Mr. Sanjay Hettiarachchi, Manager, Membership Development, CIM Sri Lanka, Mr. Brian Selvanayagam, Chairman, CIM Sri Lanka, Mr. Dilshan Wirasekara, Chief Executive Officer, First Capital Holdings PLC, Ms. Nisansala Munasinghe, Manager, Branding and Marketing Services, First Capital Holdings PLC
The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka recognized as the first international branch of CIM UK, comprising the largest number of professional and student members outside the UK recently appointed its new board for the year 2018.
At the CIM SL Annual General Meeting, it was decided that Asanga Ranasinghe, Group Marketing Director/Sector Managing Director Consumer and Retail, Laugfs Holdings PLC will continue as President and Brian Selvanayagam, Director, On’ally Holdings PLC, as Chairman for the year 2018.
Presenting the annual review for the year 2016/2017, Chairman Selvanayagam said “we can proudly claim that we have been able to provide visibility of the profession and make significant strides to support marketing education and professional membership throughout the year. As we move forward in our goal in achieving excellence we continue to provide quality marketing education and help to strengthen the marketing fraternity in Sri Lanka amidst the current challenging environment.” Selvanayagam also stated that the Institute would continue to engage with all stakeholders to uplift the value and importance of the CIM membership.
Highlights during the year included the opening of a new study center in Jaffna and expanding its reach, and initiating strategic alliances with corporate entities and professional bodies to promote CIM among a wider audience.
During his speech, he also thanked CIM SL’s many partners, sponsors, accredited study centers and tutors who have readily extended their support throughout the year to promote CIM in the country.
The members of the Board for 2018 are; Brian Selvanayagam (Director, On’ally Holdings PLC) Chairman, Sanjika Perera (Country Manager, Sabre Travel Network Lanka (Pvt) Ltd) Immediate Past Chairman, Amal Fernando (Head of New Business Development, Mas Brands (Pvt) Ltd) Vice Chairman, Sumudu Thanthirigoda (General Manager Marketing, ACL Cables PLC) Secretary, Sujith Silva (Managing Director, Inspire Holdings (Pvt) Ltd) Treasurer, Rajiv David (Senior Manager Marketing, Union Bank of Colombo PLC) Head of Education, Charaka Perera (Chief Operating Officer, Stafford Motor Co (Pvt) Ltd) Head of Membership, Roshan Kaluarachhi (Chief Executive Officer – SLT Human Capital Solutions/ Chief Customer Officer – SLT PLC) Head of Corporate Communications, Muditha Hewawanitunga (Manager Sales/Marketing & Business Development, Open Arc Systems (Pvt) Ltd) Head of Networking, Kanchana Karunagama (Senior Manager, Hatton National Bank PLC) Head of Market Interest Groups, Tharmalingam Dinesh (Category Manager, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Ltd)Head of Corporate Trainings, Teresa Folkes (Associate Director of Planning and Professional Development, The Chartered Institute of Marketing) CIM Representative to the Board of CIM Sri Lanka.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) UK is the world’s largest professional body for Marketing. CIM Sri Lanka continuously campaigns for greater recognition and excellence in the marketing profession in the country, through education, training and professional development.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka entered into a strategic partnership with ANC Education, one of the leading education conglomerates, specializing in providing the best of transnational education opportunities at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Sri Lanka. ANC School of Postgraduate Education has been offering a number of MBA/ MSc and LLM programmes in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the University of West London and has been closely linked with corporate entities such as The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) to provide various study programmes and networking opportunities to its students.
With the aspiration to build awareness and share industry know-how a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between CIM Sri Lanka and ANC School of Postgraduate Education committing to goals mutually benefiting both organizations. CIM students and members will be able to gain entry on to the MBA programmes offered by ANC School of Postgraduate Education in partnership with the University of West London and a special entry pathway is created for the CIM Professional Diploma level (Level 6) completed students to join the MBA programme. This is a unique opportunity for Level 6 students to progress in their career with a reputed British MBA qualification.
Commenting on the partnership, Brian Selvanayagam, Chairman of CIM Sri Lanka said, “we are grateful to be partnered with ANC Education to strengthen the knowledge and expertise of both fields and we look forward to maintain a long term partnership”.
Dr Punarjeeva Karunanayake Executive Director/CEO, ANC Education stated “We at ANC are pleased to collaborate with a renowned professional body such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka. It is indeed a great opportunity to combine efforts to create value for both parties through collaboration.
CIM Sri Lanka is the first International branch of CIM UK and is proud to claim the largest membership outside the UK. CIM Sri Lanka has always campaigned for high professional standards, greater recognition for the Profession and Marketing excellence in Sri Lanka through education, training and development.
ANC School of Postgraduate Education has been offering a number of MBA/ MSc and LLM programmes in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the University of West London. The University of West London MBA provides knowledge and skills in subject areas such as Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Business Ethics, Business Operations, New Venture Development, Managing People Accounting for Decision Makers and Global Marketing, providing the students with the best armor to play a global manager’s role successfully. These modules are taught by the flying faculty from UWL and an expert panel for lectures from the corporate sector of Sri Lanka. The ANC payment plans, student loan facility and credit card payment plans provide the students to start their MBA programme with a minimum monthly payment of Rs 9580/= (*conditions apply) thus, making the UWL MBA programmes feasible for any CIM student.
‘Is Branding Losing its Relevance?’
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Sri Lanka will be hosting its third Talking Point Programme for this year on 27th September 2017 at the Union Ballroom, Hilton Colombo Residences from 6.00 pm onwards. It will bring together top Business leaders, CIM Fellow Members and Corporate Executives and is organized with the objective of highlighting emerging themes in marketing /business and discuss best practices to support strategic decisions for the future. This forum will be a platform for participants to share and exchange key insights which would help them in making decisions in their own organizations.
The programme is titled ‘Is Branding Losing its Relevance in Business’ and it will be an interesting thought provoking discussion with the custodians of some of the biggest local and multinational brands in Sri Lanka. The speakers of the programme are Imal Fonseka, Group CEO, Fairway Holdings, (Pvt) Ltd, Makshoodh Meerasaibu, Marketing Director for Home Care, Foods and Water, Unilever Sri Lanka, Tharanga Gunasekera, Head of Marketing and Communications, HSBC Sri Lanka and Shalin Balasuriya, Co-Founder, Luxury Ayurveda Brand Spa Ceylon. Commenting on the topic Imal Fonseka said, “If marketing is to be relevant, you need to integrate yourself to enterprise strategy rather than constrain your contribution to brand equity building”.
Rajiv David, Head of Membership Development at CIM Sri Lanka stated “The main objective of the CIM Talking Point series is to initiate productive discussions within the marketing community on concepts related to marketing and to impart knowledge on trending themes, challenges and opportunities in the market. We believe this timely topic will be useful for the marketing fraternity to understand upcoming challenges in branding and be prepared to successfully face the same. We hope to continue to add value to all the marketing professionals through our Talking Point series”.
CIM is the largest community of professional marketers in the world with 100 years of heritage delivering education, membership and insight offerings to the marketing and sales profession. As the leading professional body for Marketing CIM places great emphasis in bringing together programmes that are topical and relevant targeting the members and the entire business community.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka hosted its second Networking Event for the year with key cricket icons – Cricket Superstar Aravinda De Silva, Ranjit Fernando, Cricket Commentator, Roshan Abeysinghe and Cricket Administrator Mohan De Silva. The event focused on sportsmanship and fair play associated with cricket and was followed by fellowship. The networking event was organized exclusively for CIM Members.
Expressing their informal views on what currently ails the nation’s much loved game, Ranjit Fernando stated that the present team of very young cricketers is not exposed to the extent their predecessors have been exposed, therefore the young players have to be nurtured and given more time. Adding to the same thought, Aravinda De Silva stated that it is important to understand how to build a good team as well as good leaders and just like in a corporate business the concepts in cricket also have changed therefore it is important to give the young players time to understand each other’s strengths and learn from their mistakes.
Furthermore Mohan De Silva commented “we are going through a period of transition but there are other contradictory factors as well. Our key players had a spate of injuries. There’s a gamut of things to be considered and we have the system in place now and are confident of what we’re doing.”
The animated Q & A session moderated by Roshan Abeysinghe followed with eager queries and observations from the audience about the current style and status of the current pool of cricketers in the national team. The consensus that emerged was that the performance of our young team can be streamlined using tried and tested strategies that have worked for the Sri Lankan teams in the past.
The event concluded on a high note and the fellowship and camaraderie after the event facilitated further networking among CIM members. CIM is the largest community of professional marketers in the world with 100 years of heritage delivering education, membership and insight offerings to the marketing and sales profession. CIM Sri Lanka is the first international branch of CIM UK comprising the largest number of members, both students and professional members. As the leading professional body for Marketing, CIM places great emphasis in bringing together programmes that are topical and relevant targeting the members and the entire business community.
(L-R) Ms. Nushara Bandara, Senior Marketing Executive, Tyner Fernando, Co – Founder/ Director of Emerging Media (Pvt) Limited, Brian Selvanayagam, Chairman of CIM Sri Lanka, Sanjay Hettiarachchi, Manager, Membership Development, CIM Sri Lanka.
(L-R) Jordan Noah - Marketing Consultant, Montrela Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, Rushini Ferdinando - Business Development Manager, Montrela Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, Yusri Abdullah - Managing Director, Montrela Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, Brian Selvanayagam, Chairman- CIM Sri Lanka, Sanjay Hettiarachchi, Manager, Membership Development - CIM Sri Lanka.
