The workshop was held on August 27, 2005 and the day was divided into two sessions.
Session 1 addressed issues related to Marketing Research, Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning. Student participation came from top notch B-schools of Mumbai, viz. SP Jain, JBIMS, NMIMS, SJMSOM, TISS and the host NITIE. All participants were given a case one week prior to the finals. The individual teams worked on the case and made brief presentations during the finals. The panel evaluating the presentations consisted of Mr. Sujit Das Munshi, Executive Director AC Neilson and Mr. Parag Mohalikar, Former Research Director, ORG MARG.
After all the presentations were made, the panelists gave their presentations and views as to how the case should have been approached. They even explained as to which tool should have been used to test a certain aspect. Some of the learnings in this session were:
· How to identify the problem the problem and the importance of the same.
· Preparing a blueprint/roadmap before applying Market Research tools and Techniques.
· Gauging the awareness levels of your brand/company among the consumers.
· Identifying your target segment well before undertaking a full blown Market Research.
· Questionnaire design: Not to make it redundant as a lot of information can be made available from published reports like the retail audit reports.
Session 2 addressed issues related to Branding, Advertising and Media Planning. The panelists for this session included Mr. V Wabgaonkar, Strategic Planning Head, FCB Ulka and Mr. G. Dhananjayan, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Hutchison Max Telecom Ltd., (Orange). The case was on the problems faced by the brand Zandu Kesari Jeevan. The issues discussed ranged from:
· Positioning the brand as a tonic and not as a chyavnprash
· Using a different punch line
· Changing the brand personality and the packaging
· The media budget along with the mediums to be used.
Again in this session, panelists provided their feedback on individual presentations and gave their views as to how they would have approached the case. Some of the learnings that were bought to light during this session were…
· Repositioning a brand is not as simple as one thinks especially in the case of Zandu Kesari Jeevan which has been selling over 60 years.
· Proper deliberation needs to be done while making the media plan.
· With limited budget, one cannot use many mediums of communication. Hence prioritizing among the available mediums is of utmost importance.
· Positioning is in the minds of the consumer. Hence be very sure of your consumer profile. Moreover the creative/advertisement must properly convey what the company intends to convey
· Always think what returns can be expected from your communication plan.
· Define the time period for which you intend using your communication strategy. Ideally planning for the same should be done over the next four to five years.
Both the sessions were well contested. The winner of the first session was the team from NMIMS while the second session was won by the team from NITIE. In the end it was an enlightening day for both the students as well as the panelists who felt that that it was a unique concept as it allows for a two way communication where management students would be able to recognize the gist of the problem and identify the pitfalls through their interaction with the industry czars.