‘Top management are market drivers’:

Invest on brands to reap benefits

Everyone is beginning to believe in investing in brand building as it benefits the company in the long term.

More and more top management in the companies are becoming market driven and have started believing in investing on brands to reap benefits in the long term, said Oriflame Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. Marketing Manager, Kanny Gordon.

Here are her down-to-earth views

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

A: I came into marketing by default. My field of interest was engineering and after my degree I got a job as a management trainee in the Marketing Division of a FMCG company, where I handled international brands such as Revlon, TDK and Wrigleys.

Subsequently, I was given the opportunity to handle female fragrance brands and since I like fashion and cosmetics, I enjoyed handling that kind of portfolio as selling fragrance is like selling dreams.

I really enjoyed this and thought it was a prestigious job. It was then that I realized that I had creative talents and wanted to pursue my career in marketing.

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

A: Being the frontliner is really not that easy. The biggest challenge is to ensure that the brand identity and image is maintained in every marketing action, every event and every communication.

As marketeers we constantly worry about the Brand image while others are always busy trying to get the top line and bottom line.

Being the Marketing Manager of a Direct Selling company and whose independent Sales Force cuts across varying SEC, it’s a real challenge to communicate to them and ensure that they receive the right message.

In marketing one has to be abreast of what is happening in the marketing industry. Cosmetics and personal care is an industry which is constantly evolving due to technological advancements. The needs and wants of people are also constantly changing with time. Hence it’s imperative that one has to be constantly updated on the latest developments in the industry to know where we stand in to market our brands appropriately.

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

A: In bad economies, the first thing that gets cut by consumers are luxury items or products that are not basic essentials. Despite this we have been able to grow.

Fortunately for us, it’s our sales model and the income opportunity we offer that has enabled us to grow.

Hence in times of economic crises, it is the ideal opportunity for us as we attract new people into the business as they look for options for extra income.

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

A: I believe this is because we are the only people who spend money while others bring in money.

I feel this is changing now as everyone tends to believe in investing in brand building and that it benefits the company in the long term.

More and more top management in companies are becoming market driven and have started investing on brands to reap the benefits in the long term. In the long run I believe marketeers will be represented in the board room.

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

A: Our organization is a direct selling company and a mass advertising budget is almost non-existent when preparing an annual budget.

The only advertising that a direct selling company thrives on is word of mouth which is a more powerful form of advertising with no cost incurred.

This is because of our sales model; which is person to person selling.

We do not carry out mass advertising as our brands and products are not available in regular trade or outlets and consumers cannot reach out to our products especially in outstation areas. Hence mass advertising is a waste. Instead we focus on many PR activities where we receive media coverage from events that highlight our income opportunity and product offer. Nevertheless, conventional advertising is also carried out for niche products that are targeted at the urban segment where consumers are able to reach out to our products.

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

A: Strictly adhering to policies with regard to branding and positioning of products at times would not be relevant to our markets.

At times, we cannot price our products competitively as we do not have a control in products positioning.

These are two areas where I have faced a challenge.

Q: What do you think about local marketeers?

A: They have the consumer’s touch, they think local and ensure they appeal to the masses.

That is why some of the brands retain the No: 1 position in the market for many years. For our market, cultural values and emotions in the communications are some key factors to be considered and that is why some brands are successful and have remained the market leaders for many years.

Whether marketing a cosmetic, food item or a household item, I believe any marketeer has to focus on thorough research to draw consumer insights and I see that many successful marketeers do not compromise on this.