101's List of Top 10 Emerging Influential Faces in Sri Lanka

101's List of Top 10 Emerging Influential Faces in Sri Lanka

Shalin Balasuriya - Founder of Spa Ceylon

Taking Ayurveda to the World!

A luxury brand derived from the finest natural ingredients of Ceylon with a vision of carrying Sri Lankan ayurvedic heritage globally! The founder of this brand has prioritized Sri Lankan culture and traditions with his products ranging from wellness to cosmetics to home aroma and even to gourmet teas!

With a core focus on enhancing relationships and emotional connections, he has built an outstanding and vibrant in-store concept adhering to a tailored theme! With a global domination of more than 100 branded stores worldwide, he is the one and only Shalin, Co-founder of the beloved brand Spa Ceylon!

Shalin has set his mind to capturing the essence of the island and magnifying its beauty to project the exotic and mysterious richness of ancient Ceylon to ensure its longevity in the global markets. Sri Lanka’s Ayurvedic culture is truly in good hands!

Hi Shalin, how do you feel about taking Sri Lanka to global heights under the adored brand name Spa Ceylon?

It feels great to be able to take a little bit of our home island to the world and showcase the amazing things that Sri Lanka has to offer. Spa Ceylon is a collection of some of the finest things that our country has to offer in terms of fruits, flowers, herbs & minerals which are also the ingredients of the brand.

Ayurveda is the base of our brand which has a 5000-year-old history steeped in Sri Lanka. Of course, the culture which is in our packaging, our designs, our outlets, and everything else is beautiful art and colours of our beautiful island and we project the warmth of the Sri Lankan people right from their Ayubowan greeting when you walk into one of our stores and to our tone of voice in dealing with consumers. I’m very happy and proud to be able to take this out to the world.

You are well known to adapt seasonally with product calendars, we love the concept! How important is it for a brand to adapt and change with seasons, trends, and other influences to the taste of consumers?

We live in a very fast-paced and connected world. The consumer wants things much faster, wants much more variety & is exposed to a lot more stimuli these days so it’s important to keep reinventing yourself to the consumer and everything we do is matched to the consumer’s lifestyle. Being a successful brand is exactly that. Understanding consumers at that particular time & being able to cater to them.

It could be a festive season, it could be something the consumer is celebrating, it could be a reaction to a global trend, or it could be a reaction to the weather. We need to be proactive and always look at the consumer’s lifestyle, how it’s changing, and how it’s evolving, and create products, services, and experiences that complement and add value to the consumer’s lifestyle. A brand needs to keep evolving, trying new things, and providing new things to its consumers on an ongoing basis.

What measures did you take to develop a solid and unshakable brand identity on the World Wide Web?

Creating a brand whether it’s on the web or the ground, brick and mortar, it’s very, very important that your brand is identifiable and unique. The elements that make it identifiable and unique should be authentic and that’s why Spa Ceylon has done so well. All the elements that set Spa Ceylon apart, from its aromas to its look and feel to its colours and its design, everything comes from this island home of ours and everything is authentic to us! Everything is real, everything is inspired by reality and it’s taken out in such an encapsulated way that stands out as very very different & very very unique.

Sri Lanka is a country that is relatively undiscovered and when you take the essence of Sri Lanka in all these different forms from touch to smell to sight and in a multi-sensory way that Spa Ceylon takes it to the world, it does stand out! When you see a Spa Ceylon store from afar you know it’s a Spa Ceylon store. You can walk into a Spa Ceylon store and just by the aromas, you know you’re in a Spa Ceylon store. You see a product you know it’s Spa Ceylon because the identity is so unique, it’s authentic and it’s strong. So, what we’ve done is we’ve taken these elements into the website as well. When you visit the website, from the music to the colours to the imagery and to everything else on the platform, it all screams out Spa Ceylon.

What is your message to youngsters entering the industry?

If you’re going out to create a brand, the first thing you need to identify is who is your consumer and how is this brand going to impact their lives. Because you can make the best products and services but, if it has no impact on your consumer’s lives, then it’s pointless.

So, create brands that have an impact on your consumers’ lives and then find a way to get your consumer’s attention. In getting attention, one important thing is to be unique and it has got to be authentic. So, build brands that stand out to capture a place in the consumer’s minds! To do so, you have to make things that are memorable, and like they say it’s not what you say or do, it’s how you make people feel that they will remember.

So, make sure your marketing is based on how people feel, and make sure that the experience in your store and your service make people feel a certain way that they will remember your brand. A very important thing is the consumer’s lifestyle, it is what’s going to keep your brand growing! So, keep learning & keep evolving based on how your consumer’s lifestyle changes and as per industry trends. Don’t get stagnant with your brand!

Sri Lanka is a great place to create brands, incubate and take them out! Our island also has a lot of aspects that are relatively undiscovered to the world. Take that to your advantage and use our art, our culture, and our resources in your brand to go out, stand as unique, and to get noticed!