MxMIndia

Tag: SIMC

  • Top industry professionals meet to discuss 'Advertising at Crossroads' at the Brand Communication Conclave at SIMC, Pune

    Advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on: SIMC Brand Comm Conclave

    By A Correspondent

     

    Anything you knew yesterday is no longer valid, as something has changed while you slept. Creativity and ideas are no longer the preserve of advertising agencies.  It is the clients as well. The clients are thinking innovation, performance and that’s where change comes from. As advertising agencies, we have to see it as an era of new opportunities and new horizons. Make it simple, keep it simple and communicate in the simplest possible terms.” These are words of wisdom from Colvyn Harris, former JWT South Asia CEO and  now Executive Director – Global Growth & Client Development at JWT at the  Annual Brand Communication Conclave hosted by Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication, Pune, on Sunday (October 4).

     

    Other than Harris, senior industrypersons present at the event included Josy Paul, Chairman and CCO, BBDO; Suman Srivastava, CSO, FCB Ulka; Ravindra Pisharody, Executive Director (Commercial Vehicles) and member of Board of Directors, Tata Motors; Ravi Deshpande, Chairman and CCO, Whyness; Jitender Dabas, NPD and VP, McCann; Bharatesh Salian, VP and Head Strategy, Razorfish; Michelle Suradkar, HR Director, Lintas; Kapil Arora, President, Ogilvy North; Hari Krishnan, MD, Zenith Optimedia; Debarpita Banerjee, formerly Executive VP, MarComm-Fox International; and Sumantra Sengupta, CEO, PI Communications. The panel discussions were moderated by Prof Chandan Chatterjee, Director, SIMC and Dean, Faculty of Media, Design and Communications, Symbiosis International University, Vikas Mehta, Consultant and Ex-GM, Havas Worldwide; Pradyuman Maheshwari, Editor-in-Chief and CEO, MxMIndia and Adjunct Professor, SIMC.

     

    The theme of the Concalve was ‘Advertising at Crossroads’ and the attempt was find answers to the all-important question: Will suits, mavericks and right brain ones find new, path-breaking ideas to overcome the several uncertainties the industry is facing today?

     

    While making his keynote remarks, Harris highlighted several issues the industry faces today like the deficient noticeability value in print. “The digital opportunity is amplification and engagement. Apps is a new thing, website will be fading and apps will be flourishing. App aggregates your information and makes your work easier. Since 2008, there have been 100 billion apps that you can download and on an average 119 billion apps for iOS users,” he said.

     

    The first panel discussion was titled ‘Traditional Advertising- What about thou?’ Ravindra Pisharody said that the ever-changing nature of advertising may result in every new medium of today attaining the status of being traditional tomorrow, mentioning that “change will be continuous.”  Taking this discussion further, Hari Krishnan said, “First we need to understand there isn’t traditional or non-traditional media. The moment you take positions, dissonance happens. There is media and there is a lot of intertwining of media.” “It is true that there are multiple (consumer) personas. Humans are like smartphones, having multiple dimensions, each having a different persona. Therefore, media is becoming more exciting and challenging,” said Suman Srivastava.  Josy Paul believed that there is no single medium to address the cultural and social tension. It is about harnessing collective energy to solve problems.

     

    Next up was the panel with the topic ‘Consumers don’t spend time with the technology, they spend time with emotions.’  Said Ravi Deshpande: “The consumers has moved way ahead and his response to brands is changing. In digital, if the experience is not smooth, people will move away. The emphasis is on creating great content and whether people can engage and spend time on content rather than the frivolous part of it. For moneycontrol.com, we simultaneously created content as the finance minister spoke. It was real time and a great success.”

     

    Added Bharatesh Salian, “It is not about what the client wants, it is about what the consumer needs.”  The panellists also focused on creating an emotional connect with the consumers. Jitendra Dabas said: “Idea along with technology is a wow factor for consumers” and Sumantra Sengupta added: “The idea was always there but the format changed and that is technology… Technologically driven and bright people are needed to drive the big idea.”.

     

    The third panel of the conclave explored the topic, ‘Talent Management: Honey you shrunk the talent’. Said Kapil Arora: “Specialised learning is important. If you can show that value, that difference. People with specialized learning will shine more. It’s not all gloom and doom. Both sides are still discovering. If you bring talent to the table then the conversation goes upstream.” “Its very easy to make things complex. At the end of the day there is a fixed budget. You need to be aware of all the options and “final synthesis in delivery needs to simple”

    Michelle Suradkar expressed that the advertising field offers you the opportunity to working on a plethora of platforms, clients and products. The added excitement comes from seeing your work everywhere out there, influencing and changing behaviour and choices. She advised the aspiring brand communication professionals that, “Some passion for what you do, curiosity, and a hunger to learn will take you places.” Colvyn Harris, resonating with Michelle Suradkar quoted Jerry Della Femina’s famed quote: “I honestly believe that advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.”  Said Debarpita Banerjee: “Twenty  back, culture was the tipping point. Now a lot of youngsters are looking for impact and the difference that they can make.”

     

     

    The conclave also witnessed the finale of SIMCatalyst, an intra-institute competition which had the senior MBA cohort fight out fiercely in order to give the winning marketing and communication strategy presentation for the iconic American brand, Indian Motorcycles.

     

  • Students would remember him as being open, fun, accessible, a friend and a father figure all rolled into one, writes Prof Chandan Chatterjee, director, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, in this tribute

    Remembering Atul ‘Pat’ Tandan. Chandan Chatterjee pays tribute

    Atul Tandon

    Many remember Atul Tandon as the hot Lipton Tea ‘Sher dil jawanon ke liye’ model who set a million hearts aflutter. There are others who remember him for his stints at Hindustan Lever, Bajaj Electricals, Cadbury (India) and also as Managing Director of JL Morrison (India). He was Mentor Professor at the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication till recently. But he’s most remembered for his  stint as Director of MICA (eka Mudra Institute of Communciations) from 2001 to 2009. He passed away at the airport in London on Sunday, March 1, morning due to a cardiac arrest. We invited his former colleague Chandan Chatterjee to pay this tribute.

     

     

    By Chandan Chatterjee

     

    PAT is an acronym that to everyone connected with MICA translates uniquely to “the man who propelled MICA on its journey to greatness” (as stated by Prof. Rajneesh Krishna). Prof A S Kulkarni had laid out a solid academic foundation during his tenure as the previous Director (of MICA) and PAT maintained that aspect while he embarked on building Brand MICA and make it an institution with a difference.The change in focus and thrust at MICA initiated by PAT since taking over as Director in the early 2000 is still visible and the rest is history.

    PAT was solely responsible for my getting into academics as a full-time career.  I had been teaching a variety of marketing, strategy and process courses at several institutes of decent reputation on my spare time while working as a senior management professional. Having heard a lot about the marketing focus at MICA, I wrote to PAT and pat came the reply (pun intended) in less than 24 hours, requesting to meet him and his colleagues on campus at Ahmedabad for a chat.

    I got the mandate to teach Advanced Marketing Management course in July 2006. The student feedback was high (actually way higher than the average). And, then PAT got into the serious business of convincing me to shift from my IT industry job at a fraction of the salary I was getting. And, given his charisma and the vision that he had for MICA he succeeded, when I joined MICA as a Professor in November 2007.

    We worked closely on curriculum, delivery, academic systems and processes as initially I handled these responsibilities as the PGP Chairperson and later as Dean MICA. Over those three years, he supported the efforts to enhance the cafeteria-based offerings, supported the interested faculty members to get into detailing courses and areawise course approval processes, enhancement of the dissertation processes.

    In summary, working with PAT meant a whole lot of free hand and a very long rope, if any at all. PAT operated on a 50% rationality and 50% gut-feel mode on most decisions. But, he would also let anyone convinced about a better way of getting things done have a try. And, a section of faculty felt that there really was no point in trying since “we were MICA”!

    From the point of view of most who knew him, PAT oozed Charisma, charm and that unique blend of sophistication with a “Don’t give a damn attitude”. Students would remember him as being open, fun, accessible, a friend and a father figure all rolled into one. As my ex-student Archita (Trisal) posted on my FB timeline yesterday:

    It was no secret that Prof Chandan Chatterjee was a terror in our first semester at MICA. Before one such class of his, a bunch of students were found digging into their Kotlers for pre-reads. Prof Atul Tandan saw this and commented “Stop studying so hard! Go organize a festival, act in a play, go out and DO things. That’s how you’ll learn.” You don’t expect such words from the Director of a college, and that’s what made MICA a balanced, fun, open and genuinely cool place to be at. We carry that camaraderie, the spirit of working well in teams and the want to enjoy our careers from a man who ridiculously enjoyed every day of his life.

    Yet he would also talk to members of visiting delegations from foreign universities (and many visited) about the rigour and innovative pedagogy at MICA, citing the same “terrorising” act, and detail the recent enhancements in the academic systems and processes! Permitting multiple points of view to co-exist was a great trait in PAT!

    Prof Anita Basalingappa sums it up on her recent FB post as “PAT touched a chord with everyone of us irrespective of the agreements, differences and strained and comfortable relationship shared. It was hard not to get mesmerized by him.”. It’s the mix of emotions that he generated and the love and affection simultaneously, is what made PAT unique.

    I am certain that many of the ideas that we discussed across the years have been implemented and made a difference. PAT was also closely associated with the turnaround that we did at SIMC Pune, where he was our Mentor Professor. The new branding approach, the inspiration behind our new logo, and positioning all have his contribution and thought built into them. In our curriculum discussions, he would always come out with forward-looking questions that would set the thinking rolling along a new path, for some specific course. And his contacts among industry professionals were simply phenomenal. I do not recall attending a meeting with PAT where he did not dazzle! I learnt a lot from PAT between 2007-10 at MICA and then again when he was a Mentor Professor for us between 2011-13 at SIMC Pune.

    PAT will live on through Brand MICA! And also SIMC Pune and every other academic system he has worked closely with. To me PAT was and will always be a legend and it was a privilege knowing and working with him closely. It will be huge loss to me personally! RIP PAT. Our loss will be the gain up there!

     

    Chandan Chatterjee is Director SIMC Pune, and Dean Faculty of Media, Communication & Design at Symbiosis International University. He is available at Chandanc22@yahoo.co.in

  • 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.