CIM strengthens tutor standards to increase quality of marketing education

gayathrie.saravanan@cim.co.uk

29/03/2022

CIM strengthens its tutor standards to increase higher quality of marketing education

• Quality audits to maintain high standards across all CIM accredited study centres
• Ensuring consistent quality of all CIM lecturers
• Evolving professional qualifications catering to changing market demands and world trends

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the world’s leading body of professional marketers and marketing education, recently held a tutor conference in Sri Lanka to enhance the quality and consistency across all its study centres and lecturers. CIM’s Learner Partnership Manager, Maureen Wincott who led the conference focused on knowledge sharing, problem discussion, and shared CIM’s newest syllabus and study method updates.

“Maintaining a consistent standard across its study centres world over is a priority for CIM. The tutor conference offered an excellent opportunity for our lecturers across the four accredited study centres to not only meet and exchange ideas but to make sure they are compliant with the high standards expected by CIM,” said Onalie Dissanayake, CIM Country Head for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

CIM highlighted the stringent quality controls it uses to maintain the high quality of its professional qualifications and global standards across all its accredited study centres. The quality control measures taken include the use of advance technology such as state-of-the-art software to detect copying and plagiarism of study material, both online and offline together with hi-tech proctoring systems to monitor online exams.

Additionally, CIM is recognized by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) in the UK which regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments. Ofqual’s regulations require its member study centres to conduct quality audits. Complying with these regulations, CIM conducts quality audits which carry the additional benefit of ensuring consistent standards across all CIM accredited study centres worldwide.

The quality audit involves checking all aspects of a study centre including the personnel and its processes. Further, the quality audit requires auditing the administrative processes of the study centre as well as inspecting the facilities provided to its students. The findings of the quality audit decide whether a particular study center will keep its accredited status or have it removed.

Currently, the four accredited study centres; Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) Business School, Synergy School of Marketing, Dafedil Academy of Business and Marketing and CCBM (Cambridge College of Business and Management), providing tuition for CIM courses in Sri Lanka are tasked with recruiting qualified candidates to serve as lecturers for relevant subjects.

“In keeping with CIM guidelines, academic as well as professional experience and capability are checked pending approval of candidates as lecturers. The rigorous measures taken ensure the most effective delivery of CIM study materials by the most capable individuals. Additionally, all lecturers must be members of CIM,” explained Onalie Dissanayake.

 “Meeting lecturers from other accredited study centres, discussing common problems we faced as lecturers and finding solutions was insightful. We look forward to a stronger interactive community bond among CIM lecturers. We were also able to clear any doubts regarding new developments at CIM, which I think helps to plug in gaps between CIM and us lecturers,” shared one of the participants of the conference.

In line with the trend observed in the world marketing community towards socially conscious green decision making, CIM introduced its newly launched professional course, Diploma in Sustainable Marketing, at the tutor conference. CIM is the first to offer a professional qualification with a special focus on sustainable marketing.

CIM is the foremost provider of marketing education in Sri Lanka and has always accommodated various study methods affording the best flexibility to its students. In addition to physical classes, CIM has encouraged various study methods including the use of online platforms and facilities over the last 10 years.

The CIM community in Sri Lanka is the largest region outside of the UK and one of CIM’s most important regions. It serves over 2,000 studying members and 1,000 professional members, aiding them to elevate themselves in their professional careers while creating value and fostering excellence in Sri Lanka's business landscape by harnessing marketing knowledge and building world-class competencies. CIM recently launched a new revised suite of qualifications designed to empower Sri Lankan marketers, equipping them with the skills to operate at the highest level. The Institute has incorporated digital marketing to their course module since 2010 and offers a specialised digital marketing diploma to allow practicing and budding marketers to brush up digital skills.

CIM is the world's largest and most prestigious professional body for marketing. With over 20,000 members in more than 100 countries, CIM strives for business leaders and opinion formers to recognise the positive contribution professional marketing can bring to their organisations, the economy and wider society. 

CIM CEO Forum Jan 2022

gayathrie.saravanan@cim.co.uk

09/03/2022

CEO Breakfast Forum 2022: Converting Data for Higher Returns in the new Mar-Tech era

• Intelligent use of data to improve better targeting and segmenting
• Catering to evolving customer preferences and giving the best experience possible
• Data, sustainability and using tools to optimize the information from data to make processes efficient and customer centric

Last week, Technology giant, Microsoft and the world’s leading professional marketing body, The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in Sri Lanka joined forces at the CEO Breakfast Forum to discuss the trends and technologies of the future marketing era. At the forum, both organisations found that ‘Mar-Tech’ (marketing technology) will define the success of companies in the future through better user experiences and higher returns on investments.

Experienced marketers and CEO’s shared their knowledge and expertise on the optimization of data to deliver enhanced, information driven, proactive marketing efforts that would shape the new age of marketing in a technology driven environment.

The forum focused on ‘Managing Customer Data in the Martech Era’, where keynote speakers including, Microsoft Azure Data Lead, Thulasee Shan and Chief Marketing and Business Operations Lead, Thilanka Abeywardena shared how data can be used to predict customer behaviour and attend to their needs ahead of customer search for products and services. They say that better targeted and low risk campaigns that can bring higher returns are possible by using existing customer behaviour and preference data.

“There is no need to be a great programmer to make the best use of data available. Providing differentiated services to your customers is simplified by the use of smart technology and apps to filter data, which can be used to make intelligent decisions,” said Thulasee Shan, stressing the importance of managing data. He says that 75% of online business are forecasted to outlast the pandemic over physical business.

Marketing is changing. No longer is it brand driven. It is now customer driven and therefore customers must sit at the heart of every brand journey. The future customer expects you to have exactly what they want, which can be achieved by managing customer data in the most efficient manner possible.

Despite having data in their possession, companies struggle to manage, sort it and identify what to do with it. Data support software that are already available can ease the complexity of segmenting, sorting, identifying data in a manner that makes campaigns easier and measurable.

“In global demand centers, machine driven algorithms pick up hot leads. Machine learning will indicate which leads to look at, which allows marketers to better focus their time on value added work,” said Thilanka Abeywardena, Marketing and Business Operations Lead for Microsoft Sri Lanka explaining the importance of using tech tools to manage data.

Addressing Sri Lanka’s technology challenges and way forward, ICTA Chief Oshada Senanayake said, “Driving Sri Lanka towards digital fluency and to a digital economy requires proper mechanisms are in place and there is adequacy of law to protect data. It is important that we give consumers the confidence to embrace a digital journey by ensuring cooperation among different sectors and agencies, as more and more public companies go digital.”

The speakers expressed the importance of increasing awareness amongst businesses of the value of data, which is essential for an efficient digital transformation. They agreed customer data needs to be handled in a sensitive manner while being utilized effectively, and must learn from the pitfalls of others to drive innovation capable of optimizing data.

The panel discussion which followed was moderated by founding Editor of the Daily Financial Times, Nisthar Cassim. The panel consisted of industry figures including Microsoft Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Harsha Randeny, Thulasee Shan, Thilanka Abeywardena and Chairman of Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka Oshada Senanayake. CIM UK Chairperson Dr. June Dennis was also present at the forum.

The CIM community in Sri Lanka is the largest region outside of the UK and one of CIM’s most important regions. CIM recently launched a new revised suite of qualifications designed to empower Sri Lankan marketers, equipping them with the skills to operate at the highest level. The Institute has incorporated digital marketing to their course module since 2010 and offers a specialised digital marketing diploma to allow practicing and budding marketers to brush up digital skills. To take advantage of CIM’s growing portfolio of online services, which include: webinars, podcasts and training materials and online courses like the ‘Digital Marketing Channels’ course click here.

CIM Graduation 2022

CIM Sri Lanka

22/02/2022

CIM Graduation was conducted in the Main Hall of BMICH on 27 January 2022. Our Chairperson June Dennis presided over the event, while Dr. Kelum Gamage, Director Postgraduate Institute of Management, served as the Chief Guest. We graduated nearly 800 students from Level 06 and Level 07. Following the formal graduation, we hosted a membership investiture in which over 100 members were invested.

Call for students from Sri Lanka to enter prestigious CIM marketing competition

Press Release

18/10/2021

Marketing students at universities in Sri Lanka are being invited to enter ‘The Pitch’, a prestigious student marketing competition organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK (CIM).

Now in its eleventh year and taking place virtually, ‘The Pitch’ is an international competition for second and third-year undergraduate marketing and business students. The competition challenges university students from Sri Lanka and across the world to respond to a live client brief, which sees teams of two or three students compete for a cash prize of £1,500 and the title of 'Marketers of the Future'.

This year’s competition is sponsored by the UK’s leading health and beauty retailer, Boots. Entrants will be challenged to raise awareness of the partnership Boots has with The Prince’s Trust, in a creative way that brings to life the expertise and ‘behind the scenes’ support for young people.

CIM’s country head of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Onalie Dissanayake said: “CIM’s The Pitch competition is a great opportunity for Sri Lankan university marketing students to showcase the knowledge and creative skills they have learnt from their marketing qualifications.

“It is noticed by businesses in Sri Lanka that innovation and adaptability, especially to online technology, will be key to businesses survival and marketing skills will be important in the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. This competition is a great way to put those skills to the test in front of an esteemed panel of industry experts and I would encourage as many Sri Lankan university marketing students as possible to enter and use this opportunity to apply their knowledge on a global platform.”

Gemma Butler, marketing director at CIM UK, said: “We’ve been running The Pitch competition for eleven years now, but every year I continue to be inspired by the brilliant ideas presented by the marketing students.

“Being crowned ‘Marketer of the Future' is a brilliant way to bolster a CV and stand out from the crowd in an even more competitive job market.”

Last year’s winners were a trio from Leeds Beckett University in the UK, who impressed judges with their situational analysis of Samsung’s brand positioning and identification of channel opportunities for its Gen-Z target audience.

The Pitch has been so successful that it is now integrated into the syllabuses of many universities. The Pitch is also part of a wider initiative that runs alongside the CIM Accredited Degree partnership programme, which maps marketing and business degrees against learning outcomes within CIM qualifications.

More information, including how to enter and details of the challenge can be found here.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors
For media enquiries
James Delves
CIM Head of PR and External Engagement
james.delves@cim.co.uk

Corinne Lavictoire
CIM PR Executive
corinne.lavictoire@cim.co.uk

If you have any questions regarding The Pitch, please contact the CIM Events Team via thepitch@cim.co.uk

Artifical Intelligence - CPD Programme 2019

CIM Sri Lanka

16/05/2019

CIM had their first CPD programme for the year on the 03 April 2019 at the Blue, Hilton Hotel. The CPD programme was on Artificial Intelligence and delivered by Rohan Jayaweera Founder - The Design Store, Antyra Solutions. He spoke about The Next Human Evolution, covering the history, variations, applications in business, future and skill set. The keynote was followed by a panel discussion. The Panelists were Deshamanya Dr Rohantha Athukorala and Dinesh V, along with Rohan Jayaweera. The programme had over 60 attendees and was a roaring success. 

View photos from the event

CIM needs you! A unique opportunity to be part of CIM as a volunteer or senior ambassador for Sri Lanka

by Ian Marshall, Head of International Relations at CIM

14/01/2019

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work for CIM and drive the direction of Sri Lanka’s marketing community? That opportunity is now. From today, CIM is seeking expressions of interest from its members in Sri Lanka to become either ‘senior ambassadors’ or ‘operational volunteers’. Both roles are critical to the evolution of marketing in Sri Lanka and will be responsible for supporting CIM as we raise awareness of the value of: professional marketing practice to business, CIM qualifications and CIM membership. You will be a key part of our team as we develop and grow the marketing community in Sri Lanka. This is an exciting time for CIM and one we urge our members to be a part of.

Further information:

As stated, CIM will be appointing volunteers in two types of key roles:

• Senior ‘Ambassadorial’ roles. This will require candidates to possess an ability to influence senior business leaders and build sustainable relationships with businesses and government. We will be looking for CIM members in senior positions who are motivated to support CIM and enhance its perception with senior decision makers in business and government and who have the connections to enable this.

• Operational volunteers. We are seeking CIM members who have expertise in some key operational areas and who wish to share this experience to support the activities of the CIM office team. This may include building relationships with schools/universities and businesses in a variety of industry sectors, providing advice on marcomms or assisting with events management. These volunteers may, on occasion, lead small project teams of volunteers under the guidance and direction of the CIM Country Manager.

All the positions will be individual appointments made by CIM. This will not be a committee.

We understand that volunteers have many other work, social and personal commitments which will take up their time and energy. This structure allows flexibility for individuals to commit as much time or as little time as they can without feeling over committed and unable to be as effective as they would like to be.

If you are a CIM member residing in Sri Lanka and want to support us in any of these positions, please send your CV to Ian Marshall, Head of International Relations, at ian.marshall@cim.co.uk by Monday 28 January 2019.

Kind regards,

Ian Marshall
Head of International Relations