On 19th October, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Indore hosted the National Marketing Conclave 2013on the theme “Marketing to the 21st century India- Challenges and Opportunities”. The event boasted of participation from some of the leading professionals from the industry – Mr. Avinash Oza(Group Director- Branding and Planning, Mudra-Terra Max), Mr.Vikram Lal (GM –Marketing (Madhya Pradesh region), Idea cellular, Indore), Mr. S.Bhatnagar (National Product Manager, Dainik Bhaskar, Indore) and Mr. Nishchal Choudhary(GM- Marketing (Rajasthan Region) Airtel, Jaipur). The conclave was well attended by the faculty and students of Jaipuria and different B-schools in the region

In the morning session, Dr. J.K. Mishra addressed the gathering and spoke about emphasizing balanced Value proposition and Value perception by companies in the Indian Market. Prof. Aditi Naidu introduced the theme of the conclave and set the ball rolling for the day.

“Today, people don’t buy products; they look for brands in the market! Branding, thus, plays a very important role today”, said Mr. Avinash Oza. He went on to give a brief introduction to his company and talked about the current market scenario. “The potential of marketing is shifting towards rural areas and opportunities for big companies lie in rural India. However, lack of infrastructure makes rural India a difficult market to reach”, he explained. The market, he said, is becoming people-centric,making it important for the marketer to focus on an emotional connect with the target audience through the ads. According to him, the marketing strategy too should be a function of consumer behaviour rather than competitive parity. “We have created unique campaigns for companies like 7Up, Aircel, Big Bazar, and Western Union Money Transfer to manage Cost per Contact (CPC)” he shared. His session triggered off a healthy discussion on rural market dynamics and media measurement methods, and he gladly satisfied student curiosity before the session moved on.

Mr. S. Bhatnagar took the next session and discussed the features and strengths of traditional and new media. He specially focused on print media and said that the challenges faced by print media owing to time and the internet may be managed with better product management, brand management, and distribution.

“Don’t run after money and stay with the organisation longer to improve yourself”, was Mr. Nischal Choudhary’s advice when he took the stage. He spoke about the low teledensity in India, saying that this was an opportunity for overall sector growth. He shared his views on India’s transition over the last 100 years vis-à-vis Airtel’s performance and distribution channel development

“The rural telecom market is really large and growing. What’s intriguing is that people may not know the name of the application but they are aware of its usage and functionality!” said Mr. Vikram Lal, talking about the growth of the mobile economy till 2017. He presented some important facts and figures to help the gathering understand the growth trends. He told them that the future of telecommunication lay in internet and mobile technologies. “The Telecom Industry has contributed to the growth of the economy by creating job opportunities, forging social and rural development and promoting gender equality”, he added.

Mr. Anirudh Phadke brought to the platform the importance and effectiveness of social media in the emerging scenario. He pointed out the growing importance of Digital Media and its impact on marketing, saying, “Lots of opportunities exist in digital media for businesses, and it has great potential to reach masses, for selling products, and generating leads and references”.

Dr. Romi Sainy delivered the vote of thanks as she brought the event to a close. She appreciated the enthusiasm of students and thanked the speakers for the valuable insights and their precious time.