Posts tagged ‘IIM-C’
Workshop by IIMC Alumni Chennai Chapter & Career Guidance Sessions (Part 3, The Soapy Tales Case presentations)
The Part 3 of IIM C Alumni workshop started with a warm welcome extended by Prof. Swaminathan to MR. Ajay Jain Director, Enzotech Solutions Pvt. Ltd. who as a moderator staged the soap case study presentation with a detailed structure of soap industry and how its marketing strategy should be. Having a plethora of experience in the defined industry, Mr. Jain rightfully quoted
“marketing is something that you do on a day-to-day basis, the real-time marketing”
With this he invited the best four teams to propose their marketing strategy presentation to take over
The Boondock Saints - Gokulendu, Mukesh and Siddharth
being the first in the arena to present the case identified the outline of the case study. With Gokulendu, Mukesh and Siddharth as a team, Boondock saints strategically portrayed the soapy tales with characterization of its different usages and the key players in the Soap industry.
proposing a solution of non-ambiguous branding strategy, well-defined product line boundaries and brand elements which make unique and strong associations, this team left no stone un-turned to make-believe a full-proof branding strategy for Soapy tails.
Team DIODVAC – Avni, hariharan and Gajendran
As with the name this team is a power package in itself, briefly outlining the key issues of the case. the presenter extensively addressed the current market scenario of the soap industry keenly identifying the potential available in organised retail sector and FMCG sector. DIODVAC equally emphasized the market threat and challenges due to competition and increased input cost.
Proposing revitalizing and re-positioning of the current brand portfolio, to create an emotional attachment with the consumer and create a strategy based on such a target proposal DIODVAC wishes to come true to the promises done to consumers.
Team SAAPS – Saumya, ankita, Poonam, Preshit & Shriram
Being third in a row of competing for that one spot at the top, SAAPS jump started with the challanges faced by the business currently, extrapolating which the team slowly identified its market strategy for re-branding M as a family soap, where as FF into men’s freshness segment and P in the baby soft segment. SAAPS primary focused on packaging and the target marketing for premium men’s soap segment.
Team BUD : Shashank, Anshul, Richa, Akriti & Bhanu
The grand finale for the session 3 for IIM C Workshop on soapy tales case study, jump starting with a power packed presentation, Team Bud left the audience bedazzled with their catchy slides. Targeting the masculine passive space in the soap industry their market entry strategy revolved around the understanding of the men’s soap segment which currently prevailed less cluttered than the others.
As quoted by Akriti
“Absence of appeal and excitement led Team BUD to target a particular segment”
With this the last session of IIM C Workshop concludes with intense competition within all the four teams and spectacular presentations to aid them. Spartans imbibed the essence of live discussion between the participants and the panelists involving a huge potential to unlearn the marketing myths from industry experts and learn the real strengths of marketing skills.
Team SAAPS was judged the first and Team BUD being judged the second in position by the panelist as winners for this session. Mr. Ajay Jain encapsulated the essence of soapy tales complete presentation in few business specific norms and factors, pin pointing teams to be more precise on numbers and re-positioning to a market friendly segment the moderator for the event factually emphasized on value creation selling.
As they say, no story remains untold. The success of IIM C workshop is a story well scripted by the arduous effort put by management, student volunteers, panelists and participants. Spartans at their best yet again successfully concluded the last session for the day.
Workshop by IIMC Alumni Chennai Chapter & Career Guidance Sessions (Part 2, The Case presentations)
And the battle begins,
Be it the warriors of Athens or the board rooms of conglomerates, the possession of the top is an infectious disease. The viral has well spread to the four best teams (New Wave, Challengers, Just in Case and Lemon Aid) presenting their analysis and market propositions for Nimbooz.
The stage is set, the panel is ready and the game is on.
Sonali from Team New Wave quotes with their exemplary presentation stating their high points as
“Team New Wave presented an in-depth analysis of “Lemon-Aid Strategy” case, it equally made recommendations that revolved around bringing new variants of Nimbooz (spice and Masala variants), involving health specialists as brand advocates to boost overall sales.”
Team Challengers showcasing an upbeat competition with a plethora of speculative questions and strong contenders, Nishtha Dewani, Amit Pal Singh Bagga, Rohit Aggarwal and Vivek Gupta presented a spectacular with a strategic sales pitch in Nimbooz at the fast food outlets where the cheesy flavour is counting on calories.
Their target point hits high node with their proposition of Nimbooz as a non-sugared version to target the health conscious and mocktail segment.
Not to far was the next high on energy team, Just in case with a case presentation done by Pratibha, Naman, Kashish and Divya showcasing a clear structure to a marketing strategy. well touted by the panel and well grilled by the audience ‘Just in case’ left no doubts about their presence and understanding of the case.
Naman from the team says it all by encapsulating the following lines
“We suggested keeping it simple, with only limited variations, as complexity may not gel well with the product. While continuing to target out-of-home consumption, we recommend focussing on the freshness of the product, and its refreshing effect. Health focus can be achieved by introducing Diet Nimbooz to bolster sales in the health-conscious segment. Also introducing a Rs. 5 Returnable Glass Bottle (RGB) would help capture the more price sensitive consumers. Since it’s a product consumed across age groups and geographical locations in India, the marketing communications should have a wider focus than just the youth.”
The last to mark the grand finale was Group Lemon Aid, giving a fair fight and enthusiastic approach to their strategy to introduce Nimbooz as a substitute to home made drink and mixers. Advaita, Sahil, Jaywardhan and Sourabh did present to be the true crusaders to mark the finish line. As quoted by the team members
“The presentation looks forward to the strategic path to make this brand into a mega brand. “
They say no show ends without a show stopper, today not one but we had 4 teams beckoning the exemplary show stoppers for the closure of the first session of IIM C workshop. Mr. Prateek Pota enveloped his suggestions and ideas marking the end of the lemon-aid case study presentation
The grand Finale gets done with the first prize bagged by team ‘just in case’ and second by ‘Challengers’. Truly speaking, nothing else can be better than a well deserved accolade.
And yes, whatta game it was!!
Workshop by IIMC Alumni Chennai Chapter & Career Guidance Sessions (Part 1)
“Once a sales man, always a sales man… its just that you graduate to selling your dreams”
– Ashok Jayaram
Certainly, “History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul”
With the best of IIM Calcutta Alumni in the walkways of Great Lakes institute of Management. This Saturday morning is a special retreat, with the trimmed black suits and formals bringing in the best of a B-School presentations, the director of PGPM Prof. T.N. Swaminathan opened the workshop by IIM C Alumni, Chennai chapter with a warm welcome extending his gratitude of behalf of Spartans and the college.
Mr. Ashok Jayaram, (CEO, Coaching foundation India) charted the workshop with a short crisp introductory speech, dotting the two major milestones in his sales life, of one bringing in the first sales pitch and second having a repeat customer as the primer in a sales marketer’s lifecycle. Closing up with a feeling of gratification to have received few of the best presentation from GLIM, he passed the baton of introduction to Mr. J. Krishnan.
Mr. J. Krishnan, who pioneered the chair of Chief executive officer, Deccan Chargers for the two years of its inception is an IIT Madras, IIM C Alumnus. Currently associated with UniMity Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Krishnan showed his pleasure to visit Great Lakes for the second year in concurrence.
Following the lead of luminaries, to join us were Mr. Jagannathan from Godrej, Mr. Prateek Pota, Executive Director – South, Pepsi. Mr. Mali Mahalingam, Partner, T.S. Mahalingam & Sons. Mr. B Ravindranath, Director, Kadamba Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Dr. P. V. R. Murthy CEO, Executive Search Consultants.
With dignitaries gracing the presentation, Mr. Prateek Pota took charge for the workshop briefly outlining the structure for Lemon Aid case study. The Ongoing IIM C workshop – Chennai Chapter in GLIM, the batch of Spartans are exuberated to be a part of the session marking the launch of career counseling session for fall of 2011.
Workshop on Strategic Marketing
The Chennai chapter of the IIM-C Alumni association conducted a workshop on strategic marketing at the Great Lakes campus on 13th November 2010.
IIM-C Alumni
The event was attended by the likes of –
Mohan Eddy – Director, India Satcom
PVR Murthy – CEO, Executive Search recruitment consultants
D Prakash – Director, UTI Technology Services
Ajay Jain – Director, Tecpro Infrastructure Pvt Ltd
Ashok Jayaram – CEO, Coaching Foundation India
Ramesh Praba – Managing director, Galaxy Communication Services
N Jagannathan – Director, Fourth Dimension Technologies
J Krishnan – Managing director, Netlink Technologies Limited
K ‘Mali’ Mahalingam – Partner, TS Mahalingam & Sons
Ravi Santhanam – Founder, Meta Drsti
J Balaraman – Co-Founder & President, Congruent Solutions
N Manohar – Partner, Clixoo
A day-long event organized by the institute’s career club, the workshop included a career counselling session alongside a case analysis presented by the students on strategic marketing in the retail financial services sector.
The morning got off to a nostalgic start when the camaraderie among the alumni was clearly evident. Professor TN Swaminathan, instrumental in bringing the alumni together, introduced them to the students. There was a brief Q&A that emerged insightful because of the sheer depth and clarity in each of the answers.
The students in rapt attention
To a question on how we should best utilize the remainder of our college life, Mr. J Krishnan quoted Mark Twain, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education” Mr. PVR Murthy said that today’s world demands learning managers as opposed to learned managers and one should constantly keep oneself updated in this knowledge economy. Mr. Ajay Jain brought in an element of humour when he remarked, “Life is not as serious as it is made out to be”. He also stressed the importance of building bonds – interpersonal relationships as he put it. To another question on how companies that don’t have deep pockets manage operations in times of crisis, Mr. Ajay Jain quoted his accounting professor “There is no cost that cannot be cut by half”. He said that we should look at downturns as an opportunity to strengthen processes, cut costs and improve products and services.
Case Presentation in progress
Following the Q&A, six teams presented their analysis of a strategic marketing case at the end of which two teams were chosen to represent Great Lakes in an inter school competition early in 2011. Mr. K Mahalingam and Mr. Ravi summarized the case after the presentations and gave us some food for thought. Mr. Mahalingam started by saying “A generation that not only studied for exams the night before, but also maxed them that way, tends to conduct business in a particular way”. He elaborated the point he was trying to drive home. In today’s world –
“Compensation structures are geared towards incentivising short term target achievements
The general approach is oriented towards maximizing the short term outcomes – revenues, profits etc
The focus is mainly on decisions/announcements that impact the stock price
There is a blind urge to meet quarterly reporting numbers”
Hence there is a need to judiciously “balance short term compulsions with long term ambitions”
Mr Ravi presented his analysis by going back in history and quoting Sun Tzu - “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” His analysis was simple - on one side, ‘what he knows about the company’ and on the other, ‘what he knows about his competitor’. It gave the gladiators an insight into how CEOs approach cases and analyze them succinctly.
Post lunch, Mr. Ramesh Praba took the audience through a case study of political marketing – how media elements can be combined judiciously to campaign for a political party during elections? Some of the techniques presented were creative and innovative. The entire presentation was a glimpse into one aspect of marketing that many of us rarely give thought to – its extensive use in politics.
The career counselling session that went on throughout the day proved immensely beneficial with the wealth of experience available for the students to tap into! Overall, it was a day when all of us took away something concrete and hugely practical. Mr Ravi commented, “Life is not perfectly perfect , although it is predominantly perfect” during the Q&A , the day however turned out to be a perfectly perfect one for the Gladiators. Thanks to the career club for pulling off the event with aplomb!
-Sivaraman Natarajan and Aarti Pandey
