Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) commenced the January intake of the Certified Professional Marketer (Asia) programme recently. 

This provides local marketers the opportunity to obtain the first and only status qualification awarded to marketing professionals in Asia, right here in Sri Lanka.

The CPM (Asia) status is conferred by the Asia Marketing Federation (AMF), the foremost governing body of marketing in Asia. It has long been the preferred professional status for marketers in over 15 Asian countries, including world economic powers with highly developed national marketing fields such as China, Japan and South Korea.

The structure and contents of the programme are designed to develop leaders and help marketers to pursue rapid career growth, as evidenced by the achievements of Sri Lankan CPM holders. A few notable CPM holders in the marketing field include W.S.K. Mallikarachchi, Managing Director/CEO of Global Tech Services, Past Secretary General of AMF and Past President SLIM, Rohan Somawansa, General Manager - Sales & Marketing at D. Samson & Sons, Vice President of AMF and Past President SLIM, and Thushara Perera, Group Director – Sales and Marketing at Derana and Past President SLIM. 

The programme covers Marketing Research, Marketing Communications, Marketing Strategy, and the two compulsory subjects of Asia Business and Asia Marketing Management. The AMF recently updated the curriculum to reflect developments around the world in addition to Asian topics. Hence, CPM is no longer limited to the Asian region, and is a professional passport to the Marketing world.

Amithe Gamage, the lecturer of Asia Business at SLIM, has over 25 years of experience in Sales and Marketing in a range of industries and has served for over 15 years as a lecturer. Ahead of the new intake he spoke about the comprehensive focus on regional business of the programme.

“Asia Pacific region includes the biggest and fastest growing economies in the world and the CPM (Asia) programme is designed to provide marketers a thorough understanding of business in this region. It examines the wider implications of the rapidly changing economic, political, socio-cultural and technological environments of regional economies, how they impact businesses and how businesses react to these opportunities and challenges.”

Prasanna Perera, known as the ‘Marketing Guru’ of Sri Lanka, is a leading consultant to several organizations and is a highly sought after trainer with over 20 years of experience. As the lecturer of Asia Marketing Management he spoke about the focus of CPM on individual businesses.

“One of the main reasons why this programme is highly regarded internationally is that, while discussing business in Asia Pacific at macro level, it also analyzes specific marketing cases. Students are called on to analyze a company, identify issues and formulate suitable solutions. This practical approach helps them gain a bird’s eye view of the strategies recommended within the Asia Pacific region.”

As the national body for marketing, SLIM is the only institute which offers marketers in Sri Lanka the opportunity to obtain this prestigious professional status. The delivery of the programme is kept on par with international standards and the facilities and lecturers made available match those in developed Asian nations. The duration of the programme is mere 3 months, and the lectures are conducted in the afternoon, on weekends and after work hours on weekdays, making it accessible to professionals. 

Ramesh Rayappan – CEO - Bartleet Produce Marketing spoke about the flexibility offered by SLIM for this programme. 

“As a CEO I have a busy schedule and sparing time for professional studies is always a challenge. I signed up for CPM (Asia) because it offered me a great deal of flexibility with the schedule of classes and the short duration of the course. It has helped me immensely in formulating long term plans for the company with an international focus. As it is recognized all around Asia and it has proved immensely valuable in my foreign travels as well.”

CPM (Asia) is the highest recognition of marketers, who have attained a competent level of academic and practical understanding of marketing in the Asian region. Obtaining it, opens networking opportunities with over 1000 marketers in 13 Asian countries who are members of a prestigious pan-Asian CPM Society. This society includes professionals from large multinational corporations as well as local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).