MxMIndia

Tag: MICA

  • The programme will enable participants to learn valuable skills such as tracking evolving customer needs and interpreting them for decision-making

    MICA to host 3-day programme on MARKSTRAT Simulation

    By A Correspondent

     

    MICA is organising a three-day residential Management Development Programme on “Managing Brand Contribution: MARKSTRAT Simulation”, from September 16 to 19, 2014, at its campus in Ahmedabad. Led by Dr. Anita Basalingappa, Associate Professor, Marketing at MICA, the MDP is targeted towards middle to senior level managers working in the area of communication, sales, marketing, product management, brand management, marketing research, client servicing and strategic account planning.

     

    The programme will enable participants to learn valuable skills such as tracking evolving customer needs and interpreting them for decision-making; using marketing research reports such as brand awareness, purchase intention, shopping habits, brand positioning and competitive marketing spend for decision-making; forecasting sales for the brand/s; targeting segments and positioning brands; balancing decision-making between short term profits and investments for long term; managing a marketing organisation as a profit centre; optimising brand performance and return on marketing investment; and the merits and demerits of using factual data and intuitive decision-making, amongst many others.

     

    Elaborating on what the MDP offers, Dr. Basalingappa shared, “The MARKSTRAT simulation provides a platform to experiment and learn how to increase net brand performance through effective decision-making across product, price, communication and sales-force decisions, in any organisation that has a marketing spend.”

     

    Dr. Anita Basalingappa has conducted ‘MARKSTRAT Simulation’ for more than 35 batches, including participants with work experience of more than 10 years. She holds a B.Sc. (Honours) degree in Mathematics, an MBA in Marketing and a Ph.D. in Customer Relationship Marketing, from the Karnatak University, Dharwad, India. She has over 20 years of experience in teaching and research in Management Studies.

     

  • The programme will be conducted by Dr. Kallol Das, Associate Professor in the Marketing Department and Chairperson of the Research Committee at MICA

    MICA to host seminar on ‘Building High-Performing Service Businesses’ seminar

    MICA is organising a three-day residential MDP on “Building High-Performing Service Businesses” from 20 – 22 August, 2014 at its Ahmedabad campus. The programme will be conducted by Dr. Kallol Das, Associate Professor in the Marketing Department and Chairperson of the Research Committee at MICA.

     

    Aimed at enabling participants to learn the art and science of building, sustaining and growing a service business, this MDP would help participants transform their ventures into high-performing service businesses.

     

    Commenting on the programme, Professor Das, informed, “It has been designed to support participants in learning the relevant knowledge frameworks essential for building a successful service business, while enhancing their leadership and team-working skills essential to delivering high customer satisfaction and simultaneously helping them develop a service attitude, which is the key to success in this sector.”

     

    The programme is meant for participants from marketing, operations and human resource departments in companies dealing with consumer services such as hotels, airlines, telecom, health and wellness, financial services, travel and hospitality, retail, etc.

     

    While this MDP is most suitable for senior and middle-level managers from service organisations across departments, it would also be immensely valuable to manufacturers of consumer durables as they have significant revenues coming from services.

     

  • Senior alumni were part of the panel discussions in the Business Conclave of the Grand Alumni Meet at MICA, Ahmedabad

    Senior alumni discuss empowerment, digital marketing at MICA’s Grand Alumni Meet

    By A Correspondent

     

    A business conclave was the highlight of the annual Grand Alumni Meet of the Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad, held on January 25 and 26. Senior alumni were on the panel of two discussions held on the occasion. Abdul Mujeeb Khan, Managing Director at Tamkeen Solutions, Shreya Jha, Vice-President, Marketing and CSR, Fullerton India Credit Company, Mansi Joshee, Consultant, WHO [India] and Pawan Sarda, Founder, Seventh Sense, were the panel of speakers on ‘Empowerment Marketing: CSR as a Potential Branding Tool”. For “Marketing in the Disruptive Digital Age”, MICA had Siddharth Sethi, Lead of Digital, Mindshare, Kumar Deb Sinha, Digital Content Lead, Group M and Manisha Rana, Senior Online Marketing Manager, Kindle, Amazon, as its panel of speakers.

     

    Welcoming alumni and the panellists, Dr Nagesh Rao, President and Director at MICA said: “MICA has evolved tremendously in the past decade, across all its varied platforms, but I’m proud that we are still rooted in our essence- which is what keeps our alumni coming back for more!”

     

    In the session on Emplower Marketing and CSR, observing the natural social behaviour of humans, Pawan Sarda noted, “The trend of monetization really makes it difficult for one to discern if we are really doing good deeds, or deeds that are perceived as good- charity seems to be feeding on guilt, when it should actually be built on a capital of strong character.” Echoing his observation, Shreya Jha quipped, “Of course there is a business agenda to CSR activities, but when you do them with genuine sincerity, people usually return the kindness!” Adding to her statement, Mansi Joshee said, “Activating CSR the way it has traditionally been done by Indian giants such as the Tatas and the Birlas makes perfect sense. Though ROIs cannot be measured in exactness, brands that stick to what they fundamentally believe in will surely be successful, since it would be the driving force behind all their CSR and other endeavours.” On an agreeable note, Abdul Mujeeb Khan commented, “Listening, positive communication and being connected are the core basic values of all human relationships. It is high time that these should be applied to businesses to serve the ultimate purpose- being well-connected to the consumer.”

     

    While many see the digital world as a boon, there are those who equally believe it to be otherwise. Moving from a generation that demanded ‘drive awareness’ and ‘creating buzz’ as its most sought after marketing strategy, the focus now lies on a new digital age where crafting an entire customer experience that  keeps customers engaged on several  digital platforms, is quite in demand.  Nonetheless, people still do respond to TV ads, in-store promotions, manned counters in stores, brochures et al. In addition to all of these marketers need to find new means to break into apps, mobile devices, social platforms – the digital world. Echoing the same, Siddharth Sethi observed, “Enabling the consumer with engagement plus advocacy is the new mantra, as opposed to the age-old tradition of creating awareness. Six years ago, clients needed to be convinced repeatedly about digital marketing. Now, though the budget is still limited, it enjoys relevant, yet wavering importance across almost all industries.”

     

    To this Kumar Deb Sinha added, “Despite the low-budget allotted to digital marketing, the client is always asking for an encore of a digitally successful campaign.” Manisha Rana noted, “While Indian marketers do understand the digital media and its nuances, they are still playing it safe- they are yet to make digital media a more personal experience for the consumer. It is an ideal mix of the traditional and the digital media that would enable the consumer to enjoy a holistic experience.”

     

    Senior journalist and MxMIndia editor-in-chief and CEO Pradyuman Maheshwari was moderator of both the discussions. “Given that the panellists were fairly senior in experience within their respective industries and that the topics were of relevance to current times, the students and the recent alumni must have surely found the discussions quite interesting. The generous amount of time allotted for both the topics also gave room for meaty and honest discussions to come forth,” he said.

     

    Preceded by a karaoke, bonfire and a movie screening, the conclave gave an energetic start to the Grand Alumni Meet, followed by lunch, a cricket match and a few games of football and basketball. The Grand Alumni Meet ended with a lively Alumni get-together.

     

  • MICA has launched its market intelligence resource MICA Indian Marketing Intelligence (MIMI), which helps businesses make strategic marketing decisions

    Intelligent marketing tool from MICA

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) has launched a market intelligence product called MICA Indian Marketing Intelligence (MIMI) that assists businesses in making sound and strategic marketing and business decisions in India.

     

    Built around a unique data-fusion algorithm developed by the professors and researchers at MICA, MIMI fuses the variety of structured information, compiled from authentic sources, to provide a composite, granular market-view. It also provides Market Potential Index (MPI) and other data separately for rural, urban and total Indian market for more than 630 districts, hitherto not provided by any other similar product.

     

    The main highlights of MIMI are:-

    Provides market potential index: As one of the most acute needs of the marketer is to arrive at a district prioritization for purposes ranging from market entry to product/Service launch, MIMI provides Market Potential Index (MPI) for 630 districts for rural, urban and total market. The higher the MPI, the higher is the market prioritization.

     

    Provides a wide array of Information and applicability: With 143 variables across rural and urban market, MIMI provides data related to Demographics, Agricultural, Financial Services, Media Ownership, Vehicle Ownership, House Hold (HH) Size and Usage, HH Basic Amenities, HH Light and Fuel, etc. to be applied across sectors ranging from Construction and FMCG to Telecom.

     

    Simplifies decision-making: To interpret data quickly and effectively, MIMI provides a host of features like Graphs, GIS maps, Quartile and Potentiometer in downloadable format. These features are helpful for better presentation of the data and clarity of analysis. For example, if a marketer would like to target a specific region, the Quartile-based model helps him to compare various districts on selected variables, simultaneously, to arrive at a comparative picture.

     

    User-friendly interface: With a highly interactive website and user friendly interface, users can perform a large number of functions like execute simple arithmetic functions, customize variables, save work-space, compare districts across the states, besides others, with the help of MIMI’s superlative filtered features.

     

    Comes with zero IT cost: MIMI is based on a powerful cloud platform, and eliminates the need for software upgrades and hardware maintenance.

     

    Has composite score for selected categories of variables: To better understand the prosperity of a district and penetration of assets, composite score for selected categories of variables like agriculture, financial services, media ownership, and vehicle ownership are provided.

     

  • MICA and SIMC Pune students Aishwarya Padmanabhan and Deboshree Bhattacharjee respectively bag the first PRomise Foundations scholarship

    MICA & SIMC students bag PRomise Foundation scholarship

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mudra Institute of Communication Ahmedabd student Aishwarya Padmanabhan and Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication Pune’s Deboshree Bhattacharjee have been declared winner and and runner-up of the inaugural PRomise Foundation scholarship. The Scholarship is one of the two flagship programmes of the PRomise Foundation for Public Relations, a non-profit set-up with a goal of doing PR for Public Relations, and was announced in July soon after the Foundation was launched (*See Disclosure).

     

    It was open to students pursuing their postgraduation in Indian institutes where Public Relations is a subject of study. The objectives of the scholarship was to promote the art of writing among students of Communications and Public Relations, to create an opportunity to discuss an issue centered around reputation management, to showcase budding thought leaders to the world of business communications and to support students with a handsome scholarship. Based on three parameters, a student could win upto Rs 50,000. The three phases were application, essay submission and authentication. The essays submitted were on the theme – “Public Relations needn’t always be a short-term fix for businesses; it can be a critical strategic communications tool too”.

     

    The jury that evaluated the essays included four senior professionals from academia, media, consulting and corporate communications. N. Madhavan – senior journalist and associate editor of Hindustan Times, Melissa Arullapan – Corporate Communication Director at Quintiles, Sukanti Ghosh – Managing Director at APCO Worldwide and Keval Kumar – academician and authority on mass communication.  The winning candidates will receive cash prize of Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively.

     

    The PRomise Foundation is a unique initiative founded by volunteers who work in corporate communications across various organisations and professionals from various PR firms. It was founded in June 2012 and is organizing India’s first weekend summit – PRAXIS for PR and Corporate Communications professionals in Pondicherry in November. The event called PRAXIS plans to bring over 150 professionals and students of PR together for two days of learning and sharing.

     

    Disclosure: MxMIndia is media partner of PRAXIS 2012.

     

  • Dr Rao comes to MICA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

    IIM prof Dr Nagesh Rao is MICA Director

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Mudra Foundation is pleased to announce Dr. Nagesh Rao’s appointment as a Director of MICA (Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad). He comes to MICA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, (IIM-A). MICA,India’s premier communications management institute, was established in 1991. The institute’s foundation lies in being an innovative and creative school addressing the needs of an ever-changing marketing and communications environment.

     

    Dr. Rao has done his doctorate in communication fromMichiganStateUniversityin 1994. Over the past twenty years, he has taught in several US universities, including University of Maryland, Ohio University and University of New Mexico. In each of these universities, Dr. Rao was voted the Teacher of the Year at the university-level, and was voted “University Professor” in 2002. He has also been a visiting professor at Bangkok University, Zayed University (U.A.E) and Hong Kong Baptist University. He has been faculty, from 1996, in the prestigious Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication, teaching professionals from all over the world about different aspects of intercultural competence.

     

    Dr. Rao’s work has been published in internationally reputed communication and health journals, including Communication Monographs, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, and Studies in Family Planning. He has served as a consultant or a trainer for Siemens India, NextGen Health Care, Price Waterhouse Coopers, England, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, and North western University Medical School, US.

     

    He has worked on research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health(NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) and the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). “Dr. Rao has achieved outstanding success in his field of specialization. Given his varied international experience and prolific achievements, we look forward to his steering the Institute over the next several years and taking it from its pre-eminent position as a leading Communication Management school in India to a globally recognised school,” said Madhukar Kamath, Chairman, Mudra Foundation on the appointment.

     

    On joining MICA as the Director, Dr. Rao said: “It is with honour and pride, I accept the position of Director, MICA, a premier communications management institute in the country. With its outstanding Governing Council, faculty, staff and students, I look forward to taking MICA to greater heights – both nationally and internationally.” MICA (Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad) is India’s No. 1 communications management school nestled in a 20-acre campus in Ahmedabad. Since its inception more than a decade ago, MICA has produced over 900 advertising, communications & marketing professionals and was ranked the 3rd best private business school in the country by Outlook India magazine’s ‘Best B-School Survey 2009’.