A balancing act for marketeers

Charumini DE SILVA

Local marketeers are indeed very talented. As a profession, marketing has grown immensely and it will grow further as a well reputed profession in the future. Foreign marketing bodies have recognized the talents of Sri Lankan marketeers and I believe the marketing professionals should get involved in contributing to the fraternity. It could be through share of knowledge, experience or by means of taking responsibility to take marketing to the next level, TVS Lanka (Pvt) Ltd,. Sales and Marketing Manager (New Projects), Prasantha Waidyaratne said.

Here are his frank views:

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

A: I selected marketing as my career because I did science subjects for my Advanced Level examination and could not obtain enough results to go to the medical college. I had the ability of moving with society in a smooth way and it was not an easy task for me when I selected marketing as my career to understand customer’s wants. Marketing is an interesting career as you have to deal with the external environment depending on the strengths and challenges.

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

A: Consumer patterns and the market is evolving rapidly, as marketeers it is important to understand both factors and compete among the other players in the market confidently. As marketeers we have to consider the internal factors as well as the external factors since we need to have a proper balance on each of these parties. The other challenges a marketeer has to face are generate revenues to the company, high competition, effective communication and motivation to keep the team to achieve the targets.

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

A: The impact of the global economic downturn was quite severe since we heavily depended on leasing companies and banks. There was a direct impact on all the financial institutions during the global financial meltdown and that indeed had an impact on our business. However, we then created special payment schemes that suited for all types of consumers and extended many facilities to our dealers. This helped us immensely to sustain the business with less effect during the global economic crisis. At present, we are very optimistic about the future prospects.

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

A: I beg to differ. This concept has changed over a period of time. Considering TVS Lanka, we have a direct link with the board members. Therefore, our ideas, strategies and plans are shared with them. As a marketeer I expect that the representation of marketeers in the boardrooms will gradually increase in the future since the entire business world has identified that strategic marketing is the key to success.

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

A: I think it is more than advertising the marketing strategies as marketing covers a vast area and advertising is another branch of it. Our communication strategies are based on both Above the Line (ATL) and Below The Line (BTL). We do many BTL campaigns such as town based promotions, vehicle parades and other types of sales promotion activities to capture the attention of the consumers.

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

A: When it comes to global branding a company has to compete with the giants of the world industry. It is of paramount importance that your global branding strategy be localized to suit different markets. Language and social cultural barriers will be a task to handle. The key is your strategy to market. Identifying the opportunity, sense, size and seize it.

Q: What do you think about local marketeers?

A: The local marketers are indeed very talented. As a profession, marketing has grown immensely and it will grow further as a well reputed profession in the future. Foreign marketing bodies have recognized the talents of Sri Lankan marketeers and I believe the marketing professionals should get involved on contributing to the fraternity. It could be through share of knowledge, experience or by means of taking responsibility to take marketing to the next level.

There are many opportunities for marketeers if they chose marketing as a profession, as it provides various avenues to develop business in innovative manner, which will help to increase and create new job opportunities for the youth in the country. Local marketing institutions offer a tremendous potential in promoting marketing in the country.

When it comes to global branding a company has to compete with the giants of the world industry. It is of paramount importance that your global branding strategy be localized to suit different markets. Language and social cultural barriers will be a task to handle.

The key is your strategy to market. Identifying the opportunity, sense, size and seize it