This month the K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research campus hosted the SIMSR Asia marketing conference, the first of its kind organized by SIMSR. This annual, three-day event was organized fostering the institute’s charter of bringing together the best minds in academics and industry. The event was attended in huge numbers by both industry professionals and students, who gained from each other’s perspectives.

The event was inaugurated by Mr. Kishore Chaukar, Director, Tata Services India, laying foundation to a tradition of intellectual excellence. Day one started with a welcome speech by Mr. Samir Somaiya. Mr. Ranganathan who took the podium briefly, reminisced about his experiences of having had seen marketing from the perspective of a bureaucrat. Mr. Kishore Chaukar, impressed upon the audience the need to acknowledge globalization as a fact and move out and fight.

The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Dr. M Dorch, from USA, who at length discussed the role of experiential marketing in its academic context. Prof. R. Subramaniam and S. Rungata from N L Dalmia Institute of management then proceeded to present their research paper on ‘Buying behavior of the urban Indian consumer’. Later the same day, Mr. R. Umesh from Nepal Pharmaceuticals gave a crisp overview of the pharmaceutical industry in Nepal. This was soon followed by the presentation of a paper on ‘Why doctors in India prefer specific products, companies, and medical representatives’ by Mr. G. Irani, head sales and marketing, Navil Lab. The day’s seminar proceedings concluded with a great talk by Mr. Mukund Mahajan, Sr. VP, Reliance Infocomm who spoke of India‘s evolution over the last few decades.

The second day of the conference started with a keynote speech on experiential marketing by Prof. M. Dorsch, wherein he explained how marketing has moved way beyond the traditional and conventional.

The track for the day was Marketing Communication and was presided over by Prof. Atul Tandon, Director, MICA. The first speaker Mr. Isaac Jacob, V.P. Tata Mutual Funds, presented a paper on ‘Critical Analysis of Advertising in the Auto Industry – Small Cars’.

This was followed by a paper presentation on ‘Communicating Luxury to the Masses’ by Ms. Shazia Khan, V.P JWT. The third presentation of the day was by Prof. Mrs. Uma Bhushan, faculty, SIMSR who presented an overview of ‘Public Relations in India‘. This was followed by a presentation on ‘Role of Information and Communication on Development Dynamics”, authored by Dr. Arockiosamy Clementking,(Eritrean Institute of technology, State of Eretrea.) and Prof. Srinivasan (SIMSR). The post lunch session started with a presentation on Advertising in India by guest speaker Mr. Atul Tandon who threw light on the various forms of advertising used in India. The track then changed to Sales Management, headed by Dr. R.K. Srivastava, SIMSR. The first presentation by Prof. Abdul Razak ( Malaysia); was on sales performance and personality indicators of Insurance Agents in Malaysia. This was followed by a presentation by Prof. Dr. Pankaj Trivedi, on the topic ‘Bank Marketing in the New Indian Environment’. Next, on agenda was a research paper presentation by students of SIMSR on the topic ‘ How positioning can improve sales – case of Newspapers’. Guest speaker Mr. Anil Kamath, Sr. V.P. Wockhardt, then spoke on ‘How relationship Marketing can improve Sales.’

The track for the day three was ‘Brand Management’, presided by Dr. R. K .Srivastava, who introduced it briefly. The guest speaker of the day, Mr Kinjal Medh, COO Cogito Consulting, Ulka Advertising, then introduced the audience to the topic, ‘Brand relationship –style monitor’. Following this was a presentation made by Dr.R.K.Srivastava on “Brand personality with reference to Pharma Industry”. The track then changed to “Market Research – Customer service” chaired by Prof. Monica Khanna. Mr. S. Roy, Ms. P. goswami, St Xavier’s institute, Calcutta, presented an interesting analysis of a study conducted on Kolkata college goers.

The unique aspect of Asia a SIMSR conference was the encouragement provided to students to present their ideas before a diverse audience. Harshal Shah, student 2nd year MMS program, thereafter presented the upcoming subject of "Brand Men Model" which he had co-authored with Dr.R.K.Srivastava. "Managing the corporate brand a A reputation perspective" was thereafter presented by Sumantra Rudra, GM, SOTC followed by a presentation on "Brand Architecture- in Indian FMCG context" presented by students of SIMSR-MMS. Ajinkhya Lad, Nirav Thakkar and Pinal Sanghvi then presented on "Branding and New product development".

The next presentation was made by Zankhana Shah and Snehal Mehta (SIMSR students) on "The role of experiential marketing in brand building" this was followed by presentations on topics like "How to build a brand when it becomes generic", and "The impact of Co-branding on customer evaluation of a brand", once again by students of SIMSR.

The post lunch session saw Mr. N Gad, CEO, Panacea Biotech, talk on the topic of "The new customer" to the audience. The track then changed to "Market Research - Customer service" chaired by Prof. Monica Khanna. Mr. S. Roy, Ms. P. goswami, St Xavier's institute,

Thereafter Prof. Anjali Chopra, SIMSR, presented her study on “Using Factor Analysis and Multiple regressions to understand the drivers for Shop rite”. The conference then saw Mr. Samsudin Nahab Ahmed Navir, Abu Amrin, University of Technology, Malaysia, incorporate international perspectives in his presentation on “ITC for competitive intelligence”.

This was followed by a presentation on “Understanding the impact on youngsters in India” by Prof. Monica Khanna, SIMSR. Prof. Srinivasan ,SIMSR then talked to the audience on “CRM application to the Indian aviation sector”. Dr. Vandana Tandon, SIMSR, then spoke on “TQM in service”. The closing presentation of the day was on “Customer Loyalty from relationship perspective” by Prof M. Dorsch, USA.

The day ended with a vote of appreciation and gratitude offered by Prof Suresh Ghai, Director, SIMSR.