Day 2 of the IIMI NASMEI conference

Day 2 of the conference kicked off with a presentation by four luminaries- Manoj Agarwal, Raji Srinivasan, Rama Bijapurkar and Pingali Venugopal. The first two are representing NASMEI, which is our partner for this conference. They are hard-core academics at U.S. universities. Rama is a consultant, and Venugopal is a prof. at XLRI.

As usual, there were many familiar faces, like Ramesh Kumar from IIM Bangalore, and a few new ones. Moutusy Maity of IIML told me she has published a book on Digital Marketing, and I am looking forward to reading that. I mentioned our plans to edit a Case Book on the subject (some of you readers would be the contributors).

Learnings- Customer value in emerging markets may manifest itself differently, because of lower discretionary income levels, but some aspirations are common across levels of income, and many marketing concepts hold good anywhere in the world.

Also, there are not enough customer voices or marketing people in the Board rooms of American companies. Third, that sustainability is not recognised enough by marketers and consumers, except sporadically. That needs to change.

Research Paper presentations will start today and continue through tomorrow.

Learnings- IIM Indore NASMEI Marketing Conference

Stefan Haves and Phil Zerrillo, are two speakers we had invited to kickstart our Marketing conference (with our partner NASMEI) at IIM Indore - and what a session it turned out to be.

Both are Americans, but with very different backgrounds. Phil is a Ph.D. from Philip Kotler's workplace, and is currently at Singapore Managaement University and runs a Case writing centre, among other things. Stefan is a Director with Cirque du Soleil, and writes comic parts for actors to play. He has also directed a couple of Hollywood films.

Learnings- Customer value (our conference theme) may take different forms at different times, but the customer is keen to get value for his money, and marketers who keep up with them will win their hearts.

The connection with customers is important. The heart should rule along with the head. Our humanism is slowly making way for a technology-based humanoid, and the joy of living comes from balancing the feminine side (intuition, softer feelings, and all the rest) with logic that represents the brain. 

Tips for teaching and learning were also a part of this-using the body, voice, as elements in a classroom session were also discussed. A vibrant beginning to the conference.

Lipstick Under my Burkha- Film Review

It's an important film, about a very important topic, which is usually kept under the carpet- love and sexuality from a woman's perspective. Full marks for dealing with the subject, and some of its real ramifications. The difficulty of breaking out of traditions, and societal expectations, and hypocrisy. For instance, that women of a certain age should not have expectations of physical love. Ratna Pathak Shah's character is probably the one that draws the most empathy. She is also the best actress in the film (actor, actually), with no exceptions.

The film could have done with a bit of drama, though. It feels like it's going through the motions, too quickly. Some twists in the story, maybe a few light moments, would have made it that much more moving and powerful. It does make its points about the search for love in and out of marriage -and a search for the liberation that all young people look for. But I found better expressions of it in films like Masaan or Life in a Metro, compared with this one.

It is worth a watch, for bringing up issues that need to be, but as a film, it could have been a lot better. Maybe better actors would have done the trick-barring Ratna Pathak Shah, who is perfect.

IIM Indore-NASMEI Marketing Conference 2017

One of the most successful conferences we organised when I was with IMT was  the Case conference at Goa's International Centre. Looks like the IIM Indore Marketing Conference on July 28th and 29th with NASMEI and UT Austin is all set to surpass that one. We have 300 plus papers on a variety of marketing topics, and top academicians from leading management institutes are participating either as presenters or invited speakers, making it one of the biggest marketing events in India. In addition, we have a few global stalwarts like Raji Srinivasan, Manoj Agarwal, and Phil Zerillo who will grace the occasion. Industry is also well-represented, with people like Shiv Kumar from Pepsi and Rama Bijapurkar, consultant, speaking at the event.

My young colleague Abhishek Mishra and his able conference manager Veenus, aided by a team of FPM students and staff, are the reason for the success.

Next week is going to be a power-packed and interesting one. Looking forward to it.

HPCL Training Program

 A unique partnership with HPCL. This time

at their training institute in Pune. Lovely campus.

Avatars

 We all have avatars. This was mine (Clemsonavatar) in the late eighties. With Anu at Clemson, South Carolina, where I got a Ph.D. Not sure why I wore a jacket and tie. Maybe it was the day I defended my Ph.D. thesis.

 We outside our abode (above and below). I think a Clemson prof. owned the apartment.

Oranges and Farewells

Khatta Meetha

(This was my farewell speech to the 2008-10 Batch at IMT Nagpur..found it in the archives)

An orange is to my mind, a more interesting fruit than an apple. Though delicious, an apple’s taste is uni-dimensional- sweet.  An orange, especially the one from Nagpur, is tangy, and combines a little sweet with a little sour, giving us a real glimpse into life. Duality makes  you appreciate the good part- without seeing the other side, you may not fully appreciate it.

Obviously, farewells bring up a lot of memories, of a time spent doing things together which we may have to do alone. Learning in the conventional sense is of course one reason why all of you came to IMT Nagpur, but I am sure the learnings went far beyond.  I still recollect what we learnt- and what we did not, during our days at IIMB. But most of us who graduated then did very well at things we did not necessarily learn directly from our coursework. The courses are like a peg to hang your future learning on- it gives you a fulcrum, or maybe a starting point. If the world needs changing, the learning of yesterday is not enough. A tomorrow is always different from yesterday, and we all play a part in building it. A Sabeer Bhatia may have invented Hotmail, but it was the ordinary users like you and me who made it a big hit, and now the idea continues to benefit all humanity, connecting us in ways we never would have imagined.

A career is an important part of our lives, and one must pay a lot of attention to nurture it for three or four decades after we start. I would also suggest that you pay attention to self development, in any way that you can. Work hard, but also smell the roses along the way, or take long walks (on a golf course if you like to play the game). Life has a lot to offer, if we can take the time to figure it out.

Despite hectic activity, contemplation is actually easier in the two years during the MBA, if my memory serves me right, than in the years after that. I am sure that many of you would have dreamt a lot when you were here. And if you continue to do that after you start on new endeavors in the coming months, these dreams will be realized. I would like to wish each one of the 2008-2010 batch a great future ahead in life. You are now going to be an IMT Nagpur alumnus, and we are sure you will keep in touch.

Rajendra Nargundkar