Compiled by Lourdes Abeyeratne

DISRUPTING THE STATUS QUO

Kavi Rajapaksha stresses the need for marketers to disrupt current norms

Q: How would you describe ‘disruptive marketing’?

A: Disruptive marketing simply refers to ways and means of breaking through the usual clutter by doing things differently.

Disruption can come in many forms; be it a breakthrough product or service, unbelievable changes to existing norms (i.e. speed, convenience, pricing and so on) or communication that gives rise to perceptual and attitudinal changes.

People can listen to the same advertisement a hundred times without identifying the brand behind it or decoding the underlying message – because like you and me, the target audience also consumes media passively.

Communication doesn’t make sense unless the message reaches the potential target audience, making disruptive marketing an imperative rather than an option.

Q: So is there a set of rules for marketers to follow?

A: The nature of disruption is to consistently break rules. But disruptive marketing is effective only when you know which rules need to be broken versus those that do not. A simple model that we practise is ‘B.R.A.C.E.’ – i.e. brand fit, relevance, authenticity, creativity and engagement.

Q: Could you elaborate on this model?

A: With regard to the brand fit, a golden rule that should not be broken is communication that fits the brand identity as well as its ability to fulfil the brand purpose.

It’s important to clearly define brand architectural aspects and constantly return to the brand key to ensure a fit. The trick is to never go beyond the brand territory because if so, you lose your identity.

As for relevance, does the message appeal to the target audience and is the timing right?

One of the first lessons to learn is that people aren’t waiting for your communications. They lead their own lives and do not care about communication unless it is something that concerns them. This is why brands must be where their target audiences are, talk about what they’re talking about, and address their anxieties and needs at that time.

These days, most brands get the timeliness aspect wrong. This is why practices such as agile marketing are celebrated to a great extent. People’s attention shifts rapidly and unless a sustainable method can be engineered to deliver communications to the market quickly, their relevance automatically drops.

In terms of authenticity, is the message damaging to society, the environment or ethics? Are the claims true and supported by processes, data and results?

Essentially, this revolves around the questions of whether communications will lead to damaging behavioural changes and if the brand delivery lives up to the brand promise.


Creativity certainly plays a major role in any communications. A marketer must always evaluate how a simple idea can be creatively spread across all possible sensory avenues. Visuals and sounds are explored avenues but using taste, fragrance and touch in ground-breaking ways has given rise to some of the most celebrated campaigns of all time.

A crucial aspect of creativity is the originality of the concept and its execution. Simply copying someone else – irrespective of the industry – will lead to communications being known as a copy of the original and nothing else.

Communications need to be engaging as people must be made aware of what brands aim to tell them in a way that they enjoy and can understand. This is where the power of storytelling has proved to improve comprehension and memorability in delivering messages amid the clutter.

Q: How can marketers measure the success of disruptive strategies?

A: Assessing and monitoring brand health and key performance indicators are necessary but the most important indicator is the change introduced to the industry in question.

At first, marketers in industry are likely to defend old models and perhaps even criticise new methods. However, after disruptive strategies begin to yield results, the industry will gradually shift to this territory of communications. The proof of success would materialise when competitors imitate new approaches and the industry’s means of communicating changes.

When this happens, marketers must continuously rethink disruptive strategies as previous disruptions become the norm. Disruptive marketing is not merely about doing it once but identifying relevant and meaningful ways to continue to do so consistently.

Q: And how do you view the availability of local talent to carry out disruptive marketing?

A: The talent in Sri Lanka is phenomenal. I sincerely believe that Sri Lankans will conquer the global marketing arena in the next few years.

The interviewee is the AVP and Head of Marketing at Softlogic Life