The death of advertising explored

TRAINING: The death of traditional advertising was one of the many topics explored at McCann Erickson's annual Human Futures Development Seminar, held recently in Bangkok.

Strategic planners, brand service managers and creatives from regional offices as far flung as Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Korea, China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka were treated to stimulating lectures on issues facing the global advertising industry in the 21st century.

Participants from Colombo's McCann office, Grant McCann-Erickson, were Account Manager, Asirini Punchihewa and Creative Director, Shehan Karunatilaka. They found the lectures informative, thought-provoking and incisive.

"The world has already moved beyond traditional print, TV and radio advertising into the realms of blogging. pod-casting, and mobile messaging. It's only a matter of time before Sri Lanka follows suit" Asirini commented.

Commenting on the seminar and the exposure it has given to the two participants. Neela Marrikkar, Managing Director, Grant McCann Erickson said "by bringing McCann's best practices to Sri Lanka, we are reiterating our commitment to the industry as a leader in the advertising fraternity.

We have an ongoing programme to encourage our employees to attend such training programmes and gain international exposure, which in-turn allows them to measure up to higher standards, improve their skills, hone creativity and better their career prospects in the advertising industry.

'At McCann, we believe that training is key to setting higher standards in the industry' Marrikkar said.