ADVERTORIAL

Textured Jersey to knit new dimension at SLDF 2011

A creative and colourful initiative that employs the fashion catwalk to highlight the untapped potential of knitted fabric will be unveiled by Textured Jersey at the third edition of the Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF).

The final year students of the Academy of Design who are designing Textured Jersey’s evening wear collection

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Textured Jersey, the official Fabric Partner of the 2011 Festival, will present a 'glamorous' facet of the knitted fabric it produces, the use of which is largely limited to the production of intimate apparel by the company's international customers.

Elegant evening wear specially designed by a group of final year students of the Academy of Design and produced with a range of Textured Jersey's knitted fabric will be presented by models at three fashion shows during the festival.

On November 19 and 20 these unique designs will be presented to a distinguished audience comprising of top-notch local and international designers and high profile personalities from the apparel sector as a part of the main industrial show of the SLDF. These designs will also be presented on November 18 at a fashion show organised by the Academy of Design for students.

The Academy jointly organises the Sri Lanka Design Festival, the country's most prestigious annual celebration of design, craft, fashion and apparel, with the government and key industry stakeholders including the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF).

Textured Jersey is the first textile mill in the backward integrated supply chain to sponsor this prestigious annual event.

"The sponsorship of this premier design festival presents an ideal forum for Textured Jersey to raise awareness among key target groups of the diverse array of applications possible for knitted fabric," a spokesperson for the company said.

"The new dimension we present could open up an exciting new avenue for the apparel industry."

Complementing its sustainability driven business approach, Textured Jersey will also contribute towards the enhancement of skills of Sri Lanka's young fashion designers by initiating an exchange programme in collaboration with the Academy of Design.

The programme will commence in January 2012.

Arpico Privilege Family Beach Holiday competition winners

Arpico Supercentre, provided 50 Arpico Priviledge card holders and their families with the opportunity to enjoy a two-day holiday in Club Bentota, all-expenses sponsored by the company under its recently launched promotional campaign, “Arpico Privilege Family Beach Holiday - 2”.

Arpico Privilege Family Beach Holiday - two promotional competition winners enjoy holiday in Club Bentota

In its second consecutive year the Arpico Privilege Family Beach Holiday promotional competition was held for a family of up to four people including two children. Loyal card holders won their all-expenses paid beach holiday by purchasing Rs 3,000 worth of products at Arpico Supercentre, including three nominated brands. The prospect of this exhilarating beach getaway saw a staggering number of entries, an increase of 20% this year, reflects the excitement and loyalty of Arpico Privilege card members.

Richard Pieris Distributors Ltd CEO Andrew Dalby said, “Arpico Supercentre is more than a normal retail store, it is a place where people can connect, and experience innovations in retail shopping. We treat our customers as partners of our success. We consider it a responsibility to provide them with ‘fresh ideas every day’ true to our mantra. At this juncture we are pleased to let you know that we will be introducing more supercenters in the near future, enabling us to bring our fresh ideas to more customers across the country.

The promotion was a welcome break for the 50 Arpico Privilege families who won, giving them an opportunity to reinvigorate their family ties while relaxing in an extravagantly comfortable setting. Competitions were co- sponsored by brands such as Comfort, Rexona, Clogard, Mortein, Vaseline, Flora, Maggi and Clean & Clear.

Richard Pieris Distributors Ltd Customer Relationship Manager M R Saban commending about the highly successful event said, “We consider the Arpico Privilege Family Beach Holiday is the retail giant’s way of thanking our loyal Privilege cardholders. This is a part of an exercise to continually provide the best to our Privilege Card Holders families. We constantly strive to offer the best quality product and service to our customers. I take this opportunity to thank all parties who assisted us to organize such a grand festival to our Privileged and Loyal Customers”.

Arpico Privilege cards grants loyal customers the most number of rewards in the country. Within a span of four years the membership grew to 190,000 card holders, of which 6000 are Gold Card holders. With every Rs.100 purchase one reward point is collected and bonus points can be obtained upon purchase of selected brands and products, and can be utilized to reduce the total amount from a bill. Furthermore opportunities to take part in promotional competitions and special offers are also accessible for Arpico Privilege card holders. Arpico Privilege card application forms are available through all Arpico Super Centres for a Rs. 100 joining fee.

The primary Silver Privilege card can be upgraded in to a gold card through obtaining 2500 rewards points at the end of the year.

Hutch Deepavali treat for Jaffna

In celebration of Deepavali, Hutch is screening the latest blockbuster film Ezham Arivu directed by A R Murugadoss and starring Suriya and Shruti Hassan.

The acclaimed film will be shown at the Raja Talkies Cinema Hall in Kasturia Road, Jaffna where fans will be able to catch it as soon as it is released. Ezham Arivu is a revolutionary new venture for Tamil Cinema and the story revolves around the life of circus people ? which completely new territory for the Tamil Film industry.

Hutch is offering its Jaffna customers this unique opportunity through the Hutch shop in Jaffna Town, where customers can get invitations for this exclusive screening with each SIM purchased or a reload of Rs 199. Hutch is one of the best value for money networks in the country and has brought many Value Added Services to enhance customer experiences.

Avirate opens in Kandy

Avirate, a brand which prides itself on being 100 percent Sri Lankan, expanded its local presence with the opening of its third store at Kandy City Centre recently.

Avirate store in Kandy

The exclusive fashion store which caters to the modern woman with its tag line of "high street sensuality" was launched by two faces of the brand.

The grand opening of the store, was graced by Avirate Chairman Ashraf Sattar and Avirate Managing Director Arshad Sattar.

Avirate experience offers a range of day and evening wear, lingerie,

accessories and shoes at its new store at a convenient location in Kandy.

"One year after the opening of our Flagship Store, we are proud to open our third store at Kandy City Centre which has been rated the best mall in Sri Lanka," said Manager Communications, Sarinda de Silva.

"This year has been a landmark for Avirate, The opening of the flagship store, Cinnamon Lakeside and Kandy City Centre stores as outlets are the vanguard of an ambitious local and international expansion plan that will

take Avirate to a much wider market, offering high street fashion while

retaining the exclusivity associated with the brand", De Silva added.

Asim Younoos Chief Executive Officer of Avirate opined that it is a pleasure to open our new store at Kandy City Centre, as this enables the ladies of Kandy to dress up in our unique and exclusive range.

Q&E rethinks packaging design

As Sri Lankan consumers become more brand-conscious, local and multinational companies have intensified their competition for the hearts, minds, and wallets of these shoppers. A key front in this battle is the need to define a distinctive and consistent brand identity through packaging design. At Q&E, a team of brand architects and designers takes a holistic approach to this process, relying on research-driven insights to create compelling packaging that stands out on store shelves.

The team begins by evaluating the existing marketplace, assessing local, regional, and international conditions and competition while carefully analyzing distribution channels. Having conducted the necessary research, Q&E then commences the design process, ensuring that the final result strikes a chord with consumers, resonates with the brand's values and is aligned with the client's marketing objectives.

The company's work with a diverse range of national and multinational brands exemplifies the strength of its strategic approach.

Q&E Senior Art Director Nishantha Gammudhuwattasays, when Milco tapped our team to overhaul its Highland line of dairy products, we leveraged market research to rebrand the client's condensed milk product and redesign the packaging for its ice creams and yoghurts.

The resulting packaging designs melded contemporary visual aesthetics with mass-market appeal, creating a unified look that could accommodate classic flavors as well as newer offerings. Consumers have taken a liking to the reinvented Highland dairy brands, with distributors struggling to keep up with demand.

Although Q&E has successfully undertaken packaging design for a number of food brands, such as 'Pacific', 'Fish Curry', 'Mom's Choice', and 'Lanka Soy' from Delmege Distributors, its expertise is not limited to this consumer segment.

Indeed, the agency has created iconic designs for industrial, medical, and household products as well. After winning the opportunity to create packaging designs for Lanka Walltile's Swisstek brand of hardware products, Q&E devised a unique packaging identity that could be extended to include products as diverse as aluminium windows, decorative pebbles, and tile cleaners.

Asiri Abhayaratne, Q&E's Account Management Director says, our design expertise has been exported to foreign markets as well.

He says, Lalan Rubber tasked the agency with designing packaging for its American safety products range of safety gloves, which are on sale in the US. Conversely, multinational giants have engaged Q&E's services to redesign foreign product packaging for maximum local impact. Reckitt Benkiser, for example, commissioned the agency to freshen up the packaging for its Cardinal and Mansion brands of floor polish for the Sri Lankan market.

Seylan launches novel rewards scheme

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

Seylan Bank launched Thagi Pita Thagi, a reward scheme with a difference to take the banking reward schemes to a new height.

Seylan Bank officials at the press conference. Picture by Wimal Karunathilaka

Seylan Bank has performed exceptionally well after the setback it faced in the recent past. The bank is the one of the best capitalized banks with a capital adequacy ratio of 14.9 percent. The successful right issue enabled the bank to make Rs 4.6 billion capital infusion and is on the path to high performance, Seylan Bank General Manager and CEO Kapila Ariyaratne said.

The new shareholder composition brings stability to the bank and is an excellent combination of expertise, experience and knowledge. With over Rs 160 million total assets and 12 percent non-performing loans ratio which was reduced over the time, the bank is poised to make a strong presence in the local banking arena, he said.

The bank has a forward looking plan to bring benefit to the thriving economy of the country. It also embarks on an aggressive deposit drive to widen its current customer base of 2.4 million.

Innovation is the key driver of business and is the strategy for success. Business is an investment of capital and knowledge where pool of competent people becomes the main asset. This is how Seylan Bank has forged ahead, Seylan Bank Chairman Eastman Narangoda said.

The bank has already laid the foundation to take business from good to great. The newly launched reward scheme is customized to bring added benefits to the loyal and potential customers, he said.

The reward scheme brings eight products under one umbrella and is an innovative scheme to reward its customers for simply being a member in the Seylan family. We fuel excitement through customized products or reward where innovative marketing is the prime tool, he said.

The Thagi Pita Thagi scheme is a unique proposition where it re-invigourates total concept of banking rewards offering even greater benefits. The scheme will be effective from October to April 30, 2012 to motivate more customers to join the Seylan Family with a view to energize the staff and enable all staff members to be a part of this key venture.

GSK launches cervical cancer vaccine in Maldives

The Maldives has received its first vaccine against cervical cancer, the commonest cancer among women in South Asia, following the formal launch of the vaccine in Mal‚ recently by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals - Sri Lanka, which is responsible for the distribution of GSK products in the archipelago.

Dr Kanishka Karunaratne (Right) and Dr. Lucian Jayasuriya at the launch of GSK’s cervical cancer vaccine in the Maldives

Dr Kanishka Karunaratne, Consultant Gynecological Oncological Surgeon at Sri Lanka’s National Cancer Institute, Maharagama, and Dr. Lucian Jayasuriya, Medical Director of GSK Sri Lanka presided at the event, attended by medical professionals including gynecologists, paediatricians, general practitioners and medical officers in the Maldives.

Delivering a presentation on ‘Cervical Cancer and its Prevention’ Dr. Karunaratne said cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Worldwide, more than 500,000 women are newly diagnosed with cervical cancer and 280,000 women will die from it each year, he said, noting that the majority of these deaths are in developing countries.

Dr Lucian Jayasuriya presented clinical data on GSK’s breakthrough cervical cancer vaccine, which delivers high and sustained levels of antibodies aimed at providing long-term protection against the most common and aggressive human papilloma virus (HPV) types, responsible for the majority of cervical cancers. He stressed that while the vaccine provides primary prevention against the disease, secondary prevention through regular cervical screening needs to be continued.

Cervical Cancer occurs when infection with human papilloma virus becomes persistent and progresses to cancer. More than 80 percent of women who are sexually active are exposed to some form of the human papilloma virus, and 15 of these HPV types are known to cause cancer.

Anti-money laundering solutions from Union Bank

Union Bank recently implemented anti money laundering solutions in partnership with InfrasoftTech and Informatics.

Union Bank of Colombo PLC (UBC),is the first Sri Lankan bank to have taken an initiative to implement technology based money laundering prevention. After a long drawn evaluation in which many global vendors participated, Union Bank decided to work with InfrasoftTech, a leader in AML systems in the international markets.

Union Bank is focusing on automating its KYC and monitoring processes to enable risk weightage based approach to prevent money laundering in Bank’s networks. This technology upgrade is expected to support the Bank to meet compliance requirements with a higher level of proficiency and assist in identifying the Bank’s customer needs more effectively.

InfrasoftTech’s solution provides AML compliance supporting most central banks’ directives on financial crime prevention in over 27 FIU jurisdictions. The solution named OMNIEnterprise is by far one of the rare solutions in the market that work equally well for Banks, Insurance, Asset Management Companies, Lending Firms and Currency Exchange Houses.

We are the first Sri Lankan Bank that has implemented automated Anti Money Laundering Solution. OMNIEnterprise(tm) AML solution will support the Bank to comply with all regulatory requirements set by Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with more alleviation and monitors other essential factors such as risk, de-duplication, analysis, online swift scanning and early warning. AML system will be used by Union Bank’s Corporate Office compliance team and users at branches as well”, Union Bank Director and CEO Anil Amarasuriya said.

Hanuman Tripathi, Group Managing Director, InfrasoftTech, said, “We are very proud to work closely with Union Bank who has taken lead in automating AML processes. We are committed to providing technology that not only helps to undertake AML Compliance as per Central Bank directives, but also helps to proactively reduce bank’s overall risk on financial crimes being committed using their channels. Our focus lies not merely in the reporting but in building surveillance on the business processes and transactions that help to enhance safety for banks and their customers. Over a period of time, our AML solution data also helps in improvising CRM strategy of banks and hence improved personalized services.”

He said that InfrasoftTech has enabled technology for close to 100 financial institutions across the world to manage their money laundering prevention programmes and is serving more than 200 banks globally in delivering cutting edge technology for enhancing productivity, customer reach and profitability. Our experience of working in 27 global jurisdictions helps to bring global best practices to Sri Lankan banks.”

Deutsche bank rolls out new integration solution for Dialog

Deutsche Bank has implemented a new integration solution for Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile network provider, which enables seamless, secure and direct connectivity between the client and the Bank via the SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (‘SAP NetWeaver PI’) technology. In addition to a flexible user interface, the Bank’s solution also offers value added services and functionalities such as parameterization and customization that are unprecedented in the market.

Dialog Axiata PLC, an ISO 9001 certified company, is a subsidiary of Malaysia-based listed Axiata Group Berhad, which operates Mobile Communications networks supporting the very latest in multimedia and mobile Internet services.

Dialog Axiata, the largest and fastest growing cellular service in Sri Lanka also operates Dialog Television a direct-to-home satellite TV service and Dialog Broadband Network - providing backbone and transmission infrastructure facilities and data communication services, serving a subscriber base of over 7 million Sri Lankans.

SAP NetWeaver PI is a middleware that facilitates the exchange of specific information between a company’s internal business system and those of external parties without the need for external parties to directly access the company’s back-end system.

The SAP-certified solution offers corporates all over the world who are using SAP as their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or back-end system, the ability to exchange data in a customized manner with the Bank to streamline and simplify their payment and reconciliation processes.

 ODEL deploys innovative new customer survey

The legacy of Steve Jobs has even permeated customer surveys at Sri Lanka’s hip department store chain ODEL.

A customer at ODEL’s Alexandra Place store participating in an iPad customer survey.

The company has deployed iPads with a specially developed iPad application to conduct customer satisfaction surveys efficiently and unobtrusively at its flagship store at Alexandra Place, and plans to extend the programme to other outlets soon.

A series of dynamic questions pertaining to different aspects of the ODEL offering can be completed by a customer in less than two minutes, providing valuable feedback and insights that will be used to further enhance the in-store experience, the company said.

Ranging from the quality and the width of the range of products on offer, the sizes available, to service levels of store personnel, ancillary facilities and even the piped music and in-store ambience, the questions seek the views of customers on the myriad facets of shopping at Sri Lanka’s definitive department store.

“The customer experience has always been the paramount consideration in everything we do,” Thilanka Kiriporuwa, Head of Human Resources and Operations at ODEL said.

“ODEL is striving to be current with the latest technological innovations to improve our engagement with customers.”

ODEL was also the first retailer in the country to introduce mobile Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals using Apple iPod devices that process credit or debit card payments over a secured wireless system from anywhere in the store, offering customers an alternative to queuing at fixed cashiers’ terminals.