Saranga Wijeyarathne named among Most Influential Global Marketing Leaders

One of Sri Lanka’s best known marketers, Saranga Wijeyarathne, gained international recognition when he was named among the 50 Most Influential Global Marketing Leaders at the World Marketing Congress 2015.

Saranga, Group Chief Executive Officer of Suyamas Group of Companies, received the award at a gala ceremony in Mumbai during the World Marketing Congress which was held from 26-28 November at Taj Lands End, in India’s commercial capital.

Saranga was also one of the speakers at the World Marketing Congress, which was held under the theme ‘If Not Now, When?’ Over 1,000 leaders in the field of marketing from over 100 countries participated in the Congress, which was partnered by CMO Asia, World Brand Congress and World CSR Day.

The Suyamas Group is comprised of Suyamas International Ltd., the first company to manufacture spring mattresses in Sri Lanka; USA International King Koil Ltd. (which manufactures spring mattresses under the USA brand King Koil for the Sri Lanka and Maldives market; Suyamas Trading Ltd. which is into Green Energy; Suyamas Distributors International Ltd. which manufactures PU form and latex rubber; the publishing house Asia Media Corporation Ltd.; interior solutions provider Design Studio International Ltd.; and Wasgamuwa Apparel International Ltd.

Last year, Saranga was listed among the ‘100 most talented global marketing leaders’ at the World Marketing Congress 2014 in Mumbai. Among his accolades are the Brand Leadership Award at the Global Awards for Brand Excellence 2013 in Mumbai; and the Media Professional of the Year Award at the Global Awards for Brand Excellence 2014 in Singapore. He has been a speaker at various industry events in Germany, Netherlands, UAE and India. He was a Member of the panel of judges at the EFFIE Awards 2015 in Sri Lanka and INMA Awards 2015, USA, organised by the International News Media Association. 

Saranga is a Past President of the MBA Alumni Association of the University of Colombo; past Senior Vice President of the Colombo Chamber Of Commerce; and past Director of the International Advertising Association (IAA). 

Saranga holds an MBA from the University of Colombo, where he won a Gold Medal for Strategic Management; and a B.Sc. (Special) in Marketing Management from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura. He had his early education at Nalanda College, Colombo.

He has been a visiting lecturer/guest lecturer at various programs of the University of Colombo, University of Kelaniya, University of Sri Jayawardenapura and Open University of Sri Lanka. 

He earlier served as Director – Marketing at Ceylon Newspapers Ltd; Assistant General Manager of Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.; and as a Marketing Consultant at Softech Global Incorporation. He is married with two children.