News Category: Our News

Richardson announces two key new appointments

Richardson Holdings has announced the appointment of Portia Jayamaha as its new Finance Director and Anjolie Anne Balakrishnan as the Chief Revenue Officer of Richardson Outdoor.

Richardson Holdings Director Finance Portia Jayamaha

Portia, an experienced finance leader who has worked in senior roles across several industries and brings with her a wealth of industry – related financial experience with responsibilities in Finance, Strategy, Technology, Lean and Business Transformation. Over the years she has accumulated experience in different industries which include Healthcare, Engineering, Leisure, Technology, Banking, Garments, Manufacturing, Retail, NGOs, etc.

“I am pleased to welcome Portia as the newest member of Richardson’s leadership team. Jayamaha brings a wealth of knowledge and successful leadership experience that I know will be a tremendous asset to the organisation,” said Richardson Holdings Managing Director Nazri Nizar.

Portia is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, Member of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK, Graduate from University of Sri Jayewardenepura in BSc accountancy Sp. and an MBA holder from University of Queensland. She also serves as the Alternate Chair of Women Empowerment and Leadership Development Committee of ICASL Sri Lanka.

Prior to joining Richardson Holdings, Portia worked as Director Finance and Transformation Lead at Hemas Hospitals Group heading Finance, IT and Digital, Lean, Strategy and Transformation and chaired many committees. During this time, she also implemented a Business Intelligence platform to support real time decision making and has led the implementation of front and back-end systems, taken the Hemas hospitals network into digital leadership with many innovative products and introduced Electronic Health records. She was appointed the Project Lead to transform the hospital and Lab group with the consultation of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Richardson Outdoor Chief Revenue Officer Anjolie Anne Balakrishnan

Chief Revenue Officer Balakrishnan brings with her a wealth of experience and will steer the company to new revenue streams and accelerated levels of profitability.

Balakrishnan is a renowned media marketing professional with over 25 years of experience in the media industry. She began her career in 1997 at Maharaja Broadcasting and subsequently joined Asia Broadcasting Corporation in 1998. Balakrishnan’s leadership and marketing prowess were evident during her tenure, serving as the Group Director of Marketing for 13 years at ABC Network.

Throughout her career, Balakrishnan has demonstrated an exceptional understanding of the media landscape, with a keen ability to identify emerging trends and translate them into successful marketing strategies. Her remarkable track record speaks volumes about her skills and expertise in the industry. Her vast experience has made her a highly sought-after figure in the media industry, with a reputation for delivering and driving growth for companies. Her contributions to the industry have been significant, and she has served as a mentor and inspiration to many aspiring Media Marketing professionals.

Richardson Holdings Managing Director Nazri Nizar said: “We are excited to have Ms. Balakrishnan join the Richardson team. She complements our strong performance-oriented culture, and we believe her impressive reputation for execution and achieving results makes her the right choice to our team. Balakrishnan’s extensive experience will be a valuable addition to Richardson.”

Optimise Your Marketing Strategy with Richardson Outdoor Free Webinar Series

Launching in 2022, Richardson Outdoor will host a series of free webinars designed to help brand
custodians optimize their marketing strategies. The first session will feature guest speaker Kosala
Hewamadduma who will draw on over 22 years of rich and diverse experiences in multinationals
(including Unilever & Upfield) to speak about the brand benefits of multimedia campaigns which
leverage Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising to boost TV, radio and online campaigns.

Kosala currently serves as a Global Marketing Head and CMO of Upfield for the APAC and NAMET
regions. Upfield produces plant-based brands such as Flora and Proactive. Kosala carries extensive
experience in strategy and execution, coupled with business transformation, turnaround, market
development and building purpose-driven brands. He has successfully spearheaded business
transformation in each of his roles while unlocking sustainable growth and brand purpose. He has a
strong track record of insightful breakthrough innovations and global roll-outs.

Kosala will address the benefits which can be derived by splitting available budgets across mediums to
avoid individual tactics reaching diminishing returns. Multimedia campaigns have a higher ROI than
single media campaigns, according to research by Analytic Partners in 2019. “The combination of TV,
Digital and Out-of-Home drives a 27% increase on top of the ROI delivered by each of the mediums
separately,” according to Paul Sinkinson, Managing Director of Analytic Partners.

Richardson Outdoor are hosting this series of webinars in order to provide local marketing professionals
with exposure to the expertise of top-level specialists within the field. “I watched Kosala excel at
Unilever, and he has continued to grow, lead and inspire marketeers across markets and countries he
has touched. He is a top class marketer with a great sense of balance of strategic depth and
commerciality,” said Imal Fonseka, a senior consultant for Richardson Outdoor.

With over 20 years of experience in Out-of-Home advertising, Richardson Outdoor are hoping to create
more sustainable marketing practices within Sri Lanka. “The first step is to help develop local
understanding of international best-practices. Increasingly marketers are focussed on short term
efficiency and siloed results in spite of research which demonstrates that this strategy in not effective.
Our series of webinars is designed to promote a growth-marketing mentality intended to drive cost-
effective, sustainable, long-term results,” said Nazri Nizar, Managing Director of Richardson.

The first session will be focussed on the benefits of a mixed media marketing strategy, and will be held
on January 19 th 2022 at 5pm (IST). If you’re looking to optimize your marketing spend and get the best
results within your budget, call 0777666424 to register for this Richardson Outdoor exclusive webinar
series.

 

Improve ROI with Combined Mobile and OOH Ad Campaigns

[Use 62% mobile and 42.7% ad blocking infographic]

Combining Out-of-Home (OOH) and mobile advertising campaigns has been shown to deliver a better Return on Investment (ROI) and high engagement. The two media formats complement each other in the sales funnel, and effectively bridge the gap between the offline and online worlds. OOH provides reach and a public profile, while mobile advertising offers targetting capabilities and access to a personalized digital world.

Successful campaigns need to start linking OOH and mobile advertising strategies, according to x study. OOH should be used to establish brand identity and presence in the minds of the public, and mobile can then build on this foundation to drive online engagement and sales.

As Mike Follet, the Managing Director of Lumen Research says, “OOH can supercharge the effects of Social Media.”

Advertising campaigns run exclusively online are becoming less effective as more potential customers adopt ad blocking technology. This is a fact brands are becoming increasingly aware of, and QR codes and hashtags designed to attract smartphone interaction are being added to OOH advertising. Essentially OOH, as a mass reach, one-to-many media builds curiosity. Mobile can then be used to resolve any questions, reinforce the advertising message and develop a personal relationship in a one-to-one situation – leading to action and transaction.

Research* shows that customers are particularly receptive to Outdoor Ads, as it provides welcome distraction when they are bored and commuting. The challenge for OOH ads is to create messaging that stands out and is memorable, but which can be quickly absorbed. (Our Richardson Outdoor team can help advise you on how to create a campaign that makes an impact).

The rise of programmatic Digital-Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising will only serve to further link OOH and mobile advertising. Still in its infancy in Sri Lanka, programmatic DOOH will allow brands the ability to run flexible ads, which can be tied to their digital strategies and/or targeted to customers based on data generated through IoT infrastructure in cities.

According to the 2020 Nielsen DOOH Advertising Report, 62% of viewers engaged with advertisers using their mobiles after seeing OOH ads. By using multiple ad media at once, you’re staying top-of-mind for consumers throughout their entire day.

If OOH and mobile campaigns are planned strategically, they can create high-reach, inspiring campaigns and emotional, activating brand experiences which customers find relevant and which drive sales and engagement.

Contact Richardson Outdoor to learn how you can use a mixed media strategy to boost ROI.