Udayashanker Sivasubramaniam
MBA(Colombo), ACMA, FCIM(UK),Chartered Marketer, CPM Asia Pacific and AIB.
Udayashanker is an experienced Marketing professional counting over 27 years of experience in both service and manufacturing industries.
His vast experience spreads across many industries;
media, banking, insurance and poly-sacks.
Excerpt from an interview with Udayashanker Sivasubramaniam published in the BMD recently Is given below.
Since traditional marketing has slowed down, what marketing advice can you give to the small and medium sized businesses across Sri Lanka that are still struggling?
The Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of the country. It is estimated that SMEs in all sectors of the economy contribute 52% to GDP and 45% to total employment are considered as the backbone of the economy. Given their role in the social and economic fabric of the country, the SMEs’ ability to establish themselves and scale their operations is integral to Sri Lanka achieving equitable economic growth.
The marketing function in SMEs is hindered by constraints such as poor cash flow, lack of marketing expertise, organization size but yet they generate sales. In general, SME marketing activities are driven by owner/managers, their personalities and are defined in terms of tactics to attract new business, focusing on competitors, customers, and the business environment. The marketing function is perceived to be peripheral to SMEs to achieve their requirements, most often relating to only sales and promotion, a perception, which has grown from the ability of SMEs to obtain sales without planning their marketing activities.
I strongly feel that SME’s are likely to succeed, if they engage heavily on the ability to challenge the status quo of their businesses i.e.: to challenge what they are doing currently and come up with innovations in products and services , processes to meet customer demands and future trends to obtain a competitive advantage.
The benefit they have is that they are relatively small compared to MNCs and big corporates, giving them the ability to infuse changes promptly and effectively. BMD