Business

‘Women will lead the ever-evolving marketing landscape’

Published

4 years ago

2022/04/12

Thanzyl Thajudeen MCIM CMktr MSLIM MCPM

We are living and breathing an information or creative era today and the ability to capture and manage peoples’ feelings have never been more crucial to the success and sustenance of brands and relationships both internally as well as externally, demanding marketers to possess emotional intelligence at their best possible self. This is well reflected on the growth and importance of intangible assets which today makes up a significant proportion of all corporate value.

Empathy is the keyword here – the ability for marketers to dive deep into neutrally understanding the constantly changing paradigms of not just their consumers but also every stakeholder involved in the value creation chain, and actively seek to learn the many influences and underpinning reasons and undisclosed feelings in a world where the context keeps highly evolving. In many cases, marketers tend to just focus on the relationships with consumers and that too on a more quantitative surface level – labeling them as segments or groups – than an individual focus. A majority undoubtedly still follow those strategies and actions that belong to the industrial revolution, knowing very little that everything around them has already changed. And this could be why men still largely dominate the leadership positions in marketing. But not for long.

We have witnessed that women are naturally able to empathize more than the male counterparts, even though neurologically we are all born with a very similar ability. Many studies show that women score higher on EQ tests than men but there are no genetic biases for these differences. This could also be due to the biological differences, for example Oxytocin is found in higher levels among women, making them more empathetic than the higher concentration of testosterone among men where the brain is tuned into systems than emotional relationships. However, research on these areas is still at its infant stage.

Women are also very likely to be taught about empathy by their female role models when growing up from their childhood, and these socially nurturing roles have been on and around them for generations making it a learned awareness and shared skillset. They can quickly capture and understand various non-verbal communication to include facial expressions, tone of voice and body language. People feel recognized – seen and heard – when they are actively listened to, with the right posture and in turn they share some of the most deep, insightful insights that couldn’t have been known otherwise.

It is not that men are naturally pruned to other way around; it is just that they do not take the initiative to learn empathy from all walks of life. The industrial age probably made them, and in many instances continuing to do so, even more analytical, and systematic. Though this is just as important, it should never surpass or compromise the importance of empathizing with all stakeholders. Rather this numbers-driven skillset should be applied to quantifying and justifying future marketing strategies and its risks associated, the time value of money and capital costs, to create shareholder value, an insightful point I found on a blog post of Prof Malcolm McDonald, and not just narrowing down to traditional marketing analytics.

Men undoubtedly have a lot to learn from the women in marketing. They should develop abilities to see the world through the eyes of others, breaking away from the long association of their own paradigm. They should listen actively to their colleagues, superiors, consumers, suppliers, and partners, gauging both verbal and body language, and ask more about what and why does he or she feels so. The more one does this, the more this would increasingly be a natural response. This is very important to break the ego-centric mindset among marketers, as thinking that they know it all is a very vicious cycle to be in. Today, as marketers, we are dealing with the ‘heart’ than the ‘mind’ of consumers, which is very challenging as many of the problems brands and organizations face today arise from this aspect, yet we approach it like we know what the problem is.

In many academic studies, it shows that women score higher than men in coaching and mentoring others. They can meticulously choose words and language that positively impacts workplace engagements, for example they repeat and rephrase back to people what they have said, and this gives one the reassurance they are being heard, encouraging deeper levels of trust and connection.

(Thanzyl Thajudeen is a senior marketing and design consultant. He can be reached via thanzyl.thajudeen@gmail.com)

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Business

Sri Lanka’s 2026 economic growth predicted to be around 4-5 percent

Published

23 hours ago

2026/01/10

Thilina Walpola

Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe; ‘Growth prospects okay’

Sri Lanka’s economic growth for 2026 will be around 4-5 percent, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said.

The Governor indicated the estimated economic growth while announcing the Central Bank’s policy agenda for this year, last Thursday.

‘The Central Bank’s 2026 growth estimation is higher than the growth prediction of the IMF and the World Bank and is achievable, the Governor told the media while announcing the Central Bank’s policy agenda for 2026.

Dr. Weerasinghe added: ‘The Central Bank will introduce a benchmark intra-day reference exchange rate this year to ensure transparency in the foreign exchange market.

‘The absence of a reference exchange rate has held back the expansion of the Sri Lankan forex market and discouraged the trading of rupee-denominated derivatives Governor said.

‘The Central Bank last year carried out the necessary preliminary work to implement the benchmark spot exchange rate.

‘The benchmark intra-day reference exchange rate will be introduced in 2026 to foster a transparent foreign exchange market.

‘This benchmark will guide market participants, help reduce volatility and promote more competitive pricing on a given date, thereby enabling the introduction of more innovative products in the foreign exchange market.

‘Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange market has limited derivatives like currency swaps and options aiming to deepen markets and attract inflows.

‘However, these instruments failed after a lack of reliable reference exchange rate amid concerns over excessive speculation, rupee over-appreciation risks and interventions distorting clean floating rates.’

Meanwhile, currency dealers welcomed the move and said it will help to deepen the market.

“This will expand the market with more products and promote rupee-denominated derivatives, a currency dealer from a local bank said.

“It is something the market wanted to fix in derivative prices. This is a pricing mechanism for the rupee, he added.

By Hiran H Senewiratne ✍️

Business

Sevalanka Foundation and The Coca-Cola Foundation support flood-affected communities in Biyagama, Sri Lanka

Published

23 hours ago

2026/01/10

Thilina Walpola

With funding support from The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF), the Sevalanka Foundation has launched a humanitarian relief programme to support flood-affected communities in Biyagama. The initiative focuses on restoring access to safe water, healthcare services, and essential public facilities during the critical recovery period following the Cyclone Ditwah.

Working closely with the Divisional Secretariat, the program prioritizes the cleaning and rehabilitation of contaminated dug and tube wells, helping address the urgent post-flood challenge of access to safe water. This intervention will also support the cleaning and reopening of essential public spaces, including schools, and Grama Niladhari (GN) offices, enabling authorities and communities to resume daily activities safely. The Sevalanka Foundation and TCCF, as part of the initial response, have also donated water pumps to the Divisional Secretariat to support immediate water extraction and clean-up efforts.

In addition, as the second main component of the project, and based on the guidance of the Medical Officer of Health (MOH), support is being provided to MOH-operated healthcare facilities to restore access to emergency and essential medical services. This support includes sanitization, debris removal, hazard stabilization, and the provision of emergency medical supplies such essential medicines and hygiene products. Medical camps staffed by doctors and senior nurses will be conducted through MOH offices to provide prioritized groups of persons with health, nutrition and hygiene related relief items.

Business

Bourse radiates optimism as UK grants tariff-free concession to local apparel exports

Published

23 hours ago

2026/01/10

Thilina Walpola

CSE activities were extremely bullish yesterday mainly due to the UK government’s announcement on tariff free access for local apparel sector exports into the UK coupled with Central Bank Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe’s positive outlook on the economy this year.

Amid those developments the turnover level also improved and the All Share Price Index moved up to the 23500 mark during the trading day.

The All Share Price Index went up by 127.17 points, while the S and P SL20 rose by 56.75 points. Turnover stood at Rs 8.5 billion with 18 crossings.

Top seven crossings were: LOLC Holdings two million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 1.18 billion; its shares traded at Rs 575, Renuka Agri 45 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 594 million; its share price was Rs 13.20, Sampath Bank 1.4 million shares crossed for Rs 215 million and its shares traded at Rs 154.35, Renuka Holdings 1.5 million shares crossed for Rs 75 million; its shares traded at Rs 50, Hayleys 200,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 41.3 million; its shares traded at Rs 207, Tokyo Cement (Non-Voting) 400,000 shares crossed for Rs 37.8 million; its shares sold at Rs 50 and NTB 100,000 shares crossed for Rs 326 million; its shares sold at Rs 326.

In the retail market top seven companies that contributed to the turnover were; LOLC Rs 340 million (591,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs 310 million (two million shares traded), Renuka Agri Foods Rs 275 million (19.4 million shares traded), ACL Cables Rs 238 million (2.3 million shares traded), Overseas Realty Rs 215 million (4.9 million shares traded), CIC Holdings (Non Voting) Rs 180 million (6.3 million shares traded) and Wealth Trust Equity Rs 132 million (8.2 million shares traded). During the day 269.3 million share volumes changed hands in 47852 transactions.

It is said the banking and financial sectors performed well, especially Sampath Bank, while a top diversified company, LOLC Holdings, also performed well.

Yesterday, the rupee opened at Rs 309.15/30 to the US dollar in the spot market relatively flat from Rs 309.10/50 the previous day, having depreciated in recent weeks, dealers said, while bond yields opened higher.

The telegraphic transfer rates for the dollar were 305.8500 buying, 312.8500 selling; the British pound was 409.7568 buying, and 421.1186 selling, and the euro was 354.0809 buying, 365.4441 selling.

By Hiran H Senewiratne ✍️