CIM Annual Conference to ‘Re-discover Experiential Marketing’

The 8th Annual Conference of The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region is scheduled to be held on 8th May 2008 at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Hotel. The Conference is one of the biggest events in The Institute’s calendar and an important event from the perspective of the marketing profession in the country. For the sixth consecutive year, Sri Lanka Telekom has joined hands with The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region as the Strategic Partner of the Annual Conference.

The Conference will be inaugurated on the evening of 7th May, at the Atrium Lobby, Cinnamon Grand Hotel graced by Prof. Michael Morrison, the keynote speaker. The Technical Sessions will be held on 8th May from 8.00 am onwards at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Hotel.

The theme of this year’s Annual Conference is “Re-discovering Experiential Marketing to Win Brand Loyalty” which will be addressed by a panel of distinguished speakers and some of very successful marketers, both local and international.

Ms.  Chitrangani  Herat  Gunaratne, the Conference Chairman, explaining thebroad  theme  of  the conference stated, “The term ‘Experiential Marketing’refers  to  a  genre  of  marketing  that gives customers an opportunity toengage  and  interact  with  brands, products, and services in sensory waysthat provide information. It refers to actual customer experiences with thebrand/product/service that drive sales and increase brand image and awareness.  It is like the icing on the cake of providing information.” Shecommented  further  that,  “Personal  experiences  help people connect to abrand  and  make  intelligent  and  informed purchasing decisions. It’s thedifference between telling people about the features of a product orservice and letting them experience the benefits for themselves. When doneright, it’s the most powerful tool out there to win brand loyalty.”

The Head of Corporate Integration of The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region, Asanga Ranasinghe says that the objective of this year’s conference is to give the participants a first hand experience from some of the trend-setters in the industry as to how Experiential Marketing could be exploited in order to create positive and lasting brand experiences, thereby building brand loyalty.

The Technical Sessions will commence with an address on “The Power of Emotional Branding” by the keynote speaker, Prof. Michael Morrison followed by the address of Dr. Uditha Liyanage on “Finding the Experiential Marketing Domain”. Some of the mind blowing case studies of leading brands will also be featured.

Aditia Atri, Senior Vice President & General Manager of MRM Worldwide & Momentum Worldwide, India; Tim Jackson, Principal Lecturer at the London College of Fashion and Renton De Alwis, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, will speak on Experiential Marketing from the perspective of advertising, fashion industry and tourism industry, respectively. Dirk De Vos, Vice President Customer Marketing for Unilever - Asia, Africa, Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe; Ranil De Silva, Managing Director of Leo Burnett Solutions INC., Ranjith Pandithage, CEO of Diesel and Motor Engineering Company Ltd, Nicolas Nicolaou, CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka & Maldives, Nushad Perera, Chief Marketing Officer of Dialog Telekom PLC, Richard Wallace, APAC Communications Specialist of 3M, Susara Dinal, will be the other speakers to address the audience. The Technical Sessions will also be complemented with panel discussions directed by eminent moderators.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world’s largest and most prestigious professional body for marketing with over 50,000 members world-wide. The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region is the fastest growing CIM body, with approximately 1,080 members and almost 3,000 student members.