Meeting market needs important, says S-Lon Lanka Sales Head:

Marketing is relevant to all sectors

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

Marketing is relevant to all sectors irrespective of its scale of operations. S-Lon, the market leader in its product range has created a household name with growing popularity.

S-Lon Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., Sales Head Kelum Hewawasam said as a local company they believe in the right price, right time and right product.

It is important to meet market needs. It is equally important to maintain quality and continue research and development. Companies need to update the service level in quality and quantity.

Here are his down-to-earth views.

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

A. I wanted to become an accountant, but ended up being a marketeer. In the field of marketing, the sky is the limit. This is why I pursue a career in marketing. As I believe, marketing has an important role to play in the country's growth. Marketing is an area where one needs to concentrate and focus on.

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

A. As the market leader, we try to be innovative and not follow others. We are careful when we introduce our products and are sensitive to customer needs. We position ourselves differently. A company has to pay a high price when copying others.

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

A. The current economic crisis is slowing down and the situation is changing for the better. Sri Lanka's purchasing power was low, five to six months ago and this affected us directly. PVC customers are keen on buying their day-to-day needs; not for development activities.

Interest rates have dropped at present and this is good news for us. Prices have decreased due to competition. Customers have more money to spend as the increased purchasing power due to the improved economic situation has created opportunities to purchase more.

As all competitors are trying hard to stay in business we need to look beyond the boundaries.

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

A. I do not agree. As the Head of Marketing and Sales it is important to have authority to take decisions. A company should be market oriented. From the lower level to the top level all are marketeers. We do not consider them differently. Over 90 percent of the sales people are with customers all the time. Each person has his own targets and objectives. When it comes to decision making, marketeers should be represented at the board meetings.

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

A. The advertising strategies vary from product to product. We always believe in advertising. It should be a kind of win-win situation. Customers should benefit from the awareness created by advertising to select the right product at the right time and at right price. What is most important is to create an awareness regarding the products on offer among customers.

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

A. We are a local manufacturing company. At times it is difficult to compete with global companies. However, we have not faced major challenges from them. The company enjoys economies of scale and this is an advantage to compete with global companies.

Q. What do you think about local marketeers?

A. Our marketeers are very talented and innovative. They understand well what real marketing is and are also customer oriented. This is beneficial for customers and end users. The country's level of education is high and development is at a high rate. This not only applies to marketing and sales, but also for accounting as it is a subject of marketing.

Our marketeers have a good exposure and they are proactive. Marketeers practise modern thinking and they have a bright future ahead of them.