CIM Sri Lanka wins Best Managed Region award for the third year

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Sri Lanka Region received the Best Managed Region Award and the Best Regional Programme of Events Award, winning 2 out of the 3 prestigious awards presented at a ceremony during the annual CIM International Chairmen’s Conference, held at the Head Office of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. This is the third consecutive year that The Institute has been conferred the “Best Managed Region Award”.

These two awards have been conferred in recognition of The Institute’s excellence in management and value creation towards its members and the regional community, assessed in terms of the most innovative and comprehensive annual plans, their successful implementation and outstanding results. To further its goal in promoting CIM Membership as the standard of Professional Marketing Practice in Sri Lanka, The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region has taken a number of initiatives during the year 2006/2007, catering to the diverse needs of its stakeholders- namely CIM students, members and fellows and the marketing fraternity at large.

One of the several steps taken by The Institute towards student development during the year was the launch of the CIM Knowledge Reel Series, with the objective of bridging the gap between theory and practice and aiding CIM students to get an insight into marketing in practice. Dialog Telekom has been the exclusive event sponsor of the CIM Knowledge Reel series.

The Institute has continued to participate in educational exhibitions and conducted a number of seminars and career guidance presentations to educate A/L students and post secondary school students on marketing as a career. The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region achieved very good pass rates in 2006: 55.08% at the June 2006 session, the highest CIM pass rate so far in the history of Sri Lanka; produced 3 world prizewinners. Further, The Institute has experienced a remarkable increase in exam registrations, attracting 4200 exam entries during 2006. Reaching another very important milestone, The Institute conducted CIM examinations for the first time in The Maldives through The British Council last year and will continue to do so.

The CIM Professional Series and CIM Talking Point are 2 popular CPD programmes that The Institute has been conducting in order to assist its members reach the next stage in their professional careers and contribute towards excellence in the marketing profession in the country. The CIM Professional Series programmes are designed to develop the skills and expertise required at operational and tactical management levels, thereby inculcating best marketing practices in Sri Lanka. The CIM Talking Point Series have been initiated in order to apprise the marketing fraternity of contemporary topics of interest and to strengthen marketers to successfully face the challenges ahead of them.

The main event sponsor of the CIM Talking Point series for 2006/2007 was HSBC- the world’s local bank. The Institute is now geared to conduct these programmes more frequently under its new strategic intent. The Annual Conference, Fellows and Chartered Marketer Forum, CEO Forums and The Chartered Marketer magazine are a few other programmes and projects that The Institute has continued to organize during 2006.

Concurrent with these activities, The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region has promoted CIM amongst the business fraternity by conducting industry specific, tailor-made presentations through the Market Interest Groups in Apparel, Financial Services, Packaging, Tea, Modern Trade, Agriculture, Information & Communications Technology sectors. This has also encouraged non-members to blend with the CIM community and adopt best marketing practices in their respective industries.

It is in recognition of this significant value creation that the CIM Sri Lanka Region has provided for its stakeholders, while driving change in Sri Lanka’s business landscape through professional marketing input, that it has been singled out for these prestigious awards. The Institute also takes this opportunity to thank its corporate sponsors for 2006, namely, Q and E Advertising, Wijeya Newspapers Ltd, ABC (Pvt) Ltd, Singer, LMD, Pan Audio, Ceylinco Internet Services, Papyrus and ETV for their invaluable support which has made this victory a reality.