Financial Times

'Ape Karma' as a New Year resolution
By Random Access Memory (RAM)
Yet another New Year has dawned on us bringing us new hope, new aspirations and new challenges. Some reflect on the past, learn from the follies and resolve to move forward.

Yet others move on regardless continuing the same lifestyles steeped in the same follies and failings. What we all fail to realise is that it is not business as usual out there in the world of today's business. New info-communication technologies have made our world even smaller than the world that some what shrank with the advent of transoceanic travel by jet aircrafts a few decades ago. In spite of the uneven and even unjust trade and investment regimes, we see the emergence of opportunities for smaller nations and business units which utilise the power of the Internet in a fast global business environment.

In marketing communication its brands and unique selling propositions (USPs) which occupy special positions. Just like it was in the past, even in the globalised business world of today, a brand identity, recognised as a symbol of quality delivered to the consumers with unfailing consistency, is a most important pre-condition for business success. Integrity and trust are core values associated with successful brands. These brands always utilise a USP to project themselves to the many public and customer bases they serve.

In the context of marketing of nations, their products and services, the USP's and brand identities become extremely important considerations. In Sri Lanka we have often ignored and even despised our own ethos or the value of 'Ape Karma' (who and what we are) as a USP. Here the 'Ape Karma' referred to represent the core values, traditions and practices that have had positive influences on us as a nation and not the recently acquired divisiveness, lawlessness and the theatrics of the political 'leadership'.

Have you not seen the Indian community in action anywhere in the world when they greet each other on the streets with the 'Namasthes' and 'Namaskars' and the use of their own language even as bits of spice when conversing in another. The use of 'Sawaadee' by the Thais, 'Om Shanthi' by the Balinese, 'Salamat' by the Indonesians and Malaysians and 'Bola Bola' by the Fijians. Have you not noticed the use of the 'Hakka' ritual by the New Zealand sports teams before they begin each of their sports encounters? In my own mind, what all of these reflect is a statement of a USP and a brand identity of that particular nation and its people.

In Sri Lanka, with the exception of a very few enlightened organisations and individuals, the use of even our traditional greeting of 'may you all have long life' or 'Ayubowan' is placed on the back burners. Most organisations charged with taking the Sri Lankan brand identity forward do not have a semblance of 'Ape Karma' reflected in the manner in which they operate. The office layouts resemble those of any similar organisation in the west with greetings on the phone and at receptions no different to those of the west. The level of understanding, appreciation and taking pride in 'Ape Karma' or the ethos of our nation, seem to be at a low ebb all around including most of the leadership of the nation.

No matter if it is e-Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan tea, Sri Lankan cricket, Sri Lankan tourism, exports and investments in Sri Lanka or the myriad of other products and services we promote and market to the world, we would do well to launch them from a platform that is based on the ethos of our nation reflecting the 'Ape Karma' as the USP. For it is the 'Ape Karma' that will make us stand tall in the crowd in the globalised business environment, where everything and everyone is fast becoming faceless, drab with an uninteresting sameness.

In a business environment where 'no body knows you are a dog', as depicted by Bill Gates in the famous cartoon of the two dogs on the Internet in his book 'The Road Ahead', what will stand us in good stead will be to reflect our ethos and the 'Ape Karma'.

The call is for the new breed of our leadership and technocrats to first make an attempt to study and understand what our nation's ethos or 'Ape Karma' constitutes i.e. the traditions, the culture and their meaning. They can then take it to the world at large, as the USP on which we promote our many products and services. We must not forget that in business, good solid brands are built on good solid marketing communications platforms. This call is for a new New-Year resolution to ride on the road ahead, on the platform of 'Ape Karma' for achieving global business success.

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