5th term begins

The 5th term begins today. In this term I have 4 subjects of marketing worth 3 credits (Sales and Retail are 1/2 credit each). there are 1 and a 1/2 credit of core subjects. Today there is just registration and 1 class. in the evening I am going to mumbai and will return on 5th morning.

End Term Exams

The End Term Exams for the 4th term are starting from today. They will continue till 29th of this month. I have 9 papers 6 electives and 3 core.

Markibrand 09

Yesterday I had gone to FMS, Delhi for Markibrand their annual marketing conclave. The theme for this years conclave was "R.I.P. Brand Loyalty ... In search of Resurection"

The conclave took place in the auditorium of FMS in the South Campus of Delhi university. A galaxy of speakers from the industry were present and they gave their views on the subject of brand loyalty and how their companies are working to increase the brand loyalty of the consumers.

The conclavc began with the key note address by Dr. H.V. Verma a professor at F.M.S. He talked about the shifting consumer loyalties and said that what appears to be loyalty is a constructed facade. He said that if companies need to generate loyalty they have to create a belief and value system for the product.

The first speaker from the industry was Mr. Punit Modhgil. He emphasized on the need to create experiences for the consumers to get their loyalty. Other speakers like Mr. Manishi Sanyal of LVMH and Mr. Tarun Puri of Nike stressed on the need of Passion and Innovation in the companies to generate loyalty. Some speakers like Mr. Anupam Dutta of Kellogs and Mr. Saxena from Future Brands talked on the theme of loyalty as consistency. Many speakers emphasized that Word of Mouth is one of the best way to spread awareness about your brand and have consumer loyalty.

In the evening session Mr. Gurmukh from Intel and Mr. Prakash from Ogilvy and Mather gave the examples of Barack Obama and Rajnikant respectively as great brands and how they command such consumer loyalty and what the other companies can learn from them. They emphasized on sticking to core values and spreading the word of mouth to retain the loyalty of consumers

The underline theme of the speakers was that the consumers now don't think in black and white but in gray and have the whole continum of choices. The brands have to differentiate and create a niche for themselves to retain the loyalty.

It was a very informative and enjoyable session. It was a good chance to see what views the industry stalwarts have on pertinent questions facing the marketers in these times