Marketing Conclave
23 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Events
Marketing is the mantra that entices many MBA aspirants. The event organized by the Department of Management Studies (DoMS), National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli proved the same. DoMSians have the distinction and take immense pride to have hosted a Fest that focussed entirely on the backbone of Management studies – Marketing.
The fest was named ‘Mpulse’, and it pulsated as a collective effort that stemmed first, as a great nascent idea of Dr. Thamaraiselvan, HOD, Dept. of Management Studies, and NIT. He stands a perfect example of how a person could ignite young minds into collaborating and also to orchestrate a milestone like this.
It kicked off with a very strong and inspiring lecture on ‘Glocalisation’ by Mr.Vijay Xavier, Exec. VP, RK Swamy BBDO, India. The audience were taken by surprise and awakened with a warm sense of nostalgia, when the old Bajaj advertisements were played. A Saint –Gobain advertisement, showcased, is worth mentioning as it was influenced by the movies of Rajinikanth and also because of the ad’s effortless conveying of its ideal. Interesting facts on the business genre of India and the powerful positions that various Indian nationals held and a few inspiring anecdotes from their lives, brought about a renewed sense of respect among the listeners. The various awe-inspiring positions held by Indians in companies world over were also brought to light with a hope of instilling greater ambition and confidence among the participating listeners, many of whom were management students.
Sunday, was a long day that started off with a presentation on ‘Marketing strategies’ by Mr.Saktivelan, DGM, Business Planning, Toyota Kirloskar. A video presentation on ‘Toyota’s evolution’ was interesting and informative. The misconception that only celebrities help sell products and their absolute necessity for all advertisements was put to rest by Mr.Mohan, Country Head, Marketing, Khazana jewellers. He rendered a lecture on ‘Celebrity endorsements’ and defined a proper demarcation between the creative ads that needed celebrities and that which did not. He kept the whole gathering engaged by playing few commercials.
Subsequently, there was a presentation on ‘Predictive Analytics for an intuitive customer experience’ by Dr.Ravi Vijayaraghavan,VP and Global Head,24/7 Customer labs. He unleashed the unknown facts about various aspects of analytics. ‘Big Data’ was the key element there .A demo on Interactive Customer Services highlighted the application of predictive Analysis in providing a wholesome Customer Experience. Dr.Vijayaraghavan patiently answered all the queries from the participants.
Last session of the event, was on ‘Competitive Strategies for winning Market Shares and Mindshare’ by Mr.Murali Sundar, Country Manager, Schwarzkopf India, and Henkel. The speaker delivered the lecture with a jovial attitude. He also made the session very interactive by shooting questions at the audience on various marketing concepts. As was the beginning, such was the end of impulse – interesting,informative,innovative and interactive. Much Sincere effort and hard work have gone into the organization of this event making it a huge success.
Dr.Muruganantham, Asst.Professor, DoMS NITT, an active participant in many International Conferences and seminars, graced the event with his presence.
Wake-up Call !
23 Feb 2012 1 Comment
A manager works under immense pressure and thus sometimes strays into the zone of unethical practices. Ethics teams up well with Morals and Values to form an ‘unachievable goal’ in the language of modern businessmen. However tough it may sound,the key to attain ethical standards is to bring trust and transparency in doing business.
We inculcate habits and practices that we see in our environment.Thus, in a country like ours which is said to have a parallel ‘BLACK ECONOMY’,ethical practices have taken a back seat while corruption does the reckless driving. The ‘ This is how it works’philosophy makes whistle blowing an ineffective option and leads to an increased acceptance for these practices.
However, if ethical values are made a part of the curriculum such that budding managers follow it in letter and spirit, the scenario would change for the better. It might pinch a bit when we start but its always for the better in the long run.The general perception is that ‘Ethical business means losing business’. However, there are companies like TATA which remain profitable as well as ethical at the same time.
The grey area between Black and White is the area that has to be looked into.The argument that its not black as long as its grey is a farce as its not white either.Doing business with ethics can also be interpreted from the teachings of GITA and other spiritual texts that more or less determine our conduct in life.Thus, ’Ethical’ is the way of not only the right way of doing business but also living life.
Ethical practices are build trust and make planning predictable which is essential for managing crisis in an organization. Similarly a good reward system would make the employee feel included.
A company is always perceived as good as its people and the consumers and shareholders care about values.Hence any digression form ethics might lead to loss of business. Governments want fair business practices and business ethics not only provide an insurance against higher taxes but also act as a safeguard against oppressive government regulations a la 1975.
A relation can be drawn between the corruption prevalent in countries and the amount of freedom enjoyed by businesses .They are always in an inverse proportion and one feeds up on the other.
The idea of business as a part of society has strengthened the cause for Business Ethics .Not conforming to social expectations might lead to loss of image and market share. Ethical values should be communicated by the Top Management to the grassroots and all practices that are based on Business Ethics should be strictly pursued for a company to prosper. Thus, a manager should act as a trustee to all the stakeholders of his company.
Events Galore!!
21 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Events
The Ultimate Manager
| Greetings from The Ultimate Manager team,
It’s a new year and a new beginning, hope you had a great start this year. We do hope that you must have enjoyed every iota of Pragyan the previous edition and with the advent of the New Year we present you with a brand new event “The Ultimate Manager”. Enter the maze of winding and twisting world of business- if you have the audacity to look into intricate details, if new ideas seem to amaze you, if you think you are a genius and ready to face challenges, find the lost clues after assessing the intricate facts and analogies and through the relevant curves and graphs approach solutions comes then come outperform yourself at “The Ultimate Manager”. We’re very much excited to invite you for The Ultimate Manager. Experience the Thrill, and you’ll enjoy it. Register yourself here: http://www.pragyan.org/12/home/events/managing_tech/ultimate_manager/ For more updates and Management trivia follow: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ultimate-Manager/259468800787479 Meet You at Pragyan 2012.. |
Yeh dil maange more !!
21 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
What a fantastic way to start – mPulse 2012 !!
What would happen to the ‘Indian Manager’ with all these MNC’s flooding up their MBA’s here? Can they get away without our help..?
Mr. Vijay Xavier, Exec VP of RK Swamy BBDO, India and a veteran of Lowe Lintas, the man behind many brands, engaged us interestingly through his questions on ‘Glocalization’.
- What made McBeef Burger to turn into a McAloo Tikki Burger?
- What was the story behind the Ford Ikon?
- Can a foreigner understand which country he is in within a country of minimum ’28 mini countries’?
No one can easily get away with India – let it be business, culture, tradition and brain power..! Mr.Xavier took us through an entire journey of advertisements emphasizing the fact that it is necessary to satisfy all the stakeholders through your Integrated Marketing Communication!! You have to know what their palate is and then feed them!!
Thanks a lot Sir..! There could not have been a better way to start our Conclave!!
Well Deserved !!
19 Dec 2011 1 Comment
The timing could not have been better for the trip which marked completion of half the academic year at DoMS, NIT-Trichy.Everyone of us wanted a time-off from the hectic schedule packed with guest lectures and club activities.The never ending process of clicking pictures started as soon as we boarded the bus. We reached,checked in or hotel and signed off to sleep.
Funny as it may sound, our mental alarm goes into sleep mode as soon as there are no deadlines to meet. Thus, began our weekend escape from routine life and we could afford the luxury of starting at noon. After a brief visit to Varadarajaperumal temple and a heavy brunch, we paid a short visit to the museum.And then we walked upto Gandhi beach ,one of the finest beaches in south India. The sea and the cool breeze caught everyone’s fancy and probably cast a spell on us. We raced towards the waves as if the sea was pulling us. Though we were ‘On the Rocks’, still looking for something more. We strolled through the promenade to take auto’s to our promised land in pondicherry, ‘The Paradise Island’. Paradise Island was at a 15 min. boat ride from Boat club.If Gandhi beach was delight, Paradise island was ecstasy. I don’t know how to put it ‘In Paradise or At Paradise’ as both seem to be correct. The beach was stormed as if it was ‘Normandy’ followed by 3 hrs. of fun and frolic.
With the setting sun, we were returning back like the birds but in a ferry. The calm backwaters, the setting sun and the ferry ride is something i won’t forget for quite some time. After the exhausting but fun filled day ,we ate finger-licking food at Hotel Annapoorna. It was time to say goodbye to Pondicherry but it won’t let us go like that. One more visit to Gandhi beach i, which looked even more beautiful in moon light. We relaxed and just watched the sea before boarding a bus to Trichy. All eyes were closed, some deep in sleep some trying not to let the memories of pondicherry go away.
FAds
30 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in Management Forum!!!, Marketing
“My dad’s strong” was the ending dialogue by a cute little angel in Complan’s advertisement almost a decade ago. Children have been used in advertisements since time immemorial. Children have been used to aid in more than “just effective communication”, but to have a considerable share in the hearts and minds of the viewers. The power of using children in ads have been exploited by advertisers from time to time as the emotional attachment in the indian value system places more emphasis on the family, which primarily revolves around the child.
If we research the adverts by the different firms over a period of time, it would be clear that there is a trend. Sometimes a success of an ad leads to another me-too kind of ads. The current trend of rising advertisements using children can be very well noticed from the ads used by Reliance Digital to the ads by Ingersoll Rand. Children have been normally used in ads to evoke and attach an emotional value to the ads. Ads are all about emotions, and using children gives an easy approach to get this done.
Quoting my father, whenever he used to get upset of me “Whatever I am doing is for you and whatever I am earning is for you only….” (some words have been censored to keep the author in a better image:) ). Jokes apart, Indian value system revolves largely around the family and especially around the kids. Attaching emotional quotient to advertisements is the prime motive in most of the advertisements. Unless the EQ level is hit with the right impact the advertisements may not yield desirable results. Research has shown that these ads also have a higher brand recall. Product brand recall is very much essential to increase the probability of a prospect researching on the product and increasing the possibility of conversion into a buyer.
This is especially essential in items which are high involvement purchases and in products where there is only little differentiation. Insurance plans are one such product where the possible differentiation is visibly less. The child education plans initially used to have advertisements showing the different features attached to the product. This was in the initial stages of the lifecycle. After the level of differentiation slowly started reducing, they shifted to showcase the parents love for their progeny, and after sometime now the children have become the protagonists. SBI SBI ad, Tata Capital Tata, LIC LIC are some of the names in the financial product category which have been regularly leveraging child-like emotions and children to evoke beneficial responses. The product differentiation is very much reduced in this market. Hence attaching emotional value plays a significant role.
But children and the child-like emotions, mind it not childish, have been utilised in many famous ads from the Tata Nano to Nivea. Even though the purposes are not just to create an emotional moment of parity, but also to evoke the memories attached with our childhood moments and some other features, to which everybody gets easily hooked. For example, Nivea and Pears use children to evoke a comparative response with the skin of a child. Voltas has been using children to attach an emotional value and simultaneously conveying a message to avoid clutter in the AC category which usually has actress or by just displaying a new technology of air conditioning.
Using children as protagonists in advertisements has become a fad. The recent lavishly spent advertisements by foreign major Ingersoll Rand using the pride of the child in having her dad working for the company as the main theme is a proof for this phenomenon. The advertisers are using children to hit the right spot ringing and to get them converted to suitable responses from the target audience- the parents. The influencers are the emotional attachment with the child and the deciders are the Parents. The advertisers have been using the influencers to take the effectiveness of the ads northwards.
Ingersoll Rand ad:
Admissions – 2012… there you go..!
24 Nov 2011 1 Comment
Guys… The admission process for the next batch would be kick started very soon..! We will keep you updated..! But you can start hitting you queries to us through ‘Pagalguy’
We would be really glad to apprise you with the details to take an informed decision and also guide you through the entire admission process…!
Can we go M’AD’ ?
16 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in Marketing
Yes… My entire class went mad about ads when Mr.Sashi, Founder & Director – Praanha Advertising, took the students through a complete journey on advertising in Indian media. The entire process right from the creative brief to the actual shooting of the advertisement was discussed in a very interesting fashion.
The class was thrilled to work on a live case encompassing all the stages of ad development – account planning, concept – story board, product choreography, the visual recall devices, brand perception stimulants and we even designed the entire media mix for the product we worked on.
It was indeed both and enriching experience to work on how to communicate our objective effectively within a stimulated budget. We learned the nuances of the advertising in Indian television, how to calculate the division of slots, the effectiveness of the number and position of slots and even the buying pattern of slots in Indian TV.
So I am sure few of my class mates will go M’AD’ after this session..!!
Do we talk to be heard?
06 Nov 2011 1 Comment
Author: Kausani Dey (HR club) MBA I
Your boss calls you for an appraisal review meeting (read rating) .You walk into his cabin, confident and content about your performance in past half year. He appraises you with a rating which is way below your expectations and quotes few small mistakes you have committed and knowingly neglects all the hard work you have put in. You are very unhappy with the situation. But you walk away with a smile on your face thinking about the upcoming promotion and onsite opportunity. The question is – Are you not avoiding a conflict????
Conflict avoidance is a very common phenomenon felt in corporate environment. Sometimes it can turn more dangerous than having an actual conflict. But as human beings, we wish to be ‘liked and accepted’ amongst our peers and colleagues. Hence it’s very natural to avoid conflicts.
Avoiding conflicts can lead to increased personal dislikes, decrease in the level of team cohesion and exponential decrease in the performance level. When an employee’s views are not heard and valued, he loses interest in the job and feels demotivated. This in turn reduces the organizational performance.
It is important for the employees to develop conflict management skills. There is no tailor-made solution to achieve the same. But employees can easily improve their approach towards conflict. Take some time to evaluate yourself and think of situations where you should have expressed your disagreements. Consciously practice speaking your mind out when confronted with similar situations in future. Get feedback from your friends and mentors and ask them to critically review your behavior during disagreements. Position yourself as a straightforward talker rather than a fight picker. Give constructive feedback when you see something wrong. Your peers should perceive you as one who speaks his mind.
This will not happen in a day. It is certain that you would feel awkward in the beginning. But over a period of time with proper practice, constructive conflict management skills can be developed.
So next time when your boss calls you for an appraisal review meeting and declares a rating which is way below your expectations, don’t let the fear of conflict hold you back !!
DoMS- NIT Trichy professor highlights quality practices in Singapore
28 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in General
G.Muruganantham, Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology – Tiruchi, was among two Indians to participate in a recent workshop at Singapore focusing on business excellence framework and its value to organisations. Byagathvalli Subbanna Prakash, Head, Business Excellence – Time Products Division, Titan Industries Limited, Bangalore, was the other Indian participant at the workshop organised and sponsored by Japan-based Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) and SPRING (Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board), Singapore. Others among the eighteen participants represented nine countries, including Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The business excellence framework (quality award initiatives) based on Malcolm Baldridge business excellence framework of USA spread over seven criteria: leadership; strategic planning;; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; human resource; process management; and business results, provides a holistic standard covering all critical factors, processes and results for business results in an organisation.
Innovation: Business excellence initiatives help organisations to assess and improve their performance against the requirements of an internationally benchmarked business excellence framework. Business excellence is a journey. Initiatives provide a roadmap for companies for continuous improvement and innovation, according to Dr.Muruganantham. In a special lecture he delivered at Singapore on ‘Quality Practices in India’, he emphasised on the immense scope for Indian companies to apply for various international quality awards such as the prestigious Deming quality award from Japan that provide better visibility, more business and higher profits to the company. Alongside enhancing image, the award will command respect among stakeholders, and, if marketed strategically, will act as a differentiator for competitive advantage. Dr.Muruganantham, who handles Business excellence frameworks in Total Quality Management for MBA students at NIT-T, also took part in the third Business Excellence Global conference and 17 {+t} {+h} Asia Pacific Quality conference at Singapore. National Productivity Council (NPC), New Delhi processed the applications of Indian participants. Upcoming project notifications can be downloaded from www.apo-tokyo.org.
Source- The Hindu
Staff Reporter
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