Direct Solutions Int Ltd, Sri Lanka’s largest direct marketing agency, held its 5th anniversary press conference recently in Colombo on the theme ‘Accountable Marketing’. Ms Gowri Shanker, President, CIMA Sri Lanka Division as Chief Guest spoke on ‘The Relevance of Accountability in Marketing and Management Decisions’.

Priyanga Hapugala, CEO, Direct Solutions said that social values have changed so much that if a marriage lasts five years it would become a talking point. To test a new business, would be much less than five years.

He said that the way direct marketers interact and design campaigns for their clients is so different and often their creative work for a client is influenced by data and past learning. Yet Mr Hapugalle stressed that in no way they undermine the importance of brand marketing. It is just that today’s marketers must recognize that brand marketing and response marketing must sit side by side to achieve accountable business objectives.

He said that in the West and now even in Asia, most Asian markets employ an ad agency and a direct marketing agency because, they serve different purposes. He said that they have stood the test and have been very successful and out of their success stories he spotlighted few of them such as Anmum of Fonterra; Triumph International media programme; Singer Mega Money customer loyalty programme, which received international recognition; Singer Plus Rewards programme and consultancy services for a leading Kuwait telecom services provider.

The search for accountable marketing is what made him stumble upon direct marketing 16 years ago while as a brand manager at Reckitt & Colman. He said that he was challenged to produce results by his marketing director. And in the case of some brands he was allocated with very tight budgets. The ad agency did not base the proposals on facts.

He said that they never wanted to know much about the business side of his brand. All they seemed to get excited was on the brand values, the brand positioning statement or brand image. He said that they hardly sat down and analyzed the business results of a campaign. Mr Hapugalle said that a decade later he teamed up with Ian Ramsden, who is a leading personality with huge experience in the western direct marketing industry.

Ian Ramsden, Director of Strategy, Direct Solutions said the true value of direct marketing is the accountability and that it has been the most successful marketing strategy in Western economies for the last 35 years. For the last 10 years it has spread into Asian economies in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and even India.