Bates goes for transformation

Bates Strategic Alliance, an integrated marketing communications company says they are committing to transforming the agency offering in anticipation of the future of marketing communications.

Chairman and CEO Nimal Gunewardena said, "We subscribe to the wisdom coming from international trend spotters that the future of advertising is not advertising as we know it."

"Interruptive and repetitive bombardment through 30 second commercials is becoming less effective and cost effective, as more and more people are seeking out information about products, services and brands through online interactions and sharing via social media," he said.

"Even in Sri Lanka, mobile broadband is growing rapidly, e-commerce is taking off and tech startups are driving superior service and convenience, traditional mass audiences are now fragmented due to media proliferation, and today's citizen consumers are looking for entertainment and edutainment with useful information, and truly do-good brands that understand sustainability and are consciously improving their products focusing on doing good for the planet and people's health and welfare, and are ready to champion and fight social ills like discrimination," Gunawardena said.

"Taking all this into account, marketers and admen need to wake up, face the reality and challenge and change what they are doing. We see that brands that entertain and edutain and genuinely commit to doing good and championing causes are the ones that will get recommended and shared by people," he said.