Samvaah: IIM Udaipur’s Marketing Conclave, 2014

Samvaah- The first edition of the annual Marketing Conclave of IIM Udaipur was hosted on 15^th November, 2014 at the institute. Samvaah is a student driven initiative that was conceived and organized by MarClan- the Marketing Club of IIMU. Samvaah, in sync with its name’s translation- “Marketplace” is an initiative to bring together marketing enthusiasts from academia, the local community and industry alike, to share insights and discuss the various developments in the field of marketing. The umbrella theme for Samvaah 2014 was “Rethink: Changing Marketing Practices with Changing Times”.     The run-up to the event saw numerous online and on-campus competitions being held, with teams from the best B-schools across the country competing in terms of creativity, talent and marketing potential. The event kicked off with a digital media workshop by Mr. Amit Tripathi- the CEO of Ideate Labs. The workshop began with a very intriguing statement: ‘Welcome to the funeral of digital media…’ and then went on to discuss how being digital has gone beyond just media channels like Facebook and twitter, to become all pervasive in other walks of life as well. Mr. Tripathi left the students with two important insights: that simplicity and finding common ground between the company and the consumer are the mantra to successful marketing.   The Sales Workshop that followed had the speakers- Mr. Martand Shukla, ASM of Pepsico and Mr. Bharat Nagori, one of the largest distributors in Udaipur, emphasize that profitability and availability were the major requirements of  a good sales campaign, while reiterating the importance of considering sentiment and market  experience while designing a sales and distribution strategy. The next session included the finals of Juxtapose-a brand extension competition which saw students from IIM Indore (Mumbai Campus), SPJIMR and two teams from IIM Udaipur, do their best to impress the judges with the innovativeness and clarity of their ideas, with team WarClan of IIM Udaipur eventually winning the first prize. The judges also shared very unique insights on proper segmenting and positioning of the product, with the audience.     The post lunch session began with an address by Prof. Janat Shah-Director, IIM Udaipur. Prof. Shah laid emphasis on the three main focus areas of IIMU, namely research, transformation through the MBA program and integration with the local community, all of which were the driving factors behind the organization of Samvaah. The event had two panel discussions whose sub themes and speakers were as follows: Panel 1: Rethink Services Marketing- How is it different in today’s era? Mr. Rathin Lahiri- CMO, Meru Cabs Mr. Prashant Laxmeshwar- Head of Marketing Solutions, Global Markets Group-ICICI Mr. Naveen Kukreja- IIMC Alumnus and CMO, Policy Bazaar Panel 2: Rethink New Product Development-How is it changing with times? Mr. Anshu Bagai- MD, AMC Cookware Mr. Abhishek Sinha- Co-founder and CEO, Eko India Financial Services Private Ltd. The event ended with a felicitation of the speakers and a vote of thanks. IIMU’s first marketing conclave was a resounding success with speakers and participants alike, appreciating the seamless organization of the entire event and the insights they gained through the discussions. IIM Udaipur has always laid a strong emphasis on integrating with the local community and continuing this initiative, the conclave saw 65 participants from various institutes around Udaipur being part of the event. The first marketing conclave of IIM Udaipur indeed was a wonderful experience for all the participants and also helped the institute build a stronger relationship with both the industry and the community of Udaipur. For More Info follow us on- Website: http://www.marclan.iimu.ac.in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarClanIIMU