'Strive to understand practical application of theories':

Apply common sense to marketing - CEO eMarketing Eye

The younger generation must strive to understand the practical application of the theories they have learned to become effective marketeers, said CEO eMarketing Eye Rajitha Dahanayake.

He said that common sense needs to be applied to marketing, giving potential customers what they want and thus converting them into customers. The formal theories and principles of marketing are great to enhance and guide these objectives and as such marketing qualifications form the spring-board to an effective career in marketing.

Here are his down-to-earth views.

Q. What inspired you to select marketing as your career?

A. Marketing is a dynamic field that combines a multitude of disciplines including strategic planning, effective business communication and innovation.

As a youngster at the beginning of my career, marketing seemed to me like a path to the top, a chance to become the face of an organization and drive a business forward. Being a people person and someone who enjoyed challenging work, marketing seemed like a natural fit.

Q. Being a frontliner of the company, what are the challenges you face in the field of marketing?

A. The main challenge in marketing is understanding your target audience and matching their expectations in a manner that leads to increased sales; the foremost measure of successful marketing.

My company deals with some of the leading hotels in the world, to understand their branding, their expectations and then to negate their fears in dealing with a relatively new company, were some of the early challenges that had to be surmounted to get to where we are today.

Q. What is the impact of the current economic crisis on your organization?

A. My company uses the Internet as a distribution channel to market leading hotel brands directly to their prospective customers. The Internet has long been considered a more cost effective channel than other traditional media. The economic crunch has actually had a positive effect on our company as hotels looking for alternative options now turn to us for means to increase their revenue.

Q. In many companies we often see that marketeers are not represented at boardroom meetings. What is your view?

A. I do not personally agree with this. Although a marketeer may not be present per se, the marketing function is always represented in the boardroom.

Q. What are the advertising strategies that you employ in your organization?

A. As Internet Marketing is a relatively new field, we strive to educate our target market about the benefits and necessities for Internet marketing. We attend several international conferences and exhibitions annually, conduct workshops and the like to create this awareness and gain visibility.

When it comes to direct advertising, most of our advertising efforts are also Internet based, where we use the Google Content Network and Social Media such as Facebook.

Q. What are the challenges you see when it comes to global branding?

A. Budget constraints I think are foremost. At the beginning, you concentrate on just doing business and building a pipeline. Sustainability and planned expansion is the order of the day. Building a brand is a significant investment and needs to considered against your business model.

We are an Online Marketing Agency that mainly focuses on a Business to Business model.

At present, brand recognition is more of a welcome side-effect and not a planned marketing strategy. With the investments involved and the type of work, our sales are based on the strength of our portfolio and referrals from existing customers.

Q. What do you think about local marketeers?

A. With new marketeers coming out in hundreds, I fear there is a chance for the real sense and true purpose of marketing to be forgotten.

Common sense needs to be applied to marketing, giving potential customers what they want and thus converting them into customers.

The formal theories and principles of marketing are great to enhance and guide these objectives and as such marketing qualifications form the spring-board to an effective career in marketing.

While senior marketeers know this fact, the younger generation must strive to understand the practical application of the theories they have learned to become effective marketers.