Marketing Challenges in 2011

English Poet and Essayist Charles Lamb once said “New Year’s day is every man’s birthday”. This must be the reason behind celebrating New Year by most of us in a big way. The New Year always gives us an opportunity to start afresh. It is always a new beginning. 

There are loads of challenges for Sri Lankan Marketers in 2011 and I wish to list down a few.

With the end of a three decade war, political stability and investment and  a business friendly environment has created many opportunities for Sri Lankans. Marketers’ duty is to create profitable business solutions by analyzing the environment and present condition in the country whcih is very conducive for this. What is vital for success is your speed in exploring opportunities and you must do it before others.

2011 will be dominated by online media. Facebook has now more than 500 million registered users and according to statistics available in the site more than 50% of users of FB log in to the site at least once every given day. Social interactive sites will drive on user generated content and this will shape the future state of relationships. It will be a challenge for Sri Lankan marketers to find ways and means of entering into digital/online media. Though the internet is still an urban based phenomenon, we could not underestimate the relevance of it for marketing in Sri Lanka. It is amazing to see leading companies start comprehensive pages in FB which is highly interactive. Coke which is the number 1 beverage in the world has more than 21 million fans in FB and the number is more than the entire population of Sri Lanka. It is interesting to know how many Sri Lankan companies will take the maximum out of social media in 2011 following footsteps of global giants.

One of major challenges for Sri Lankan marketers in 2011 will be to enhance the quality of customer service. The  younger generation of Sri Lanka is not valuing it  and there is a massive overall drop in customer service among Sri Lankan companies. Customer service should be in the blood and it may naturally come out from the service guy. But it is unfortunate to note that nowadays it is very rare to find companies with good customer service. It will be challenging for marketers to keep their service level high and companies must invest adequately on building favourable attitudes among their employees. In 2011, the companies who thrive will be the ones who recognize that Customer Service is not an expense to be trimmed back, but a revenue contributor. Abandon the old view of customers as limitless commodities that can easily be replaced. As the level of marketing “clutter” increases, it will become harder and more expensive to replace customers in 2011. Focus must be on giving  good service for customers and retain their loyalty for the company brands and that will be among the main challenges in 2011. 

Remember what Oprah Winfrey once said about New Year; 

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right”.