CIM Annual Conference to share key insights to next generation of marketing trends

The 11th Annual Confe-rence of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Sri Lanka Region will be held on 16th & 17th August 2011 at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo.

The event which focuses on propagating marketing expertise through prominent marketing gurus is one of the institute’s flagship events and brings together marketing professionals, both locally and internationally.  

Sri Lanka Telecom has joined hands with CIM Sri Lanka Region as the Strategic Partner of the Annual Conference for the 11th consecutive year. The tie up was announced at a ceremony held on 1 August 2011 at the Sri Lanka Telecom Head Office.

The Conference will be inaugurated on the evening of 16 August, at the Atrium Lobby, Cinnamon Grand Colombo and will be graced by the keynote speaker Prof. Malcom McDonald, Emeritus Professor, Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield Bedford and Chairman, Brand Finance PLC, who will speak on “Marketing Past, Present and Future”.

The Technical Sessions will be held on Wednesday, 17 August 2001 from 8.30 a.m. onwards at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Colombo.

The theme of this year’s Annual Conference is “Emerging Themes in Marketing” which will be addressed by a panel of eminent speakers from both local and international backgrounds, who will share the invaluable expertise they have gained through the years at this event.

Bertram Paul, Technical Chair of the CIM Annual Conference, explaining the theme of this year’s conference stated “with CIM celebrating its centenary this year, we felt it opportune to examine key emerging themes that are likely to shape the future of marketing.

As such, we’ve zoned in on 4 contemporary marketing issues which we believe will impact the next decade at least for marketers”

Nadi Dharmasiri, Vice Chairperson of CIM Sri Lanka Region and Event Chairperson said, “We are delighted and honoured to have SLT as our strategic partner once again.  

This flagship conference, will be a milestone in the marketing landscape as it’s enriched with eminent resource personnel, flagged by a timely theme”.

The Technical Sessions will commence with an address on “Marketers as Value Drivers” by Prof. Uditha Liyanage, Director Postg-raduate Institute of Management.

The first technical session will be on the topic of “Strategic Marketing” and will involve a presentation on “The Role of Strategic Marketing in increasing Shareholder Value and Risk Management” delivered by Prof. Ranjan Das, Professor of Strategic Management, IIM Calcutta, followed by a panel discussion comprising keynote speaker Prof. Malcolm McDonald along with Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism and Ashok Pathirage, Chairman and Managing Director, Softlogic Holdings Ltd.

The second technical session will be on the topic of Innovation and will involve a presentation on “Creating a Culture of Innovation” delivered by Dr. Ashish K. Khandpur, Senior Executive Director, Technical, 3M India and Sri Lanka., followed by a panel discussion by Nandana Wickramage, Group Director and Head of Marketing and Sales, Ceylon Biscuits Ltd., Dinesh Saparamadu, Chairman and CEO, hSenid Business Solutions and Madu Ratnayake, Vice President and General Manager, Virtusa Ltd.

 The third Technical Session will be on the topic of “Sustainability” and will involve three interesting case studies on ‘Sustainability’ by corporates that have been recognised for their work in this area, namely Holcim (Lanka) Ltd, Hatton National Bank PLC and Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC.

The presentations will be made by Rathika De Silva, Dilshan P. N. Rodrigo and Suresh Gooneratne, respectively.

The fourth & final Technical Session for the day will be on the topic of Innovation and will involve a presentation on “The Future of Digital Marketing” by Vikram Kaushik, Business Strategist and Brand Advisor & Former MD/CEO – Tata Sky.  

This will be followed by a panel discussion by Reeza Zarook, CEO, Anything Ltd., and Jt. Managing Partner KonstanzGlobal Pte Ltd.; Suren Kannagara, Chief Executive, Affno Ltd.; and Lalith Sumanasiri, Jt. Managing Director, Ogilvy Media, Phoenix Ogilvy.

The panel discussions for the technical sessions will be moderated by Bertram Paul, General Manager – Sales, Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world’s largest and most prestigious professional body for marketing, boasting over 60,000 members world-wide. The Chartered Institute of Marketing - Sri Lanka Region is the fastest growing CIM body, with approximately 1,080 members and almost 3,000 student members in Sri Lanka alone.