CIM President acknowledges growth of marketing in Sri Lanka

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam

On his first visit to Sri Lanka, global CIM President Sir Paul Judge was overwhelmed by the rich culture of the country which he experienced first-hand during his trip to Trincomalee for the Independence Day celebrations hosted by the Government.  

In addition to being the President of the Associations of MBAs, Chairman of the Enterprise Education Trust and the Deputy Chairman of the American Management Association in New York, Judge was also a key benefactor of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge and holds honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge, Westminster and City universities.

Invited by the External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris to look into the education sector of Sri Lanka, Judge was amazed to witness the tremendous growth Sri Lanka has shown over the past few years, regardless of the 30 year war.

Acknowledging the boost in the travel and tourism sector, Judge stressed on the need for marketing professionals in Sri Lanka to make the industry productive and take it further. Despite his tight schedule, Judge spoke to the Daily FT on CIM, its credibility in the country and the growth of marketing in Sri Lanka. Following are excerpts from the interview:



Q: How successful has the CIM Sri Lanka office been so far?

A: The Sri Lanka office is very successful. Established back in 1995, it was the first CIM operation overseas and is the biggest branch which is tremendous for a country like Sri Lanka. It is very important to note that the branding and reputation of CIM in Sri Lanka is very good.

Q: If you were to rate CIM in Sri Lanka on a scale of 1 to 10, where would it place?

A: I would easily say nine and half. The minus point five as one can always do better.

Q: How could CIM do better in Sri Lanka?

A: CIM is improving all the time. It is expanding membership which is one indicator and already has a good events program but there is always more that can be done. I think more efforts will have to be put into retaining students with CIM and progressing them up to the chartered marketer status, allowing Sri Lanka to have many as possible in that calibre.

Q: How important is the CIM qualification for Sri Lanka?

A: It seems to be very well respected here as it is in other countries. Around the world, we keep the standards high and the qualifications are very vigorously examined and marked. The CIM qualification provides something the employers can trust. We have the certificate, the diploma and then the chartered marketer, which is the highest level.

The chartered marketer requires a combination of academic knowledge and those involved have to demonstrate a practical ability to ensure that they have done their job. It’s rather like being a doctor, you need to have the theory as well as the practice, and being a marketing professional is no different to that.

Q: Marketing trends are constantly changing, globally and locally. To keep up with the changes, are there going to be any amendments in the CIM syllabus?

A: The syllabus is looked at every year and changes are incorporated accordingly. One of the biggest trends in the world in marketing is going digital. The use of the web, social media, emails, or any form of web and mobile based communication for that matter, was hardly used a decade ago but now, it’s huge and everything else is dependent on it.  

Marketers need to understand the basics because no matter what business industry they are in, they are likely to have digitisation as a key part of their job. In CIM, we have already incorporated the digital element in studies but obviously technology changes so accordingly the program has to be updated all the time and we do so.

Q: From a global perspective, what are the emerging marketing trends that are coming up?

A: The biggest one yet is going digital, social media and all other aspects related to that. I think as result, methods are becoming more scientific. The old phrase about advertising, ‘I waste half of my money but the trouble is I don’t know which half’ is becoming less relevant now. Certainly, with digital applications you can measure outflows very carefully.

Digitisation has got to a stage where when you walk by a shop, your phone will know where you are and would get you an advertisement for that shop along with the offers it has in store. Matters are become more scientific, but that doesn’t mean that the artistic aspect of it should go as well. In certain parts of marketing, especially the creative side, clearly one needs the spark of genius to create advertisements. However, that is becoming a smaller part of marketing and most people are spending a lot of time with numbers much more than they did 20 years ago.

Q: As a region, do you think Sri Lanka is keeping up with the trends?

A: Absolutely. Our qualifications are recognised worldwide and as new things crop up, the syllabus here will have to adjust. We have five approved training centres here where they have to teach material relevant to the qualification and the qualification is obviously defined according to what we think marketers should know.

By following CIM, one would automatically be updated. Looking at the practical implications, after the terrible times of the last 30 years, I am very impressed with the development the country has shown in just four years and a lot of that is marketing led. The explosion of mobile phone usage and all others are the results of proper marketing techniques. While a good government and good governance is important, it is businesses that produce wealth in the end. If businesses aren’t successful, societies will not be successful.

Q: What are the prevailing challenges for marketers?

A: Keeping up to date. I would like to think of marketing as a profession that is a mix of being a medical doctor, an architect and a lawyer. The first is about continuous education, the second is about academics, whereas the last is about adhering to ethics. In any profession, you can’t aim to simply go to college, learn something and stop, with the mentality that it is all you need to know for the rest of your life.

Having continuous professional education, going back and learning more is very important to gain knowledge about the latest techniques. Keeping up with this is the challenge. Being a marketer and not being updated will make one outdated and your competitors will be very much ahead of you.

Q: There is talk about CIM launching a specific segment catering to the travel and tourism industry of Sri Lanka. Why do you think such a segment is important?

A: Sri Lanka is expanding its tourism and it was a difficult area for a long time due to the war at the time. Now, I hear of many new leading hotel chains, such as Shangri-La, coming into Sri Lanka. These are all huge developments. When I was in Trincomalee for the Independence Day celebrations, I stayed at the Jungle Beach Hotel which is a new hotel and I learnt that five years ago, it was a terrorist headquarters.

In a short span of time, tremendous transformation has taken place. With more up-market developments that are coming in to the country, management and marketing people will be needed to sell them. Therefore, the marketing of travel and tourism will be very important for the economic development of Sri Lanka.

Q: When will the program on the travel and tourism be launched?

A: We are still working on it but we hope to launch the program towards the end of the year.

Q: Sri Lanka is one of the top tourist destinations; do you see yourself visiting again for leisure perhaps?

A: I would definitely consider coming back for a holiday and am certainly going to recommend Sri Lanka to my friends.