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The Marketing Woman

18 Apr 2021

  • SLIM's first ever female President discusses her path and the road ahead in marketing

  It’s a fight that has been fought for decade after decade, one that continues into today: the issue of equal employment rights. While the struggle towards equality for women rages on, this issue often takes a backseat, but the problem remains – do we give women the chance to work without facing discrimination? The current era is seeing a peak in employment rates compared to when women first realised they would need to work to survive and adapt to various economic realities, and one of the fastest growing occupation providers today, both in Sri Lanka and around the world, is the marketing sector. What should also be spoken about is the representation of females at the top management level in the marketing industry. According to the “Gender in Marketing” report compiled by content marketing firm Axonn in 2017, women are more likely to hold a management position, while Director and CEO roles were dominated by men.  The report also noted that it was more common amongst women to rise to manager or “head of” level, and not to progress any further, possibly suggesting an industry bias towards men for the highest-paying roles, or possibly a lack of self-belief amongst some women. Coming back to the field of marketing, or more specifically, the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), which is a driving force behind expanding the marketing platform, this seeming barrier that holds women back from achieving the topmost roles has been broken as SLIM recently appointed its first female president.  SLIM has been in Sri Lanka for decades by leading professional education, establishing strategic programs, forums, and policies to benefit the corporate sector and professionals, and at its recent 51st Annual General Meeting, Thilanka Abeywardena was appointed its first female President. She was inducted as the 43rd President, which of course is nothing but great news to be heard in terms of empowering women in Sri Lankan boardrooms.  In light of the appointment, The Sunday Morning Business took the opportunity to interview Abeywardena to know about her journey towards the success she has now achieved.  When asked about the female representation in Sri Lanka’s marketing industry, Abeywardena stated that, unlike other professionals, there is a higher number of female leaders in the executive level who are taking up challenges on a daily basis. “SLIM took 50 years to produce the first female President, and this year the female representation in the executive committee is 25%. We may have not been great in the past but we have come a long way since then in comparison to other industries in the country at present,” Abeywardena emphasised.  She added that she saw something else in the profession that made her stay in this field from the day she joined, choosing to maintain brands for businesses as a profession. According to Abeywardena, the inspiration to do marketing despite her Bachelor's Degree in IT is that she enjoys the satisfaction of handling brands for businesses, as it’s the closest profession to the customer.  “Marketing gives you a lot of power to understand and anticipate your customer's needs, and create things that the customer might require in the future. At present, the worth of several brands across the globe are bigger than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of some countries; that’s the power of branding,” she noted.    Obstacles in her career Having started her journey in 2007 as a member of a project committee, Abeywardena has climbed the ladder towards what she has achieved right now. Commenting on this, she stated that the hardships she had faced during her career are what molded her into the person she is today. “I cannot specifically name an obstacle; I have faced so many obstacles throughout my journey, which I think is normal. the path isn’t going to be rosy, as it will have ups and downs, and sometimes makes you question whether you want to do this, but this is when to accept the challenge and fight for what you want. I wouldn't have done it any other way when I look back, and I'm very thankful for all the hardships that I went through, as it molded me into who I am today,” she added.   Upcoming plans for SLIM Businesses across the globe underwent a major shift as most operations shifted to the digital platform, which not only changed the mode of functioning, but also the proposed targets set for the upcoming years.  As a marketing institution in Sri Lanka, SLIM took on the challenge to overcome this problem. One such initiatives named “Restart Sri Lanka” commenced last year. According to the SLIM 2020 annual report, Restart Sri Lanka was a mission to reinvigorate the economy of the country, by re-engineering local businesses and the SME sector.  “Sri Lanka is a very resilient nation with an almost unparalleled ability to bounce back from adversity, having gone through significant setbacks due to the war, tsunami, and Easter Sunday attacks. The Covid-19 pandemic is just the latest on this list, and we immediately kickstarted the 'Rata Pana Ganwana Meheyuma' in keeping with the various 'Meheyumas' we as a nation have successfully carried out in the past, especially during the war. The message was crystal clear – the Sri Lankan economic engine had stalled temporarily, and we had to restart it,” said SLIM former President Roshan Fernando, presenting the annual report. Abeywardena, speaking on her plans for SLIM after her appointment, noted that after the support from Restart Sri Lanka in helping entrepreneurs, business leaders, and other individuals, SLIM will now focus on beginning this year under the “new normalcy”.  “The pandemic has also created a new world. One-and-a-half years ago, it would have been impossible for people to be comfortable with taking video calls, but with the digital transformation work, online schooling, online purchasing, and all digital activities is possible right now,” Abeywardena stated.  Further, highlighting her upcoming goals, she noted that SLIM will look into two aspects such as human capital and innovation-imagination, as a mandate appropriate to a marketing association.  Elaborating, she mentioned that in terms of human capital, the student programmes offered to students at SLIM will be matched to international standards, to prepare students based on the forecast the World Economic Forum has announced.   “According to predictions, digital and social marketers will be the fourth-most trending jobs in 2025. Hence, as the national marketing body, we have to make sure we are creating people who can and will be ready to take up these jobs,” she said.  Besides human capital, Abeywardena stated that it is important to advance the marketing professionals in Sri Lanka by also giving them more inspiration and imagination to innovate, and come up with new ideas in this field.  “Our campaigns are going to be about challenging and overcoming the dependent mentality by taking risks, innovating, and learning new skills,” she added.    What’s next? Speaking in this regard, Abeywardena said that SLIM has several milestones to be achieved in the several years to come. According to her, one of the key targets SLIM is looking forward to is to build an in-house research hub.  Secondly, SLIM plans to evolve its education product portfolio to match the skills the new world would need. “I think in five years, the education portfolio will change drastically; hence we cater to the new needs of the world and the country,” she stated. Thirdly, SLIM plans to expand into international affiliation. “We will further strengthen our international business,international partnerships, and affiliations in the near future,” Abeywardena added.  In conclusion, Abeywardena expressed that having plans is important; however the ability to also change them when an unpredictable situation occurs is vital.  “Look at Covid-19 – suddenly all plans set for five years crashed, which we shouldn’t be disheartened about. You should be able to get up and able to fight back by managing time for personal and professional life,” she concluded.       


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