The Marketing Continuum 2007, this time around, was centered on the theme – “The India Growth Story – What’s in it for Marketing?” The inaugural address by our very own, Prof. Shishir Jha truly set tone for the events lined up during the day. This was followed by the keynote address of Mr. V. Chandramouli, HR Director, Cadbury’s India Ltd., where he spoke
extensively on the “dancing Indian elephant” and the need for Indian marketing to evolve in view of the current scenario. Next in line, was the panel discussion on “The Evolution of Modern Retail: Challenges & Opportunities”. Mr. Raman Pandya, former president – Retail, Essar Ltd. was the moderator for this event, which encompassed enriching talks by Mr.
Abhijit Sanyal – CE Staples Business – Foods, Reliance Retail; Mr. Venkat Subramanyan – Director S&D;, Shell India Marketing, Mr. Hasit Joshipura – Managing Director, GlaxoSmithKline and Ms. Anita Sharan – ex-Editor, Brand Equity, Economic Times. The post – lunch session by Mr. KBS Anand – Head, VP Sales and Marketing, Asian Paints introduced the unique concept of “Umbrella Branding” and its relevance in today’s times. Finally, there was
a workshop on “Pricing Strategies” by Mr. Satish Belani – Director (Operations), AC-Nielsen India.
The days’ proceedings were best summarized by chief – event coordinator, Soumya Donkada – “The in-depth insight, shared by speakers from a variety of backgrounds% of backgrounds was an experience transcending classroom learning and helped most of us relate academic concepts to industry realities.”
Taking up the baton forward was the Operations Continuum, 2007 set against the backdrop of “Achieving Global Excellence in Supply Chain”. Prof. S. V. D. N. Rao of the School of Management set things rolling with his inaugural speech highlighting the role of the supply chain in overall company performance. This was followed up by the keynote address of Mr. V Srikrisnan – Executive Director, Air India, where he touched upon a variety of issues within the aviation sector and how the supply chain is gearing up for the same. Mr. K R Siddhartha – GM, Customer Service Excellence, Hindustan Unilever Ltd. then stressed upon industry best
practices within the FMCG and Retail sectors, and their emergence in the Indian context. The next session by Mr. J. P. Banerjee – Business & Strategic Development, John Deere encompassed the supply chain intricacies faced by the industry leader in agricultural and construction equipment, and the way in which they integrate their global value chain. The last
event of the day was a live case study taken up by Mr. Satish Moorjani – VP Tractor Division, M&M;, highlighting the transition of the supply chain to deal with the ever-changing global scenario.
As summed up by chief – event coordinator, Ananth – “The phenomenal efforts taken by industries to achieve excellence in the supply chain is testimony to the latter’s overall importance in the scheme of things. Getting to know how this is done directly from the men who do it was something I’ll cherish for a long time to come.”