand excellence. The first brands that showcased were Siddhalepa, Clogard, and DSI if I remember right. There he explained his brand. Dr. Hettigoda explained how he built the brand Siddhalepa from scratch.
Professional marketers and academics alike began to appreciate through his ingenious innovative mind how he had applied what could be recognised as textbook marketing principles.
He was invited to universities, professional bodies and almost all the business chambers to deliver keynote speeches. He related his story with a deep sense of authenticity.
In the latter part of his life after transferring most of the operational responsibilities to the second generation, he contested the presidency of the country. I think his intention was more to spread his thinking to a wider audience than really becoming the president.
He was also invited to serve on a number of national boards and enterprises as well.
In recognition of Dr. Hettigoda’s contribution to Ayurveda and industry, the presidential award of “Deshabandu – Class I” was presented by the then President, Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1990. Dr. Hettigoda has received many national and international awards including a listing among the 50 greatest Sri Lankan Entrepreneurs after independence. According to the LMD, a leading local business magazine, the Siddhalepa Group is ranked one of the best 100 companies in Sri Lanka.
I will try to capture some salient aspects of his business practice.
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Leveraging consumer insights
Prior to Siddhalepa becoming popular at every local home there was a bottle of Siddhartha Oil, a very special oil one would use to ease unbearable pain and in critical moments. People not only applied Siddhartha Oil they even consumed to ease many difficult health conditions. Siddharatha is the name of the prince who later became The Buddha, the enlightened one. Thus, one can appreciate the significance of this name. He used that insight and coined the word Siddha + Alepa = Siddhalepa. Siddha means what is good, auspicious, etc. Alepa means application. What a brilliant insight!
Innovative sampling
“Free offers” is one of the most powerful marketing strategies to induce trial. From brick and mortar to online it has remained the same, more so in the online world. It allows the potential customer to try the product at no cost and no obligation to buy. Dr. Hettigoda started his massive sampling operation at Nalla Thanniya on Sri Pada trek. To those who started the climb Siddhalepa was to fight cold. And when they returned it was to get relief from muscular ache. He would have easily reached a million people in one Sri Pada season. He continued the same practice and now it is a permanent feature of the season.
Positioning
In my book Sinhalen Business, I defined positioning as occupying a special place in the consumer’s mind. (ysf;a ;ekla ,nd .ekSu). veda mahatthaya is a respected person in the Sri Lankan society. In the typical rural society veda mahattaya (native medical practitioner) is second only to the head priest of the temple. By proposing Siddhalepa to be the veda mahatthaya that should be at every home, he made one of the most outstanding positioning strategies in the Sri Lanka marketing arena. සෑම ගෙදරකම සිටිය යුතු වෙද මහත්මයා.
Consistency
Apparently when Burnett, the advertising agency who built the Marlboro Brand, was once asked as to what they did for 30 years by running the same ad campaign or the same advertisement, the famous Marlboro Man, the response had been, “We made sure the client did not change the campaign.” That is how brands are built. Dr. Hettigoda almost for five decades maintained the same brand identity, tonality, visual identity, copy platform so there is no confusion in the consumer’s mind. Contrast this with some of the brands that keep changing the elements of the communication mix every time a new brand manager is appointed.
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Product quality
Late Prof. Uditha Liyanage once mentioned that there are Built On brands Bolt On brands. To be a built-on brand the product must be what the brand promises primarily before building communication aspects. Siddhalepa has been able to maintain its quality consistency right throughout. Thereby it can be considered a built-on brand. While increasing the number of SKUs, the only product variation is the spray targeting more modern consumers.
Focus
While many entrepreneurs of his generation ventured into diversified businesses, and some ended up as failures, Dr. Hettigoda was careful enough to stick to the core business, which is offering ayurveda-based solutions. Under the Siddhalepa brand, he introduced over 100 different OTC type ayurvedic products, a hospital and a hotel. The hotels too were built on the core value proposition.
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Eye on competitor
He once told me that he used to keep all his competitor’s products in the bathroom or his bedroom so that he is constantly reminded of the competition and needs to be ahead. This is a key attribute leaders must have whether in business or in government. Rather than listening to those who bring only the good news, it is important to be alive to the reality of the marketplace whether you sell a balm or run a government.
Management philosophy
He followed a homegrown management philosophy in running his business. He made sure that the employees are well looked after. He was a teacher as much as a businessperson. So he always taught his staff not only about work but about life as well. I was invited on several occasions to address his annual staff conferences. One simple but an important thing I noticed during those sessions was how he addressed his sales staff. For him they were not sales reps, or salesmen but “Rep Mahathwaru, f¾ma uy;ajre” Mr. Rep. He had the highest respect for his staff; I am sure he must have been demanding the best and none of them could hoodwink him either for he knew from production to cash collection the entire business process.
Succession and sustainability
He had a clear vision about the sustainability of the business. He educated his children. I do not know about the daughters, but Asoka certainly studied overseas. But we see all of them embracing the same value system of authentic ayurveda practice. He transferred responsibilities at the right time and allowed the new generation to add the touch of modernity needed and made the business more international.
I am sure thousands of entrepreneurs are inspired by him and follow his footsteps.
His humbleness of respecting the expertise of a professional is not common among many leaders including entrepreneurships. We can see this arrogance in government and even among some business leaders. Surprisingly so-called professionals too disregard opinions of other professionals