• ‘The Looking Glass’: PAN- IIM Marketing Digest
• GIM, Goa selected to be part of Aspen Institute’s ‘Teaching Innovation Program’
• Advertising workshop by Marketing Head of Colors, Rameet Arora at IIM Lucknow
• XIMB celebrates Foundation Day

‘The Looking Glass’: PAN- IIM Marketing Digest

The IIMs A, B, C and L have joined hands to come up with the first ever PAN- IIM marketing Digest, ‘The Looking Glass’. The digest was launched online on December 2 with the aim of connecting marketing enthusiasts and providing some useful insights into the world of marketing. It will be made available to the industry and various B-schools across the country and abroad.

The 49-page digest covers a wide variety of interesting topics ranging from humor in Indian advertising to valuation of TV Advertising to the impact of the Fake IPL Player on brand Kolkata Knight Riders. The articles include contributions from students of the four IIMs besides the industry. The first issue includes an article by Prakash Bagri, Director of Marketing, Intel South Asia.

Mayank Jain, one of the digest editors from IIM Calcutta says, The initial co-ordination was tough no doubt, given the tight schedules at IIMs, but then as things picked up, it became quite smooth. We intend to continue this on a regular basis, rolling out the digest semi-annually with greater contributions from industry in the coming issues.

GIM among eight of India’s top B-schools selected to be part of Aspen Institute’s ‘Teaching Innovation Program’-India

Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Goa has been selected by the prestigious Aspen Institute, New York, as part of its Teaching Innovation Program India (TIP-India) an international consortium of key influencers in business education in India. The TIP India convening was held at the Goa Institute of Management on December 14, 2009.

The objectives of the program were to develop a pilot set of classroom tools that meet the standards of the top business schools in India, actively involve business executives from Human Resources or Leadership Development and share tools with select education institutions throughout India.

India’s vibrant markets and intellectual capacity are paving the way for unprecedented economic opportunity. But this opportunity is fragile. Without a strong pool of managerial talent India will struggle to maintain its growth and to strengthen the social and environmental conditions that are critical to a robust business environment over the long term. Indian businesses report that too many of today’s graduates are not prepared to consider how their decisions on the job will affect India’s environment or its local communities. TIP-India is designed to tackle this challenge.

TIP-India’s approach is unique. Rather than teach sustainability as a stand alone topic, cutting edge classroom tools are developed – case studies and interactive simulations – that artfully weave these thorny issues into finance, marketing, and operations courses.

In 2007 TIP – India, jointly developed with the Confederation of Indian Industry, kicked off with India’s top business schools and leading businesses including Goldman Sachs, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra, Tata, L&T;, Dempo, Zuari Industries, Salgaocars and Sesa Goa. By 2010 TIP – India expects to have delivered their first set of curriculum and will distribute them free of charge to higher educational institutions across India.

If climate change is taught in a course on Corporate Social Responsibility it tends to focus on what a company should voluntarily do for the public good. When integrated into Finance the discussion centers on cap and trade systems and commodities trading – solutions that benefit the public good and fit strategically within the company’s business model. One strives for this type of integration in every TIP-India project

Advertising workshop by Marketing Head of Colors, Rameet Arora

IIM Lucknow had the privilege of hosting Rameet Arora, the Marketing Head of Colors TV on campus on December 11, 2009. Rameet began with an in-depth analysis of Advertising via a Hands-on workshop. Punctuated with over 120 advertisements the 2.5 hour workshop was a true testament to the anecdote on the Theory of Relativity! The IIM Lucknow student community turned up in large numbers intrigued by the meteoric rise of Colors and curious about the man who played a key role in that progress.

The workshop analyzed the thought process behind the most creative advertisements and included the mental math that most advertisers used. Arora highlighted that most good advertisements tell a story and the ads which become memorable are the ones with a simple and engaging truth in them. “Every ad is an opportunity for the consumer to marry the brand”, he said.

With the marketing bunch in the audience aware of the strong nexus that marketers and advertisers have, questions on brand marketing and advertising flowed freely. The most exciting part unravelled in the form of a case study on the launch of Colors, how the channel beat the leader Star Plus and how it continues to remain dominant. The differentiated marketing strategy used by Colors and their brand positioning stratagem amazed the IIM students.

XIMB celebrates Foundation Day

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) held its 7th Annual Foundation Day Lecture on December 12, 2009. The Chief Guest for the occasion, Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Corporate Services Ltd. delivered the speech. With him on the dais were Rajeev Kaul, Chairman of the Board of Directors, XIMB, Fr. P.T. Joseph, S.J., Director, XIMB and Fr. Tony Uvary, Dean Administration, XIMB. Also present were members of the board of directors, members of the faculty and the students.

Sunil Kant Munjal, one of India Today’s ‘Faces of the Millennium’ is a distinguished industrialist and one of the most dynamic leaders in the corporate world. He drew on his world of experience as part of Hero Group, the world’s largest bicycle manufacturers, and its sister concern, Hero Honda Ltd., the world’s largest two wheeler manufacturer, whilst telling the students to always be on the go, keep moving forward, keep improving, keep looking for answers and never be satisfied. He said there is more to leadership than just physical persona, citing the example of Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. He also stressed on the importance of the ability to dream big, bigger than tomorrow.

Munjal also spoke about the increasing focus on rural management and business ethics across the world. “Opportunity is unique”, he said, “And there are a lot of people out there in the world with potential, but very few of them get a chance.” He mentioned how the Hero Group is trying to extend this opportunity to the underprivileged, by offering to sponsor the education for children of unskilled workers in Hero Group. He continued, the students have an obligation to make the best use of this opportunity and not only be good managers but also good human beings.

Munjal, emphasized the fact that India is going to provide the world’s workforce in the next 8 to 10 years as fifty percent of its population is below 25 years of age. Thus, it is important to educate, train and equip this potential work force so as to capitalize on this opportunity.

Concluding the lecture, Munjal wished the students well in all their future endeavours, to carry forward the legacy of ‘Magis’ at XIMB, which involves academic excellence, personal values and social responsibility in equal measure, and to take this journey which began 22 years ago with the establishment of XIMB, to greater heights.