SLIM recognised by four awards in 2012/2013

By Joanne Kotelawala

The Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) is a professional body that caters to the promotion of marketing and elevating the status of marketing within Sri Lanka. SLIM has been engaged in achieving this vision since 1970, subsequently in 1980 SLIM was incorporated through an Act of Parliament.

SLIM’s mandate is to uplift the standards of marketers and marketing in Sri Lanka thereby adding value to the economy and the nation. Thus SLIM has aimed to get closer to this objective by pushing the boundaries and developing innovative events and programs that works towards this common goal.

SLIM President for the year 2012/2013 Tilan Wijeyesekera, said “This year we were recognised and rewarded for our efforts. It is extremely pleasing and satisfying to win four awards three of them international awards. “It is truly a tremendous recognition of the team’s efforts.”

Further elaborating the details on the awards Wijeyesekera added, “The most significant achievement was that SLIM won the National Business Excellence Gold award, which was presented by the National Chamber of Commerce.

“This award, is a recognition of the hard work SLIM puts in to the marketing fraternity, and we are especially proud because the award speaks of us as a business entity, and recognises the management of resources, and mobilisation of resources for the betterment of the marketing fraternity.

“Since we are a non-profit organisation it is all about managing the surplus and pumping it back to improve the marketing fraternity, so we are happy that these efforts were recognised as a good business model.”

The three international awards received by SLIM are the “most admired events for branding and marketing,” at the Asian Business Leadership awards held in Dubai. “We received this recognition for the SLIM Brand Excellence Awards.

We stood alongside with other prestigious winners and competed alongside large multinational companies. Our home-grown brand excellence awards were recognised at an international level,” said Wijeyesekera.  

Additional awards won by SLIM this year includes ‘Brand excellence in Service Industry’ and ‘Overall Brand Leadership’ at the World Brand Congress Global Awards for Brand Excellence held in Mumbai.

“This is the first time SLIM has received Gold awards and receiving four in one year is definitely a highlight. We are known as a body which always give awards but this time we are the recipients of these prestigious local and international awards.

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“Ultimately this is a result of the hard work put in over the last 44 years by many past presidents and Exco’s and staff of SLIM, which has now borne fruit,” Wijeyesekera added.

Being entitled to the EFFIES

SLIM is also entitled to the franchise of the EFFIES, which is the world leading communications effectiveness awards scheme.  Another awards program run by SLIM is the ‘People’s awards’ where the consumer is the judge and jury.

SLIM in conjunction with Nielsen conducts an island-wide research that assesses the most popular personalities, corporate and brands of Sri Lanka. In addition slim also runs the NASCO awards that recognises the best sales professionals of the country.

Speaking of plans for the future Wijeyesekera added “Our theme for the year 2012/2013 is ‘sustain, dare and beyond.

“We have to sustain what is good and dare to be different, because as marketers, we have to be daring, beyond is to push the limits and go beyond our traditional boundaries and thinking and look at different paradigms.

“We have achieved this to a great extent this year. The Brand Excellence awards created history this year by going international and saw international brands competing for the first time.

“My vision is to someday see SLIM Brand Excellence awards as a truly international awards show and ultimately a global award show to show case Sri Lanka as a hub. Next year we hope to add more contestants with the Asian Marketing Federation assisting in increasing nominees from abroad.

“Another significant achievement this year was that the show had over 800 plus participants making this possibly the biggest national level corporate awards show in Sri Lanka.”





Going beyond boundaries



Further, highlighting SLIM’s efforts to go beyond boundaries in line with its theme this year, is the fact that SLIM took a bold step to take our educational products beyond the boundaries of Sri Lanka by entering the Maldives market.

“We went beyond Sri Lanka and went to Maldives. The SLIM educational qualifications are now offered overseas for the first time. We are also looking at the possibility of expanding to other countries in the future and to take our products overseas and hence to bring money in to Sri Lanka and be recognised internationally for our educational qualifications” Wijeyesekera added.

SLIM has truly displayed their commitment to sustain, dare and go beyond. In addition to providing recognised educational qualifications, the institute makes a genuine effort to uplift the skills of marketers in Sri Lanka, who are then empowered to uplift the standards of the marketing industry and thus make a significant contribution in the growth of the Sri Lankan economy.

In addition, SLIM is renowned for offering the best marketing educational programs in Sri Lanka. SLIM probably has the best marketing qualification available in Sri Lanka, which is the SLIM Post Graduate diploma in Marketing.

They also have a portfolio of educational products from start up level marketing qualifications like the PCM or the preliminary certificate in marketing to specialised qualifications such as the diploma in brand management, national diploma in sales management, airline marketing, and pharmaceutical marketing and so on.

They also have specialised corporate oriented tailor-made products for specific needs such as for Unilever, Etisalat, HNB Assurance as well as higher level qualifications needed to take marketers to the board room such as an MBA.

All in all SLIM is a not for profit organisation which is focussed on providing our students and members the best possible experiential learning opportunities through value for money educational products.