The Annual Conference of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region held for the 10th successive year on the 21st and 22nd June, 2010 at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Colombo. This year’s conference revolved around the theme ‘Navigating the New Sri Lankan Consumer Landscape’; with expert insights from a panel of high profile speakers, both local and international. The Strategic Partner for this event was SriLanka Telecom, who has partnered CIM with this project for the 8th consecutive year.
The Conference which inaugurated on 21st June, graced by Dr. Koshy Mathai, IMF Resident Representative for Sri Lanka and The Maldives, the Chief Guest for the event. The Keynote Speaker Professor Robin Wensley, Professor of Policy and Marketing, Warwick Business School, UK.
The economic resurgence in Asia has given a boost to the regional economies while imparting greater stability. This has carved a demand for Asian-produced commodities and services; and has generated an outflow of foreign direct investment to other regions. Having reached an important milestone in its development endeavor, the challenge for Sri Lanka today, is therefore to use this unique opportunity to craft a modern vision of development for itself while integrating its economy more closely with the rest of the world. Arguably, it is not only the environment in which our organisations operate that has changed, but also the consumer. With the developments in the environment, the new consumer has become more tech-savvy, information rich and demanding, urging organizations to rethink their marketing strategies. In this context, organizations are compelled to look beyond the horizon to discover the undiscovered and seize the opportunities that have surfaced in the midst of these developments.
The 10th Annual Conference of The Chartered Institute of Marketing analysed the opportunities and challenges for Marketers in a new era; Sri Lanka experienced even tougher challenges as the country readies itself for an economic turnaround. The conference journey through various facets of the emerging new consumerism and the evolutionary change in the market with a fresh look at the traditional 4Ps. The participants were enlightened on developments in the areas of sustainability and intellectual property rights.
‘Consumer Marketing in Challenging Times: The Role of Marketing in Contributing to Sustainable Corporate Development’ - Prof. Robin Wensley; ‘Towards Profiling the Sri Lankan Consumer’ - Dr. Uditha Liyanage, Director, Postgraduate Institute of Management; ‘Harnessing the Rising Speed of Influence’ - Mr. Andreas Vogiatzakis, Managing Director, Omnicom Media Group; ‘From Customization to Co –Creation: The Shifting Ethos of Product Development’ - Mr. Tirthankar Dash, Senior Vice President, Quantum Strategic Services, India; ‘Challenges and Opportunities in a New Era for Tourism’ - Mr. Hiran Cooray , Chairman - Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Director - Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and ‘The Strategic Importance of Accounting for Sustainability’ - Dr. Aditi Halder, Director, GRI Focal Point, India were line up of presentations at the conference.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world’s largest and most prestigious professional body for marketing present in over 80 countries worldwide. The CIM Sri Lanka Region is the largest CIM International Region and the first international branch of The Institute. Through its illustrious journey that extends over 2 decades, CIM Sri Lanka Region has lead the force towards enhancing recognition of the marketing profession while harnessing marketing best practice in the country.
Technical session
The 9th Annual Conference of The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka was held on 22nd May 2009 at Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Colombo.
The Annual Conference is one of the largest events in The Institute’s calendar as well as an important event for all the marketing professionals in the country. Every year, various genres of marketing of contemporary importance are explored at the CIM Annual Conference through the perspectives of distinguished speakers, both local and international.
The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Unconventional Marketing Strategies to Survive Turbulent Times’ where six internationally and locally acclaimed experts critiqued the relevance of traditional marketing strategies in the current context and discussed unconventional marketing strategies, their practicality and applicability in the Sri Lankan context.
The Institute was honoured to have Dr. Palitha Kohona, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka as the Chief Guest at the conference. Emeritus Professor Michael J Baker, Professor of Marketing, University of Strathclyde, UK; Dr. Saman Kelegama, Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka; Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay, L'Oréal Chaired Professor of Marketing – Innovation and Creativity from INSEAD; Dr. Uditha Liyanage, Director, Postgraduate Institute of Management; Mr. Suren Amarasekera, Chief Executive Officer, Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd.; and Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) G. Y. de Silva shared their views at the conference. The technical sessions were also be complemented with panel discussions led by eminent panelists and moderators.
For the 7th consecutive year Sri Lanka Telecom joined hands with CIM Sri Lanka Region as the Strategic Partner of the Annual Conference in their endeavor to promote professionalism in the country.
Technical session
The 8th Annual Conference of The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region was held on 8th May 2008 at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Colombo. For the sixth consecutive year, Sri Lanka Telekom joined hands with The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region as the Strategic Partner of the Annual Conference. The Conference was one of the biggest events in The Institute’s calendar and an important event from the perspective of the marketing profession in the country.
The Conference was inaugurated on the evening of 7th May, at the Atrium Lobby, Cinnamon Grand Colombo graced by Chief Justice - Sarath N Silva, Chief Guest of the Conference. The Keynote Speaker of the Conference was Mr. Michael Morrison, Faculty, Department of Marketing, Monash University.
The theme of this year’s Annual Conference is “Re-discovering Experiential Marketing to Win Brand Loyalty” and was addressed by a panel of distinguished speakers and some of very successful marketers, both local and international.
The Technical Sessions contained 4 conceptual presentations and 8 case study presentations and was commenced with the key note address on “The Power of Emotional Branding: The Importance of Space, Place and Experiences” by Mr. Michael Morrison.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world’s largest and most prestigious professional body for marketing with over 50,000 members worldwide. The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region is the fastest growing CIM body, with approximately 1,080 members and almost 3,000 student members.
