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IIM Indore believes in making managers who are a best fit in the industries. With the same objective, Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Indore conducted ‘Colloquium’ – the annual business conclave on August 14-15, 2016. The theme for this year was ‘Marketing – Is it strategy, science or sorcery?’ The event hosted several industrial thinkers who provided relevant insights to the students.
The inaugural ceremony took place in the presence of Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM Indore. He emphasised how this theme resonated with the atmosphere of IIM Indore, known for its marketing acumen and the importance of the students’ link to the industry.
This time IIM Indore hosted the AVP of one of India’s top ad agencies Lowe Lintas, Mr. Abhijeet Panicker who delivered a guest lecture on the topic-‘Essence of Ads in Marketing’. He discussed the logistics behind his innovative campaign for HUL named ‘Kankhajura Tesan’ which was a game changer for HUL in the rural parts of Bihar & Jharkhand. He shared his experience in the ad world with the students and stressed on the importance of being relevant and advertising in the right space at the right time. He also engaged the students with case studies about various ad campaigns that dared to look beyond the traditional ways of advertising.
Mr. Gurpinder Singh, Multi-Channel Marketing Advisor for GlaxoSmithKline talked the student through changing health care environment with the accessibility to doctors going down. ‘The pharmaceutical industry is still traditional in its approach as it is not exploring multichannel dimensions’, he said. He stressed on the fact that communication pressure has gone up as there is paucity of time for interaction between doctors and MRs so communication needs to be Real, Relevant and Responsive. He discussed the new digital marketing mix where the 4Ps are patients, physicians, pharmacists and professionals.
Another interesting talk was by Mr. Parag Jain, Chief Marketing Officer of Jugnoo auto. He explained the details of their marketing strategy, the tussle with taxi aggregators and the dynamics of the customer service. He briefly mentioned their new Fatafat and Dodo delivery services to be launched in Chandigarh, which will help reduce the cost of delivering by utilizing excess capacity of the autos.
The last lecture of first day was delivered by Mr. Prashant Jha, Digital Marketing Manager, IDFC Bank on digital marketing. ‘This buzzword of today has a huge role to play in the success of any business’, he said. He noted that it is very important to have consumer feedback at each step of the business process. One needs to know where we are losing customers and then work on improving that area. He highlighted the importance of simplicity and ease of use as the key factors of appealing to customers.
The second day witnessed a talk by Mr. Rajeev Arora, Business Development Manager of ITC’s Agri-Business Division. He gave in-depth insights on why the rural market is gaining immense importance in recent times and added that rural marketing is a challenge even today.
The second lecture was delivered by Mr. Avinash Janjire, Vice President – Marketing , Thomas Cook. His talk was titled ‘Communication Strategy’ and dealt with three insightful case studies, all from his work life. Through video clippings of various advertisement campaigns that Mr. Janjire had worked on, he explained the nitty-gritty of what goes into marketing diverse products – be it life insurance or holiday packages.
Another session was by Ms. Lalitha Vaidyanath, the Senior Creative Head of J. Walter Thompson Hyderabad, which centred around ‘Advertising: Making an impact on your consumer’. She said that advertising begins with all of us – be it for job interviews or statements of purpose, where we advertise ourselves. ‘All of you are at the threshold of your careers. You need to think about how you all can make a change, how you all can be a part of this change. Initiate change as well in the companies that you go to, and do things that are meaningful that would impact your lives and the lives of others’, she concluded.
The concluding lecture of Colloquium 2016 was by Mr. Tushar Gagawe, the General Manager of SOTC Travel Services, who delivered an enlightening guest lecture on the topic-‘Marketing in Different Sectors’. He discussed about various business models and also the importance of identifying customer needs and taking a targeted approach.
As Colloquium 2016 drew to a close, it enriched people with various fundas of Marketing and left them asking for more.