The modern marketer should be two things: Agile and Data-hungry. Today, consumers have become extremely picky about the products they buy and the messages they choose to read. In response, marketers have to curate personalised messages to approach various customer segments, which requires data. The influx of information marketers receive every day is overwhelming, and one might need to critically anaylse them to make a wholesome improvement in strategic decision-making. Collecting data at every customer touch point is as important as analysing them to better understand the audiences, predict the future consumer behaviours, and make effective real-time marketing decisions.
In a bid to upskill the modern marketers and to make them future-ready, the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing—the apex marketing body in the country—recently launched the ‘SLIM Data-Driven Marketing Professional (DDMP). The launch was held at Hilton Colombo Residencies with the participation of industry experts in the country, who joined the programme virtually. The ceremony was conducted under the auspices of Thilanka Abeywardena, President, SLIM and Nuwan Gamage, Vice President-Education, SLIM and Sanath Senanayake, Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director, SLIM. Moreover, Seninda Bandara, Lecturer, SLIM/Founder, Boutique Agency Network and Chamira Jayasinghe, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Arimac joined the virtual launch as guest speakers to enlighten the audience with valuable insights on data-driven marketing and its significance.
DDMP is a 3-month course which is focused on theoretical as well as practical context of data-driven marketing. SLIM DDPM is an ideal specialised programme designed to sharpen the knowledge of aspiring marketing managers—both conventional and digital—and provide the necessary understanding, knowledge and skills in data-driven marketing.
This professional qualification is curated in a way to evoke interest and educate about the essential applications and best tools in data-driven marketing, as well as blockchain technology in order to equip professional marketers to compete effectively and efficiently in their respective markets. DDMP covers a wide scope including, data mining to analysing and effective data-driven decision making. With the knowledge gained through this programme, marketers can streamline the digital marketing initiatives—adoption of big data, cloud, social and mobile marketing campaigns—of their respective organisations to yield a better ROI.
Commenting on the launch of DDPM, Nuwan Gamage, Vice President-Education, SLIM stated, “The entire world is driven by digitalisation, which has changed our social behaviour, economic system and political landscape. In order to survive in such a technology-driven volatile environment, the objective of SLIM is to produce future-ready marketers. Therefore, we have introduced this latest professional qualification to empower local marketers with a global mindset.”
Addressing the audience during the launch, Seninda Bandara, Lecturer, SLIM/Founder, Boutique Agency Network said, “The very idea of data-drive marketing is about how we capture, acquire, and integrate data at all touch points of the marketing process by using technological solutions such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. The content of this particular course is an orchestration of theory and practice in a way to give a deep understanding about data-driven marketing and its application. This course covers a wide scope, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things, data analytics, data visualisation, big data as well as blockchain technology.”
Sharing valuable insights and his experience in the area, Chamira Jayasinghe, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Arimac discussed the significance of data technology and its role as the next level of digitalisation. He also stated about ‘Diyasen’, a case study developed by Arimac on the orientation of robotics in a Sri Lankan context.”
SLIM is poised to groom the prospective marketers of the country to make them future-ready by bridging knowledge and competency gaps through quality educational programmes. During a time when a ‘fingertip society’ has emerged, and almost anything is just a click away, digital marketing and its advancements have become part and parcel of marketing. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for marketers to explore the depths of the digital aspect of marketing to excel in dynamic industries. Moreover, producing future-ready marketers is one of the key strategic pillars of the Institute’s ‘Future-Ready Sri Lanka’ national initiative. As per the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, 50% of all employees will need reskilling by 2025, as adoption of technology takes the world by storm. As technology continues to dominate, the soaring demand for the profession of data scientist would skyrocket in the coming years and become the number one profession in the world by 2025.
Therefore, SLIM expects to enhance the value of the country’s human capital through various initiatives and create a future-ready Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the Future-Ready Sri Lanka initiative is driven by the mission of establishing Marketing as the driving force which enhances business and national value. SLIM believes that modern marketers should certainly embrace data-centric tools to make the most of the treasure troves of audience data being gathered from a numerous devices and platforms to thrive in the digital age. SLIM is synonymous for its exceptional learning experience created through its focused and experienced panel of expert lectures.
SLIM is the National body for Marketing in Sri Lanka and has been promoting marketing excellence and elevating the status of marketing since 1970. It is a member of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL), Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA) and Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL). SLIM also has received ISO 9001:2015 certification in recognition of its superior quality management system and ISO 2990:2010 for Learning Service Provider (LSP), providing non-formal education and training services.