Marktrix Club Session with Dove Brand Manager

The Students of Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management were highly obliged to have one of their Alums from the batch of 2008 back in the campus and have an interactive session with them. We are talking about Ms. Soumya Donkada, Brand manager for Dove at Hindustan Unilever who spoke about the profiles which can be pursued in the field of marketing and also how to build a good resume. Apart from this she also gave us examples from her own experience- a journey from Sales profile at ITC to Brand Management at HUL.

She spoke on the importance of working in a Sales profile prior to working in the Marketing. Soumya started off with a sales profile in ITC and then moving on to Brand Management of Fiama Di Wills. The Marketers came to know how the two of the biggest companies in India ITC and HUL differ in their corporate philosophies. Managers at HUL are given a lot of freedom to take decisions as long as good decisions are more than the bad ones, whereas in ITC its the top management who takes major decisions. Also people working in different departments are familiar with each other in ITC which is not the case in HUL. 

Resume building was an important topic covered by Soumya. It is very important to have good extra curricular activities to get our CV shortlisted. At least one position of responsibility is required in the profile. Grades are very important for Finance and Consulting profiles. For Marketing profile a decent cgpa supported with good extra curricular activities is required. A good amount of time should be dedicated for Resume building. It is also possible for someone who is placed in B2B marketing to switch to B2C marketing in the future if a right amount of enthusiasm and attitude is shown.

At the end of the session she was presented with a memento. Having seen a live example of the success story one of our Alums,the budding marketers of SJMSOM were intensified in their pursuit of Marketing as a career. 

Comparative Advertising

One of my friends was planning to buy a new car in sedan category. Since I am also an avid car lover, he requested me to help him.   I decided to do a research on the existing sedans in the Indian market. I thought that it will be a very difficult task to compare all the cars, given that huge number of players in the market.  

Which one is better in fuel economy, which one is good in looks, which one is more spacious which one will be in my friends’ budget?  There were innumerable questions of this kind coming to my mind.  I thought it will be a daunting task to do this comparative analysis.

To my surprise I spotted some advertisements which specifically provided the details mentioned above.   Within few hours   I was able to shortlist some of the appropriate cars for my friend.

All this was possible because of the comparative advertising. Comparative advertising compares alternative brands on objectively measureable attributes. It identifies the alternative brand by names, illustration or other distinctive information.

I got much more insight on the subject of comparative advertising in the session of Marktrix club at SJMSOM, IIT Bombay.  Dr. Arti Karlo, PhD. from IIT Madras and currently a Faculty in SJMSOM, discussed about her research project which was about comparative advertising on 8th Feb 2011.

She told that though it looks easy but a lot of effort goes into any comparative advertising campaign.  The subject of advertising or the entity is broken into different dimensions. Each dimension is then divided into sub dimensions. It is then used to identify the unmet potentials of the product.

Finally, for a successful comparative advertising campaign, we have to see that the right comparison strategy and information processing mode is used.  All these things, if in place, augment the effectiveness of the advertising message.

A CA campaign between HUL and P & G for Dove and Pantene shampoos

During the session several advertisements based on both direct and indirect comparisons were shown to help the students understand the concept.  She gave an interesting example of comparative advertising between Audi and BMW. BMW advertised through various mediums that it has won the best car of South Africa award.  Audi retaliated by saying that, “Congrats to BMW for being the South African car of the year 2006 from the world car of the year”

BMW vs Audi car of the year CA

She also told that comparative advertising is a boon for the customer or consumer as it helps them to know in detail what a particular company is offering and what not it is offering.

In the end it was a very informative session. She answered a lot of question asked by the students. I was having a lot of doubts about comparative advertising which were cleared during the session.

The “Marketing ‘K’night” @ Marktrix Club, SJMSOM

The Marktrix club bid farewell to the senior club members with style and a touch of nostalgia as they passed on the baton to the new team. We had Prof. Dinesh Sharma who is our faculty coordinator and Prof. Arti Kalro who is our guide with us at the session. It was an interactive session which would help the new members to take the club to the next level.

Abhishek and Divya opened the session with a brief about the Marktrix club and a small video that showcased the past achievements and events held over the year. Brief snippets of events that our close to all of our hearts- I Quiz, Abhyutthan, Nirvikriti and Continuums, brought enthusiasm amongst the members. 

 What followed was something that was totally unexpected by the seniors. We had certificates of appreciation and excellence for them and also a few awards as tokens for the hard work they had put in the entire year and brought up the standards of the club.

Abhijit,Meghna,Jitesh and Kundan were given the title of the “Marketing Dexters” of SOM for their dedication in various events that the club had conducted over the years.

Nishant got appreciation as the best “e-Marketer” for his superb work in making the Marktrix events visible to the outside world.

Saurabh was awarded the title of “the most Creative Marketer” for his creative campaigns and designs that made sure that our club remains vibrant not only from within but also from outside.

The little awards ceremony was totally unexpected and brought smiles to our seniors’ faces who were otherwise expecting the session to be a normal KT (Knowledge Transfer).

Then Prof. Dinesh Sharma talked to us about the things we must do as a team, some of the things that our seniors had planned but due to various reasons could not put into action. We discussed various issues ranging from club sessions to events to industry research. It was a good interaction wherein everybody poured in their suggestions and concerns as to how to take the club a notch higher. Sir also talked to us about ways in which we could make a collaborative effort to invite more marketing companies to campus. He appreciated and commended the efforts of the previous team in bringing the club to this level.

Prof. Arti Kalro then gave us a few words of encouragement and suggested ways in which we could greatly improve our image and position in terms of a brand. We are extremely lucky to have her on board and be a part of our efforts towards making marketing a big thing in SOM.

The session ended with an air of nostalgia when Swapnil thanked his team members for their support and work and passed the baton to us. The senior team had done a superb job in making our club “ The Most Enthusiastic Club” in SOM. To add to the nostalgia Abhishek recited a few lines that he had written down himself which were apt for the occasion.

It went like

 “हम रोक लेना चाहते हैं मुट्ठी में रेत को,

ये जानकर भी कि,

वक़्त का ये लम्हा,

आखिर में गुज़र जाएगा.."

A photo session followed and post that we proceeded for Dinner at Gul Mohar where a grand buffet was awaiting us. We talked, laughed and discussed things over dinner and bonded in a way that we had never done before.

The seniors felt it was a farewell but we call it just a “Marketing ‘ K’night”. The name itself suggests the enthusiasm of the marketers of SOM. It was a party to thank the Marketing Knights of SOM 11 that they had done a fantabulous job and we would carry forward the name and the fame of the club and make it known as the most enthusiastic club in not only SOM but in the entire B School circle.