SLIM and 4As hold first-ever Young Marketer Sri Lanka 2013

A young individual from Sri Lanka’s marketing fraternity was selected as the first-ever winner of the Young Marketer 2013 competition recently.

Conducted by the 4As in partnership with the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), this event was held to shortlist a young local marketer to represent Sri Lanka at AdFest 2013, a widely respected regional marketing communications event to be held in March in Pattaya, Thailand.

Nuwan Rathnayaka, Assistant Brand Manager at Keells Food Products PLC, was adjudged the winner after a keenly fought contest involving nine other competitors.  

Young Marketer Sri Lanka 2013 gave contestants the task of demonstrating their skills in compiling and presenting a comprehensive advertising brief. The winner now heads for AdFest 2013, where he will participate in workshops alongside similarly talented young people from across the Asian region. And that’s not all; he will be mentored by world-renowned advertising gurus with a wealth of experience to impart. So a truly life-changing couple of weeks awaits this young marketing professional.

The panel of judges for Young Marketer Sri Lanka 2013 comprised Commercial Bank of Ceylon Deputy General Manager for Marketing Hasrath Munasinghe, SLIM Immediate Past President and Derana TV Director of Marketing Thushara Perera, Response Marketing Chief Executive Officer Alyna Haji Omar, Triad Joint Managing Director Varuni Amunugama Fernando and Starcom Worldwide Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Michael Holsinger. Additionally, 4As Vice President Himanshu Saxena, along with Grant Group of Companies Head of Media Peter Solomon, were responsible for preparing the brief which detailed the tasks allocated to each of the contestants.

Despite it being the first Young Marketer competition, the response from advertising agencies, both large and small, was heartening, according to 4As President Chalaka Gajabahu. “This will undoubtedly become a much looked-forward to annual contest that will see talented young marketing professionals prove their mettle and, at the same time, encourage many more to choose this as a rewarding career.”